An essay about going to a graduate school abroad & more edits to my manuscript

It was a writing day yesterday. 

1. Essay about study abroad - graduate school in the US

This is a topic that I had been postponing for quite a bit, and finally I started it.  It's for undergraduate and master's students in Japan who are considering going to a graduate school abroad. There are many choices, not just the US, but it's interesting that the systems are quite different in each country.  For example, whether you would need to take classes and whether you need to take comprehensive exams depend on the school or program you are attending.  It kind of makes me wonder the value of a PhD is the same or different.  For those who did a PhD in the US, have most likely gone through ~30 credits of graduate level courses, comprehensive exams, and their dissertation research.  On the other hand, you would just need to do research and so it will only take 3 years or so to have a PhD in some countries in Europe, Australia, and Japan.  But the total length of time could be the same because in those countries you must have a masters' degree to get into a PhD program.  

Regardless, I am forever thankful that I was able to go to a graduate school in the US - it's a privilage to receive higher education with a salary!  It's not a chance that everyone gets.  So my goal was to share my experience and encourage studying abroad.  Almost done writing it, now it's time to revise and polish it. 

2. Another writing task of the day was to revise my manuscript that we submitted to a journal and received reviewer's comments.  Most comments were easy to accomodate, and some were really useful in improving the quality of the manuscript.  It's not the funnest thing in the world, but I just need to do it to get it published.  I remember those days with an endless loop of analysis-writing-discussion in January - March this year for this project.  Every time I submit a manuscipt (or end a project), I would swear that I will not do research again, but strangely I will be back at it again after a while.  Maybe it's a normal cycle of work.  At least the burn-out feeling does not last long. 

3. At last, my dissertation was accepted as correctly formatted!!!  Just in time, and it's a huge relief.  I cannot believe that it happened in time.  It makes me believe that it's not whether you can do it, it's rather whether you will do it or not.  It's possible to make things happen!