memyselfandcoffee

i wouldn't worry about it, but I wouldn't go to my boss about it

neuropharmacology is an option if you are interested in the brain and behaviour. but i'm in pysch so i don't know too much about pharmacy, but in answer to your question, being 30 and having work experience won't hurt at all, infact it should work in your favor, you are really less of a risk to take on, as you know what u want to do and are more mature and reliable. good luck

i have everything backed up on dropbox at the moment, might add another backup to my list after reading that.

hi, first off I really agree with Julliett mercredi, I wouldn't persue more education until you had a better idea of what you want to do. as for doing a Phd, if you already feel like it's not what you want for life, a Phd won't help you at all, and also you will hate it. I am actually a first year psych. phd student and I love psychology, but sometimes because I have work constantly find it hard to keep going, there's just no way, in my opinion ,you would get through it if you didn't actually like it. also there would be no point-- a Phd in psych isn't much good if you don't want to be a psychologist , academic or clinicalyour career . it does to me sound like a masters or postgrad diploma would be a good way of changing your career to something you like more . Just wait until you have a better idea of what that is. I dont know what it is like in your country, but i had lots of options with my psychology degree. I applied and was accepted in a MSC in neuropharmacolgy, a MA publishing and editing, and a Msc health promotion and a Msc in neuroscinece I also could have applied to many other programmes if i had really wanted to switch fields. most postgraduate diplomas in my country are actually for that purpose. I could have done an 18 month course to do primary teaching, applied for graduate med school, there was also the option of MBA's, I considered Ma in eng literaure. and so on. A degree is great thing to have and psychology as subject is well respected. you talk about what you learned and how it is applicable to studying english, medicine, neuroscience, neuropharmocolgy, business and marketing. in my Phd degree programme, one guy has degree in physics and did a 2 year masters in psychology and another had undergrad in biomedical sciences and did a Msc in psychology. another girl did her first degree in some science subject and then a few years later went back and did a psych degree. and a techinician at my department did a psych undergrad and a Msc and Ph.D in neuropharmocalogy. i'm just telling you this to illustrate the point that many people move fileds from thier first degree, it's quite typical. so you have tons of options, and another degree isn't even out of the question in the future if you really need it. but definitely take more time to explore your options, before you jump in again.there's no need to be in a rush, I am 34 have 3 more years of my Phd to do. sure i wish i was younger, but my age isn't any disadvantage. I know you are under huge pressure right now, but you will get through it and you are obviously very capable. Good Luck!

congrats! I am nearing the end of coursework and teaching responsibilities, last day of teaching today )for this year), 1 essay to finish, a review to do, a viva, some papers to grade and then I am free to focus on my research...can't wait!

well you've gotten plenty of supportive, and in my opinion accurate , replies, but I'lll add my 2 cents. Once in while I really struggle with an essay and I feel dumb and get sick of it,at then it feels like pulling teeth, or trying to draw blood from a stone to get it finished. I am currently editing one of those essays right now. I spent way more time than usual on the essay and its still sub par. but reading your post made me realise that i have actually done this before and then got with things. So my answer to your questions is no I dont think you are stupid, probably too stuck in essay, ie cant see woods for trees. but don't let this experience knock your general confidence. as other posters have said, you wouldn't have got this far if weren't smart enough. realising from reading your post that others get stuck too, made me feel better, so I hope my reply alleviates some of your concerns. Hope it's coming together somewhat since you posted. Good luck!

first off, you HAVE to take one weekend off, trust me the burnt out, browned off feeling will stay if you dont. you'll be far more productive if you take just weekend off. then after that i don't really know what to say to you aside from congrats on doing so well. in 18 months you'll be a dr and the world is your oyster. i think maybe with us academics, work is everything, and then sometimes we're like i don't know what's wrong but i'm not feeling quite as fulfilled as i thought i would be. so that's why it is important to have hobbies and make time for family and friends. also you can spice things up a bit by doing a post doc somewhere exotic or cool, maybe even aim to get into a really prestigious uni so you will something to drive you again. as for being bored at 50, who knows, but you can always make a career change if that point you do in fact want to. or maybe, maybe you could sit back and consider is there a job that you don't see yourself bored in after doing it for 25 years?? but tbh i really feel what your feeling is normal, and not indicative of need to change career. so enjoy your weekend , you deserve it! remember its important to sharpen the saw

i second all of the above..definitely do not quit, .your almost finished, hang in there. if you hate it plan lots of little rewards for yourself, your study breaks can include researching alternative careers. and just be very glad you found out all this when you are young and don't have kids and mortgage ect that would prevent you changing. Also having a degree and masters will stand greatly to you when applying for other courses, if you decide to retrain. for example i'm doing a phd in psychology, one of my colleagues did an undergrad in physics and then a two year conversion course in psychology and is now doing a phd in psychology. another did a degree in biomedical science and did a masters in psyc. in my country anyway, once you have a degree you can switch careers entirely with 1-2 year conversion or masters courses. getting on these can be competitive , but having a degree and masters will really benefit you.so see completing this masters and doing well as setting yourself for career switch. also my sisters friend studied physics in undergrad and is now working in finance- very well paid apparently too. actually just remembered a very famous neuroscientist whose work i follow Joeseph Le doux, did his undergrad in i think it was economics good luck

okay I have essay due on friday- its way out of my comfort zone and i doubt my ability to do it, as a result i procrastinated all day yesterday, couldnt sleep till 4 am then today, read some articles and couldnt really understand them, wanted to cry ect. so now I've given mysefl a pep talk, decided to simplify everything down, only use what i understand for essay, even if it means i get less than stellar grade and the module leader thinks i'm stupid- which he will so now i'm thinking of having coffee eventho its 9.30 pm here, and staying up till 5 a.m i'm afraid if i leave it till tommorrow ill be too panicked to start , particularly when it daunts me already good idea or no?? advice, words of encouragement thanks

well my 2 cents is if you cant live on 35K a year, your going to really struggle doing a PH.D, sure i would pay off the credit card and consider moving & relocation costs, but really 35 K a year is lots, I lived in san fran for a year, it was about 10 years ago, but cost of living wasn't extraordinarily high back then anyway-- though actually one thing, accommodation was really hard to find (when i was there anyway) so i think if I were moving there I would consider campus accomadtion, they have nice affordable one beds for postgrads as far as i know. good luck!

I'm no expert, so take my advice with pinch of salt, i'll just rely my experience to you. when i started my Ph.D i knew the area i wanted to research in, but needed to find a topic, so I remember in my first meeting i enthusiastically said to my advisor i would go off and write a couple of 5,000 word lit reviews in on some areas i was interested--- and he said No dont do that and now i can see why-- I learnt so much more just reserching one area at a time and not worrying about composing If you know exactly what your project is going to be, then maybe you could start. but most likely your project will evolve alot, I mean alot, through working collaboratively with your supervisor. What i would do, is get some anthologies or edited books in the general area, and just improve your background knowledge- also i can't speak for your field, but in psychology the best use of pre-year would be to get a job as a research assistant and learn about the research process and brush up on stats and research methods

the a-team theme tune is also good-- its funny too im currently doing a funding application, and my anxiety is about a 3

Hi I just can't face my work right now, and i have a funding deadline in 15 days. I recently switched topics, new topic is interesting and i have ideas, but i am just paralzed by something, i honestly don't what is wrong with me 3.5 hours yesterday and ZERO today, and i actually barely have enough time to do what i need to do in the first place i think it may be partly overwhelmed by what i have to do, and partly just so afraid of not getting funding- its just depressing thinking about it have been craving food-- just ate 2 dinners- have pain in tummy now, and just feel like i can't sbap out of this negative type of rut help me please- advice to get passed this

i second the above. decision making and motivation are researched extensively in social psych. so i would look at some researchers in that field. Also there are some pretty cool masters in decision making- if your rich check out the MSC in decision making at UCL (London) and i am sure there are comparable one's in the US.

I'm feeling a little all over the place, I have great days and i have days that just get frittered away. So how do you schedule your study time-- do you have a set routine? a set amount of hours, or are you like me, plan to work every hour in the day, which works fine some days, but is a total disaster alot of the time any tips for time organisation? also how many hours a week do you put in, and how many hours do spend on downtime? I find it really hard to be disciplined, I tend to just work when I feel it-- I think I need to change, I'm pretty conscientious and I like what I'm doing, so I do work, but right now I feel out of control and like I need a routine. i think this could be a useful thread for alot of people, so please share your work habits! thanks

well thanks for all the very helpful replies, i realise on hearing about eigens research adventures that i'm being unrealistic expected everything to just pan out so simply- if it wasn't for the looming funding deadline i wouldn't be so concerned, though. as always julliet mercredi's advice has given me alot of food for thought, I thik i need work harder, but also I need to stop beeting myself up for taking time off when i do, as that only demotivates me further. I am feeling a little all over the place though, so i do need to start structuring my time, and to that end i am going to make a very productive start ( I'm being sarcastic!) by creating a thread on time organisation!

I spent most of last term developing a research plan for next 4 years and realised about 2 weeks that there was some research that had researched the same concepts, in a slightly different way-- so now im starting researching a new topic. i have funding application deadline in exactly 4 weeks and i don't even know what i'm doing, i feel kind of depressed about it, very demotivated and can barely make myself work eventho i now have lots to do the new area is interesting, but i think part of the problem is this research affects me personally, so that just adds to upsetness i feel, so anyway, i just needed to rant, also, i'm feeling like i haven't been working hard enough since i started this programme and that now i'm even worse and i feel like such a loser, which just demotivates me even further i keep thinking if i worked harder i would have found out sooner i needed to change topic, or maybe even if i had been doing more general reading, i would have better idea where to go. in terms of failures i applied for 3 competitions re presenting research, small grants ect and didn't get any of them-- mainly as far as i'm concerned through not putting in enough effort, and i feel like i just can't stop myself sliding down into a total rut and messing this one the most important one too.

i dont fully know how in works in the states, but here alot of places provisionally accept you depending on your overall results form your undergrad or masters. alot of importance was put on how well I did in my research project- I got a B- a bad grade for me and my supervisor immediately hedged when he heard that-- the only reason it didn't go against me , was that supervisor on that project was a good friend of my new supervisor and he told him I had been unfairly graded and should have got an A- which he actually believed. anyway I tell you this , to make you realise you still have this last hurdle to get though ( and actually it's only the beginning)) so if your worn out from all the work and application work and stress- take a guiltfree long weekend off ( you deserve it and its important to sharpen the saw!) and then get back into it--- those dreams you have may not become a reality if you don't

hi Fuzzylogician, I took your advice , re sleep--- it was great advice and i would have been totally confused if i had stayed up as late as i had originally planned- so thanks.. btw I got a first!! woop!

I have been studying intensely all day- am pretty tired now, but have nearly half the course to finish. so need a break and chat, but i cant seem to get into chat for some reason. anyway words of encouragement? also how bad will this affect me if i bomb- the examiner is a friend of my supervisor and also I've worked with him before- i dread sitting there like an incompentent loser also he would a good contact to maintain in terms of getting jobs... so thats where I'm at i need some energy or inspiration to get me over this last slump.... i fugure i can 8 hours done now, then in morning i have to travel to another city for the viva

claerly the two years haven't been a waste, you have i'm sure gained valuable knowledge, both implicit and explicit and broadened or deepened your understanding of your feild 2) you have now a masters from a good uni to add to your cv--- you said your good at securing employment- so who knows where this will take you 3) you acheived something real- you sacrificed some personal comfort in the end of a worthy goal- kudos you should be very proud of your acheivement now how to really maximise your sacrifice( for want of a better word) get positive and put your all inot this semester- pick your favourite subjects and challenge yourself to outdo yourself in terms grades and learning from them--- get some A's to list on your cv then in terms of not fitting into grad programme- you seem to fine elsewhere so you probably don't have any major issues but you really to me seem to look at things, in particular yourself and your achievements in a negative light-- You have achieved something great and its nearing the end and instead of congratulating yourself your telling yourself it was a waste of time, and you have ruined your future if you think this negatively all the time it may explain your depression there's no quick fix to that- like brainwashing yourself with positive mantras-- but i think to me it sounds like your very self critical instead of self- affirming-- maybe some time with a good counsellor would help? anyway that's my two cent- and congratulations again on your achievement--- you should be really proud and self-satisfied right now( in my opinion) good luck!

you could maybe explore how professional identity in police force promotes or prevents misconduct.

does doing a PhD count as being employed?

I think the comment about blcak people being less intelligent was insensitive and it was completely inappropiate for her to refer to that research (if it is infact valid!) in class. But aside from that I think you are over-reacting and thinking way too much about this prof- sorry to say it and I'm sure its not what you want to hear. the fact of the matter she does not spend a fraction of the amount of time thinking about you as u imagine, she prob has tons of students and you are just one of many. one sends inappropriate (sorry again, but its true) emails and overacts to imagined offences, if anything she could be being a bit cool with you because you sent that email about personal issues. i think you forgot this a professional relationship, with far more time thought on your end than hers. sure some profs are very freindly , but that is only after a certain amount of time. its not like she's your supervisor. stop obsessing over it, assume she's not deliberately out to get you and FORGET ABOUT IT. this is only problem if you think it is, and i am sure none else is thinking about it. I know this isn't what you want to hear, so sorry. good luck

I am not sure what should do, but perhaps if you talked to someone in career advice centre they could tell you if too much is being expected of you, and what you can reasonably do about it. one thing, though, I don't think part of your teaching job should entail answering tons of emails from students on a daily basis. why not set up a discussion forum on your elearning site, to field questions, which you could tell them will be replied to on a certain day each week. so then you could just spend a couple of hours one day week on that. or else could you set up a 2 hour slot in the week to have office hours? good luck1