Me vs. Ph.D. Graduation Requirements: Round 1, The Comps Project

Alas, I have begun to think about what it takes to graduate (you would think I'd have done that sooner, but I prefer to fly by the seat of my pants). The first obstacle before me are two comps projects. Luckily, I've been in the process of collecting data for two different projects that I'd like to count towards the comps projects requirement (yes, my advisor approves, I usually ask her about things after I've already done them). One of the comps projects follows from the grant proposal I wrote last fall. So I don't feel like I need to work on that one right now, especially since it's waiting for funding to proceed with some of the analyses. The other comps project is going to be on the research for which I won that student research award last semester (hold on...having a narcissistic moment...okay, I'm over it). I wrote a paper on it for class three semesters ago (this project has been going on waaay too long), but the focus of that paper is inappropriate for the comps project. Therefore, I have to write it from scratch.

So that's where I'm at: writing a paper that must be publishable quality on a topic that I long ago moved beyond (okay, that statement requires a non-parenthetical explanation). This topic draws from my master's work, which I completed 5 years ago (Yikes! Has it really been that long ago?!?!). I've lost some interest in the topic and shifted towards other topics. Actually, more specifically, I'm dabbling in many topics, which brings me to Concern # 1 beyond that of completing the comps projects themselves. Concern # 1 is this: If a Ph.D. is an exercise in developing expertise, shouldn't I pick one topic and stick with it? I've come to the realization that not only are both my comps projects completely unrelated to each other, but neither are related to my proposed dissertation topic. And I keep coming up with all kinds of different research projects that I think it would be fun to do (go with me here, I know some of you don't think this sort of thing is fun).

Here's my final deliberation: I should just do my comps projects, a couple side projects to satisfy my need for fun, and then focus on becoming an expert in one topic for my dissertation.