Last semester's mix included students from computer science, history, sociology, and English. It makes them clarify their thoughts in a way that can be very helpful. If finishing a dissertation is the student's passage to adulthood, that last glimpse of childhood can reveal unfinished business. Or a student who's fulfilling her family's dreams by becoming the first to finish graduate school may find herself lost and confused, fearful that her very success will set her apart from the family that supports her. Finishing a dissertation is the completion of a journey not everyone wants to see end.
Some students mourn the loss of what has been a supportive and stimulating environment.
Some are just reluctant to leave what's familiar. Finishing also raises complicated questions about what to do next. Students in relationships may find their partners unwilling to follow them. International students, having already made a major adjustment in leaving their homes to study in the United States, now face another upheaval upon returning. Take a support group Morrison led in the 1980s that included a number of Iranian women.