Just heard from DanB for those who remember him.
After he got evicted from his PhD in early 2007 he went to Sudan to work in a UNICEF camp for about six months. Had Malaria and returned. Subsequently he travelled Asia and is now thinking about applying for a new PhD in an unrelated area. He added that he'll soon be back on this forum, with the new username BannD2006.

I remember DanB. It sounds like he has been up to a lot!

sorry to disappoint you there, Chris, but obviously that was a joke. I don't have a clue what happened to DanB.

DanB, if you are still reading it, tell us what you've been up to.

lol

That's funny.

I still speak to him and he;s fine and still doing his PhD!

No malaria!

I thought that story was completely plausible too Chris...

Sometimes I just want to give up my PhD and go elk tagging in Northern Sweden. I'm being serious.

chris, sometimes i just want to give up my PhD, too. not to go find elk anywhere, though, but perhaps just to get pregnant, have kids and be a stay-at-home housewife.

all i can say is - keep going. it will all start making sense sometime. and you will be sooooo proud of yourself once you've got that PhD!!! because only you will know exactly how hard it was.

Shani ... just out of curiousity, have you actually passed your PhD (i.e. are you a 'Dr')?

Because a better word which sums up most people's experiences (including my own) is ... ANTI-CLIMAX!!!

BB, really?

If that's true, then all my hopes for a better life post completion are lost. Is it a feeling of loss or a feeling or disappointment?

You're right, must keep going!

BB, no, i haven't finished my PhD yet. still, i was speaking from some sort of experience (different, but in some ways similar). the moment of submitting, or the final viva, can be very anticlimactic, i agree. but later, after a few days or weeks, in my experience a quiet, but strong satisfaction and pride can set in. it is a very personal thing, as i tried to indicate. the "PhD" is maybe not so important. but you know very well what devils you had to fight, what crises you had to overcome, all the battles you fought on the way... the pride in overcoming all these very personal obstacles is not easily shared. but you can feel it nonetheless.
and, thinking about that future feeling, now when i am struggling with these personal obstacles, does sometimes help me to keep going. which is why i thought to share it with chris. knowing of course, that it won't work for everyone.

Having just spoken to Dan, I thought I'd see if his legend status here was still apparent. Not been about myself for over a year! Hope you all do well in 2009, I am trying to finish lab work and write up!

How can one get evicted from a PhD?