I met with my Master’s committee today and my topic Exploring the History and Change of Mosque Architecture in Guyana was rejected. The main reason that it was turned down was that I do not have the historical documentation to answer the questions I am asking (there were a few smaller issues too). I knew I had no documentation, as I found nothing in Guyana’s National Library, National Archive and only 4-odd pages in the National Trust, but I was hoping to come up with a way around it. But for the type of scholarly paper I need to write (and get approved), there is no way around it. I was a bit freaked out and upset when they told me, but I do understand. Plus its better to realize that it will not work now vs later when I am further along.
But that does not stop me from thinking ‘well perhaps if I change this or try to approach the topic from a different direction.’ But if its not going to work and my committee thinks its not going to work, then its time to move on to something that will work. So my Guyana mosque research will just go on the back burner for now. I still plan on writing a paper or two with the information (and photographs) I have collected on Guyana’s mosques, but now it will not have to be 40+ pages long.
My committee did come up with a few new suggestions for me related to mosque architecture (because that’s the topic I am interested in). So next week I will start to do some research. The objective now is to find a great topic, write a good paper and finish my degree with a graduation date of May 2009.
Have you noticed that life never works out the way you think it will?