Nikki Barnes of Winter Park, Fla., is a Ph.D candidate at the University of Central Florida pursuing a doctorate in Texts and Technology. She’s also a spouse and parent of three teenagers.

Nikki works as an instructor and museum fellow while completing the dissertation to graduate in May. The work of balancing professional, personal, community, and family goals is a continuous effort.

“It’s a struggle,” Nikki says. “You can always find an excuse not to work, not to write. And when you choose to be with your family you feel guilty about it.”

When Nikki, who prefers to use the 'they' pronoun, heard about the inaugural Guilford College Dissertation Boot Camp, six days on Guilford’s leafy campus free of interruptions and stress from the outside world to make progress on her work, they signed up.

This week Nikki and seven other doctoral students from around the country are at Guilford with the opportunity to do nothing but research, write, discuss professional paths and inspire each other ahead of classes beginning in the fall.

Dissertation boot camps are common at large, state-run universities, but a boot camp at a small liberal arts college like Guilford is rare. President Kyle Farmbry came up with the idea and asked Rebecca Pena to run the camp. She earned her master's and doctorate at Rutgers University-Newark, where Kyle used to work as an administrator and teacher before coming to Guilford.

Rebecca knows exactly what boot camp attendees are going through. A typical dissertation can run 200 pages. That’s before factoring in other ongoing classes, teaching, career, and a personal life back home. She says writing her dissertation at Rutgers-Newark “was an everyday struggle.”

“I found I couldn’t do my dissertation in my house by myself,” she says. “Writing can be so difficult and I always found an excuse not to do it. The dishes needed cleaning, the laundry that suddenly seemed so important, the sweeping of some random spot in the house that had never been swept before.”

Eventually, says Rebecca, she formed a group with other Ph.D candidates to meet at their homes to work and inspire each other. “The dishes didn’t seem so important when you were at someone else’s home,” she says. “That mess was not my responsibility.”

Just as important was the community, she says. “Sometimes we could chime in and help out on some wording or how to approach a chapter. Being together brought a sense of structure; we started figuring out different strategies for writing that worked for each of us.”

A typical boot camp day includes Guilford faculty or administrators speaking with attendees on topics such as publishing, the job market, professional development, and burnout; focused writing time and workshops for self-care. 

Community also plays a big role in Guilford’s boot camp. Dina Nehme, who’s from Lebanon but lives in New Jersey and is pursuing her doctorate in Global Affairs from Rutgers-Newark, was listening to other Ph.D candidates earlier this week in Founders Hall listening to writing and time management tips from others in the class. “There were tips I knew wouldn’t work for me but a lot that I’ve already used this week that work,” she says. “That’s what a community does. We ignite that process in each other.”

“It’s such a wonderful campus for working and writing and building relationships that will last beyond this week. We’ve all inspired each other.”