Make Friends With the Dragon: During the Dissertation Journey is an encouraging and practical guide for doctoral learners, graduate students, and dissertation writers who are navigating the emotional, academic, and personal challenges of completing a doctoral program.
In her previous book, So, You Want to Be a Doctoral Learner Huh? Are You Nuts?!, Dr. L. A. Davis shared the struggles, lessons, and survival strategies she learned while completing her own dissertation journey. Now, in Make Friends With the Dragon, she returns with a deeper reflection on life after earning her doctoral degree and on the challenges many students continue to face as they move through the dissertation process.
Inspired by her own experiences, as well as comments and concerns shared by students on her alma mater’s support board, Dr. Davis explores the “dragons” doctoral learners may encounter along the way. These dragons may appear as fear, procrastination, self-doubt, confusion, isolation, frustration, academic pressure, or the overwhelming demands of dissertation writing.
Rather than running from these challenges, Dr. Davis invites readers to make friends with the dragon. With honesty, humor, and hard-earned wisdom, she guides students through the different stages and chapters of the dissertation journey, helping them recognize obstacles, build resilience, and keep moving toward completion.
This book is ideal for:
Make Friends With the Dragon: During the Dissertation Journey offers encouragement, motivation, and practical insight for students who need a reminder that the dissertation dragon can be faced, understood, and conquered.
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Have you ever wondered what dreams are truly made of? Ethan lost his wife. His children lost their mother and in many ways, their father too. The family was left in pieces, scattered by grief. Evan and Sophie begin to question the impossible. Are dreams more than fragments of the mind? Could they hold a doorway, a way to make their broken family whole again? While they search for answers in the waking world, Ethan journeys elsewhere chasing whispers of a place called the City of Dreams… where, they say, the lost can be found.
Why are the most qualified candidates often the first ones rejected?
In Being Great At Your Job Means Nothing, tech veteran D.T. Crawford pulls back the curtain on the "invisible machinery" of modern hiring. Through the eyes of Dorian Caldwell and a collection of raw, real-world stories, this book exposes a system that values optics over outcomes and "culture fit" over actual capability.
From the high-speed filter of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to the disconnect between recruiters seeking keywords and managers seeking "vibes," Crawford reveals why meritocracy is often a myth. But this isn't just an exposé—it’s a roadmap for reform.
Discover the ARC Theory (Adaptability, Rigor, and Contribution), a revolutionary human-centered approach to hiring that replaces checkboxes with conversations and mirrors with windows. Whether you are a jobseeker tired of being "algorithmically ignored" or a leader ready to build a team based on true potential, this book is a call to reclaim dignity in the workplace.
It’s time to stop auditing for compliance and start hiring for character.
Being Great At Your Job Means Nothing
on Amazon Kindle / Kindle Unlimited
When war breaks out without warning, childhood ends instantly. In The Long Way Home, a young schoolgirl is forced to flee when violent conflict erupts during the Congo–Rwanda war. Separated from her parents and stranded far from home, she begins a dangerous journey across the country—alone, frightened, and uncertain if she will ever see her family again. As she travels through villages and cities scarred by violence, she witnesses the brutal realities of war through the eyes of a child: loss, displacement, fear, and survival. Her journey reflects the experiences of countless children whose lives are reshaped by conflict they did not choose.
