The paper examines the case of a female doctoral candidate who studied over a period of eight years at a South African university and the challenges she encountered. It reports on a qualitative study that followed a narrative approach and employed a method known as the "listening guide." Findings revealed that the voluntary participant faced hardships, and her self-esteem, assertiveness and self-confidence changed from being positive to negative over the eight years. Change of supervisors contributed to her frustration but despite the negative experiences she remains positive and hopes that one day she will complete her PhD. Another positive aspect is that she has published articles based on her research in international journals.