This week Zach is about to start his next chapter of life as he’s about to embark upon his long and much anticipated Ph.D. at Stanford University.
Stanford University is located equidistant between San Francisco and San Jose in California.
Since completing his summer school experience at Georgetown University in Washington DC back when he was just a high school student and about to begin Year 11, he’s dreamed of doing his Ph.D. with his aim of becoming a history professor.
Over the ensuing decade his focus has not waivered one bit and here he is today standing at the threshold of his dream.
Like most things in life, you must really want something like this and mix it with an incredible amount of hard work, focus and perseverance – all the things that I have tried to reinforce with both Zach and Sam over the years.
I’m so proud of him setting his long-term goal and always striving to reach it, albeit with a few hurdles along the way.
After completing his undergraduate degree at McGill University in Montreal he decided to undertake his first master’s degree in Australia
Over his educational journey he’s had some incredible mentors along the way including Frank Bongiorno who is arguably one of Australia’s top historians. Zach was fortunate enough to study under him for his first master’s degree at the Australian National University in Canberra.
His encouragement and support meant an enormous amount to Zach as he embarked upon his second master’s degree at the University of Chicago.
So, now it’s time for Zach to dig even deeper for the next six years as he works his way through his research and thesis at Stanford.
One of the advantages of studying in California is that he is only a 15-hour flight away from Brisbane. Yes, I hear you – it’s still an inordinate amount of time to fly and see him but at least it’s west coast USA and not on the east coast of Midwest which were real options.
As I mentioned earlier there have been speed bumps along the way. In my mind his biggest challenge came during the first year of Ph.D. applications eligibility where he was rejected by every university that he applied to.
Even for the average person there is a limit to the amount of rejection one can take at any given time, but he endured, and endured and endured rejection after rejection…
It was not a good time, especially for a soul that already suffers with anxiety and depression, so in many ways doubly difficult. I’d be lying if I said it was an easy time for him, but he got through it.
After a lot of soul-searching, he was able to bounce back and craft a new path forward, one that would give him a leg up during the next year’s admission process.
He enrolled in his second master’s program (University of Chicago), as well as publishing additional original research, tutoring other students and teaching classes where possible as opportunities arose.
Each of these activities strengthened an already strong resume that included published works to both the Princeton Historical Review, and the Journal of Pacific History.
It has taken a lot of time and effort to get to where he is today, but really, it’s just the beginning of the next chapter and all that it will entail over the ensuing years.
The Californian climate will suit him, rather than the baking hot summers of Canberra or the ice-cold winters of Toronto and Montreal his new temperate climate should be great for him – lots of sunshine!
As it stands, he’ll be working on his research and thesis for the best part of the next six years and I’m sure with still more publishing along the way.
I’m excited for him and his next chapter of life and hoping that it will be everything that he’s dreamed of over the years. Honestly, it’s incredible to see your children set a huge goal for themselves and do everything possible be to fulfil that dream irrespective of the amount of time and effort it takes.
What does your next chapter look like? How’s it shaping up? Are you ready?
Until next week.
Ciao!