One of my favorite movies is Chariots of Fire, which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1981. It’s an old film based on the even older true story of Eric Liddell, a Scottish runner who won a gold medal in the 400-meter race at the 1924 Paris Olympics. Born in China and later educated at the University of Edinburgh, Liddell had more than the Olympics in mind as he grew up. His passion for running was outmatched only by his commitment to return to China, where he spent the remainder of his relatively short life serving his local community.

In the movie, Harold Abrahams, a Cambridge student who would become Liddell’s Olympic teammate, saw Liddell as a primary challenger. Liddell, however, was not focused on beating Abrahams, a great runner in his own right having won Olympic gold in what was supposed to be Liddell’s best event - the 100-meter race. Whereas Abrahams was driven by competition to best Liddell by outracing him, Liddell was driven by the sheer joy he felt in running fast.

[Image Description: Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) and fellow Olympians train on the beach in the movie Chariots of Fire.]

Caption: The joys and pressures of your training… you’ll feel both.

You've spent years preparing academically for one of the most challenging educational goals, and now you’re closing in on the finish line. You are about to get your Ph.D. diploma. You will be among the 1% of the world’s population who have done what is necessary to finish the race and earn the degree. Unless some evil, super-maniacal academic decides there ought to be a super-Ph.D., you have reached the pinnacle of higher learning. Let us at GradSuccess be among the first to say to you, “Very impressive!”

[Image description: Lebron James in his Laker’s home uniform with an expression of admiration.]

Caption: Oooohhh… impressive!

Liddell’s life was filled with finish lines, most of which were at a racetrack. Your finish lines are just as significant! You started each of your classes, completed them, and passed your qualifying exams. You taught classes or labs from Week 1 to Week 10 for quarters on end, teaching undergraduates the basics and the more advanced. You started a research project and are about to finish it. You wrote page one of your dissertation and are about to finish the last. You’re about to present your research to a committee of experts in the field, defending the substance and outcomes of your work. You have become a scholar of shared knowledge. You have become a researcher for new knowledge. You have become a teacher to pass on knowledge. You have become an expert who uses knowledge to solve problems that are personal, relational, societal, global, astronomical, and even fantastical!

[Image Description: Dr. Who's tardis warping through space and time between universes and dimensions.]

Caption: You'll be going places after this!

Running and the Olympics were significant aspects of Eric Liddell’s life, not the whole of it. Likewise, graduate school and the Ph.D. degree are significant aspects of your life, and there is more to it. Many of you have accomplished more than you realize during graduate school, probably because you haven’t had the time or mental energy to notice. But we noticed! So if you need that extra bit of encouragement to continue toward the finish line, come by our GradSuccess Coffee Social in the Physics Courtyard on Wednesdays at 3pm or stop by our office in UOB 141 for some coffee, snacks, and conversation with fellow graduate students running the Ph.D. marathon. Be motivated to cross that finish line - and remember to prioritize your physical and mental health. You’re almost there!

[Image description: A man at a desk in front of an 80s-era computer turning back to tell somone, “I am this close.”]

Caption: You are so close to the finish line!