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