Mapping the journey: directed by the “F” word

Triggered by personal experiences during my candidature as a doctoral student, this chapter captures some of the key elements of my doctoral journey. In capturing the experience, I hoped to equip prospective and current doctoral students to maintain momentum as they too traverse this complex route. An added layer to my reflection is the narrative around balancing work commitments as a secondary school teacher with the demands of my academic programme. To facilitate this description, I drew from literary works that I was teaching into at the time to enliven the content. The incorporation of several quotes from texts that I interacted with underlined the nature of interweaving my academic programme with employment goals. The chapter is punctuated with guidelines and suggestions to arm prospective students as they embark on the doctoral journey. Ultimately, the chapter is an attempt to bolster the spirits of current students, and to offer critical pieces of advice along the way.