PERSEVERANCE

So they say life is full of up’s and down’s and the same rule applies to a PhD student. To be honest, I’ve had 2 full weeks of DOWN’s (the capital letters are meant to emphasize how down I was). LoL

I was struggling with a lot of things at the same time (and I wonder WHY they all must happen at the same time). I suspected that they (the issues) sort of ganged-up and decided to sabotage me. How cruel? I tried to get myself out of the ‘down zone’ but to no avail. I failed. Retail-therapy didn’t do it, excessive eating didn’t succeed, long-chat over coffee failed too. I felt so ‘blerghhhh’. What is going to happen to me? Trust me, I was beginning to feel that I’m not going to make it. 

From that experience I realized that I am probably going through a phase in my studies. I believe it is a normal occurrence especially when stress creeps is, work is not progressing as you expect and so on. It can be pretty depressing. However, a really good friend shared a blog entry with excerpts from Obama’s speech in The Ohio State University graduation ceremony. I read the piece over and over again and watched the clip and I felt an instant ‘kick’ to my spirit. How amazing is that? 

So, I am sharing the very inspiring part of the speech with all of you hoping that it might help if anyone is in the ‘down zone’ today.

“I ask that you persevere. Whether you start a business, or run for office, or devote yourself to alleviating poverty or hunger, please remember that nothing worth doing happens overnight. A British inventor named Dyson went through more than 5,000 prototypes before getting that first really fancy vacuum cleaner just right. We remember Michael Jordan’s six championships; we don’t remember his nearly 15,000 missed shots. As for me, I lost my first race for Congress, and look at me now — I’m an honorary graduate of The Ohio State University. 

The point is, if you are living your life to the fullest, you will fail, you will stumble, you will screw up, you will fall down. But it will make you stronger, and you’ll get it right the next time, or the time after that, or the time after that. And that is not only true for your personal pursuits, but it’s also true for the broader causes that you believe in as well.

So you can’t give up your passion if things don’t work right away. You can’t lose heart, or grow cynical if there are twists and turns on your journey. The cynics may be the loudest voices — but I promise you, they will accomplish the least. It’s those folks who stay at it, those who do the long, hard, committed work of change that gradually push this country in the right direction, and make the most lasting difference”

Barack Obama, 2013

Thank you for reading

Miss F

Advice I wish I’d received earlier

Assalamualaikum & Hello all,

The workshop was held last month. I figured it would be good to get some inputs/advice now then later so I signed up. The member of the panel consists of 3 PhD students from different faculties (Astrophysics, Design & Business).

One of them has been awarded the PhD; the other one had submitted her thesis and the final one is nearing completion. Each of them shared their experience along the journey. Based on the discussion I concluded and grasped a few advices I’d like to share with all of you

1. Do not waste time on formatting your thesis (just stick to one format and work with it)
2. Set an end date (this might seem hard, but just set a date and keep reviewing it) ** I did it anyway :)
3. Start writing from day one (this is an advice I get in most workshops I attend)
4. Timeline is very important (revise and change as you progress- but don’t do it too often)
5. Although EndNote is excellent referencing software, manual check should be done from time to time
6. Be resilient (this comes from the lady who took 6 years to complete her PhD). It is very important to be strong
7. Maintain good relationship with your Supervisors

In a nutshell, at some point the advice might come in handy and what makes it better is that we know it already. Isn’t that awesome!

Thank you for reading and have a great day!

Miss F

What not ask (to a PhD student)

 

Assalamualaikum & Hello 

It's been a while since my last entry. Yes, I've been lazy, not busy (honestly).

In the earlier entries I did mention about the importance of socializing to avoid the feeling of isolation and loneliness. Normally, the lounge/kitchen/pantry is the place for us PhD students to socialize. We bump into each other while re-filling our coffee mugs, at lunch or simply finding an excuse to 'hide' from work. I make at least 4-5 trips a day to the kitchen to re-fill my water bottle (Yes, I am an aquaholic), reinforce caffeine in my system and to have lunch. 

Thus, this calls for small talk, the casual "Hi, how are you?"and the like. These are the norms. However, sometime you are bound to engage in a relatively long conversation (especially over lunch) and after some time, the question lingers in my mind. I think there should be some basic rules to the "Lunch Chats" among PhD students. This entry is the result of that question.

Overtime, I think some questions are irrelevant or politically incorrect to ask a PhD student. WHY? Well, because it could alleviate pressure/stress and  cause someone to tell lies. LoL

Like really, how many of us would want to say things like:

"I'm not sure what I am doing"

"I think my writing sucks"

"I suck at statistical analysis" 

and the list goes one.

I mean I would only admit such things to my good friends and support group members, not a random colleague I have lunch with. Does that make sense? No?

In line with that, I have listed questions NOT to ask to a PhD student (just so to avoid discomfort and awkward moments)

:) 

1) Are you working hard?

2) How's your proposal coming along?

3) Which chapter are you writing now?

4) How much do you know about his particular statistical analysis? 

5) Are your results significant?

6) How long is your LR chapter?

7) How many words more to go until you finish writing the thesis?

 And the ULTIMATE NO-NO question to ask....

8) WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO FINISH?

 

Have a productive Wednesday everyone

Thank You for reading

Miss F