A Proud Moment.

**Wagriff** · 07-19-2013, 09:19 PM

Personally...I always thought the beard gave him a kind of "U-Boat" sailor look....lol

**douglas2496** · 07-19-2013, 10:56 PM

Congratulations James!

**DrPMC** · 07-20-2013, 01:01 PM

James, Congratulations to you for successfully completing your degree! And to Vicky too, who I'm sure helped you to get to the finish line. Masters next - It sounds like you have got the history bug. Do you have particular topic in mind to research for your dissertation?

Philip

**daniel1234** · 07-20-2013, 01:33 PM

Congrats.

**Spitace41** · 07-20-2013, 01:49 PM

by DrPMC

James, Congratulations to you for successfully completing your degree! And to Vicky too, who I'm sure helped you to get to the finish line. Masters next - It sounds like you have got the history bug. Do you have particular topic in mind to research for your dissertation?

Philip

I don't as such but I am thinking hard about it. The trouble is finding the perfect balance between something original and something that will interest me sufficiently to see it through to the finish. I am looking at something to do with the First World War. Its a tough one

**DrPMC** · 07-20-2013, 02:12 PM

by Spitace41

I don't as such but I am thinking hard about it. The trouble is finding the perfect balance between something original and something that will interest me sufficiently to see it through to the finish. I am looking at something to do with the First World War. Its a tough one

Yes, its never easy to produce the idea for an interesting and worthwhile thesis 'to order', although often academics have a 'list' of topics that one day they might like to research but never get round to, that they would be prepared to share with a keen student. That said, its so much better when it comes out of your existing interests - sometimes it can be some little detail or chance discovery which opens out into a new and fruitful investigation. Although I don't speak with any special knowledge of the historiography of the Great War, it is such a colossal and titanic episode that there must space for countless new studies to be undertaken. For example, a few years ago, in connection with my current project I was trying to find something solid about Officer Cadet Battalions - my subject was a member of one - but found nothing substantial. To ramble on a bit more, I always think local studies are a great thing - they offer the opportunity to study something in really great detail and to immerse oneself in the sources; such projects are also a great way of learning the historian's craft - creating a new narrative out of many fragments from local papers and county archives etc.

**sandgroper** · 07-20-2013, 02:38 PM

Congratulations mate, and well done on studying something you are passionate about. If you have a genuine interest in your chosen field it comes through in the grades you achieve. I don't think you'll have too many dramas there, great stuff mate!

**MD Helmets** · 07-20-2013, 02:43 PM

Congratulations, James! I'm sure that's a huge burden off your shoulders. Remember, true education comes from life's experiences, not just a piece of paper on a wall after spending so many hours in a classroom. So go out and learn. My wife teaches at a University, and she would tell you that the best education she ever received didn't cost her a cent....or quid, if you will

It was when she took the knowledge she had paid for in the classroom and applied it to the real world, that's when her true education began.

I'm rambling, so congratulations, again!