A tremendous dinner

Well, this week has been rather chock full of exciting milestones. The first, the outlining of my thesis, was already covered in my last post. The second happened this evening when I accepted an invitation to be the dinner guest of the conveners and guest speaker of my core seminar. This was a very exciting invitation as it gave me a rare opportunity to have a prolonged discussion with three well-established and respected historians, two from Oxford, and one from the University of Warwick. I had a fabulous time as the conversation easily flowed and covered topics ranging from each of our research, past and current experiences both as students and lecturers, and the career prospects of current graduate historians. The discussion was enlightening and entertaining on many levels and I was happy to end the evening with a feeling that some excellent academic connections had been either stregthened or forged. Since my supervisor was among those at dinner, I also was able to briefly describe my newly outlined thesis and he seemed pleased with my progress. We're planning to have a meeting next week to discuss the outline and my research in a more detailed way. I am greatly looking forward to talking with my supervisor more. Strange how an encounter that bestows positive reinforcement from those in authority in my field can create such a renewed sense of purpose and self-confidence. It was a good night, indeed.