Abstract
<jats:p>The purpose of this chapter is to define the liminal phase of dissertation development and share experiences as scholars of color navigating toward advancement to candidacy. This in-between stage can be isolating but also a generative space for reflection, collective learning, resistance, and empowerment. Using collective autoethnography, co-authors engaged in writing, reflection, peer commentary, and dialogue to reveal personal challenges, sociopolitical contexts, and multiple identities shaping the dissertation journey. Findings reveal the affective dimensions of this phase—marked by excitement, fear, precarity, and rupture—as well as strategies of resilience and hope that emerged through community-building, centering care, and navigating financial instability. Drawing on cultural intuition, navigational capital, and commitments to social justice, the narratives encourage advisors and students to build networks of collective support to transform the process from a solitary endurance test into a community-centered praxis toward becoming a scholar.</jats:p>