I am now halfway through the third (and supposed to be final) year of my PhD. Time has been a strange concept over the past two and a half years, partly because of a global pandemic, partly because I'm getting older, and partly because time is a human construct anyway (but I won't get into that argument here). I have somehow become one of the "senior" PhD students in my research centre, one of the people other PhD students ask about which form to fill out, or at what point to do something. Alternatively, I'm the PhD student who jumps in and encourages others to not be so hard on themselves, or not take on too much, or choose one thing now because there will be time later, and for some reason I am listened to. I'm sure part of it is because I have a loud voice and I like to talk, but part of it also seems to be because I'm somehow one of the ones closest to finishing. And I don't know how that happened.
I don't feel like I should be in the final year yet. I feel like I'm still as unsure of what I'm doing as I was the first day. But at the same time I have deadlines (a lot; some of which I'm avoiding right now by writing this blog post), deadlines that only really happen during the last year of a PhD. Like completing transcription and data analysis for one of the main methods of the project. Or like trying to get a part of the project you really want to complete off the ground (if you are interested in my art exhibition project, go to cultureandlibraries.weebly.com or email me at [email protected]) even though you know if probably won't make it into the actual thesis. There's a lot of pressure being in the final year. Being a role model (or at least not someone who scares other students away) is tough when you're feeling frazzled with deadlines that can't really get pushed back any further. Meeting those deadlines becomes even more important because you no longer have "next year" to go to conferences, or write that paper, or complete data collection. You also somehow have to write a thesis. So there is a great deal of pressure being a third year PhD student, much of it internal pressure we put on ourselves. So what do we do when there's so much pressure? What I'm trying to do is take a full day off from PhD work every week. The work will still be there, but removing myself from the work keeps the pressure from becoming too much. We'll see how I continue to get on in the rest of my third year, but so far this seems to be working. So for the rest of the students (third year PhD or not) out there, keep working, but make sure to take time for yourself, regardless of how much you have to do.
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A Second Blog Page?This is the part of the blog specifically about my PhD. It will include updates, musings, and advice. Archives
August 2022
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