The thesis template is a guiding document for higher degree researchers to assist their transition into research. But what happens when the template does not mirror your ways of knowing, being and doing? How do we speak back to an institutionalized structure that advocates support and yet, feels like a "Boa constrictor" squeezing you into conformity? If Indigenous people are to undertake the challenge of higher degree research for such an extended length of time, it needs to be a reflection of us, does not it? In this paper, I share a selection of stories and insights to illustrate the struggles with the chasms of identity and dominant social norms. I provide insight to the waves of achievement and the troughs of isolation as a PhD candidate. This paper aims to encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HDR students to further take up the challenge to disrupt the thesis and to challenge the institutional structures so that the thesis can start reflecting our voices rather than making us fit the 'box'.