I cannot begin to explain how exciting this moment is – I’ve finally passed my thesis proposal and am now a PhD Candidate. It’s funny because people outside academia probably do not know what this means, but on this long arduous doctoral journey, achieving candidacy is a huge feat. I told my mum that I’m a candidate now and she asked, “So do I call you Dr. David Puvaneyshwaran now?” and I said there’s at least two more years for that.

Getting through these past two years, working on my comprehensive examination (which is still the hardest but most rewarding academic exercise I’ve engaged in) and now passing my thesis proposal has been sooo rewarding and I’m very excited to commence on the next stage of my dissertation.

There’s so much more to do and so much more I am going to learn on this journey!