Dal PhDer

It's doable...but from my experience, graduate school is not about reading and learning literature...it's a lot of synthesizing, critiquing, and critical thinking - this takes a lot of time and energy...so I might be hesitant. I took 3 courses one semester and felt very overwhelmed - I was doing RA and TA work too...but I did feel the extra responsibility, content, and pressure wasn't what I wanted. I would really ask yourself what each of the courses are adding to your thesis topic. It's one thing to take courses out of interest in undergrad, but in graduate school, you really want to particular of the courses you take - you want them to compliment your thesis topic and degree (outside of the required courses). If it's something you're interested in, but might not be directly related to your research, you might want to audit it! Also, if you're planning on writing a thesis proposal and defending it during the semester, and one of those courses aren't a research methods class...then you're going to be overwhelmed most likely. Writing and defending a thesis proposal is a class in and of itself. Have you talked to your supervisor?

Have you asked for comments on the latest rejection? Keep working on it, sometimes it's a combination of timing, editors, and luck that gets you through!

I love TAing. I've had good and bad experiences, everyone will, but overall- I think it's an important and valuable experience for graduate students. Also, if you think you may want to go into teaching later, it's a must for the experience...but it may also shape your decision/opinion of teaching. As mentioned above, sit in on a lab and even a lecture! It's helpful! Also, your school may have a Center for Learning and Teaching that offers courses/workshops/seminars on teaching higher education. If your school does have it, I would recommend talking to them- they are amazing!

I would suggest grabbing a coffee or a drink! Something where you guys can chat and get to know eachother!

Costco is my happy place.

Join. Join. Join. Join. Join!! -Try for oncampus groups : does your department have a student society you can join? - Join recreational sports (especially co-ed), you'll meet friends and potential partners...plus it's fun! - Join meetup (as the above person said!) : that's a great way to meet people! You really need to put yourself out there to meet people. It can be scary at first, but what's the worst that could happen? They say no? Big deal! And the more you do it, the more it'll be easier...and also, if you meet one person, you then have the opportunity to meet people through them!

Chips are my weakness...I just can't keep them around me because I will eat an entire bag in one sitting... especially ketchup!!!

you've made me sooo hungry! Your avocado dip sounds AMAZING! I'm a sucker for anything avocado related! I had a friend that use to make this amazing dip with shrimp, avocado, wasabi, lemon, garlic and green onions. It doesn't sound good, but OH.MY.GOD.....it's amazing! Especially on crunchy bread!

Happy Valentines Day, GC'ers! Here's a little love from me to you. And remember: Today is a day where you recognize that special someone in your life, and treat them right. ....if you're lucky you're single like me, and this means that you get to buy yourself a lot of guilty pleasures with no remorse!!

I think the hardest thing I've learned (and am still learning) is that you have to compromise on your work sometimes. It use to kill me not going to class having read everything, or not having a pristine A+ paper handed in, when it was a pass/fail class...but I realized that it's prioritizing your time and work to get everything that needs completion, done. I have found that I can get through everything by skimming my readings and identifying the key arguments/details. If there's something that is especially heavy, I might take the time to read it more closely. But at this level, it's not about regurgitating the literature, it's about reading it, and formulating an opinion - which you can learn to do without reading word from word. Writing was a really big thing I found difficult to get over. If an assignment is to hand in a draft, it took me awhile to actually learn how to hand in a draft and not a fully completed paper! But it happens! You'll learn to recognize where you need to delegate your time. With that said- I think we are all struggling to find time to get everything done. It's hard...we have a lot of crap to do! But people recognize that, and are pretty good at understanding. I think you should set up a routine that works best for you. I tend to not like to write if I only have an hour or two between meetings/classes/etc. So I will do my readings, emails, marking, etc. during that time, and then set a giant chunk for just sitting and writing. SO you need to figure out what will be best for your productivity and schedule. But you're not alone! We all feel that way, you'll soon get better at being okay with it, and that it's a fact of life- there's not enough hours in the day!

All you need to do is send him a in a text and you're set!! hehehehehe! Congrats!!

HAHAHA! The sad thing is...every time I eat them, I wish they were actually soaked in wine! hehehehe

A lab I use to work in got audited (after I left) ... I felt so much stress and I wasn't even there and/or involved! Good luck!

It sounds like this person has a serious case of "I don't know what's appropriate to say and what's not!" If your advisor says anything, just tell them the truth: you were taking charge of the situation, and didn't want to bother your advisor over something that wasn't serious. I think you did the right thing!

This is why I am no longer living at home! I honestly think you'll look back and really value that time. It's different living with your parents when you're an adult! Please, if you decide it's not for you, you at least are in a situation where you can find a roommate and a different situation without having a time pressure. Good luck!!

I don't know...I think in some respects it would wash away some of these fairy tales that once you graduate college/university a great paying job appears magically for you. That's not the reality. I wonder if students realized the job market available to them post-graduation if it would change their choice to pursue university education. I'm from Canada, and typically after highschool you (a) go to university, ( go to a trade school, or © go into the work force. Students normally choose option a because they think at the end of 4 years, they'll have better job opportunities. If they were shown the stats of post-grad salaries, they might realize that a trade school route is what they'd like to do. Honestly, if I had known that after my UG that I wouldn't be able to get any different work than I could have after highschool, I would have gone to a trade school (probably policy academy! I would cure criminals with hugs...). I think it's important to education perspective students on their options...and that includes showing them what they'll have to look forward to after graduation! On the other hand, I feel like it's reinforcing a horrible culture within our education system. Higher education is a means to an end for most people. People pay to get their degree, not to learn. Too much emphasis is placed on completing this course, to get this degree, to get that job...instead of looking at education as a process, and valued for it's learning.

I like the idea of just taking time to be quiet and reflect..I don't do that enough. I use to have that time, but I haven't been making sure I get it! I think if I did that for a bit during the day, it would make me less 'fuzzy' for my evening classes! ...heck.. I would probably have a lot less blonde moments if I did that more! Thanks for that article! I've been thinking about sleep a lot since I read this article, and it's not really pushed upon in grad school. I feel like it's something we're almost expected to sacrifice- and yet it is essential. But it's not often we're (or at least I am) encouraged to take time off and rejuvenate. I do tend to fuel myself on sugar and caffeine...and then crash...only to refuel again. I was never like that, it's a bad habit that has caught up to me! I could never pull an all nighter. I use to literally feel ill if I stay up past 4am...I still do! I don't know how people pull all nghters and then go into work again! I need at least 3-4 hours of sleep to be marginally productive. I wonder if my sleep schedule was off because I was fighting a cold. I've been fighting something for about 2 weeks, and my sleep had gotten progressively work over those 2 weeks...it caught up to me, because I am dead sick...at least it's help me reset my schedule! haha

I like to eat healthy...but there's something so satisfying to eating junk while you work! It's like 'you're worth it!' Wine gummies are little candies that aren't really sweet - they're a bit tart- and generally kind of hard and chewy! They are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!! However, gummies soaked in wine would be 100% better! OMG!! Seriously!!! I have to try this! This sounds AMAZING! I have a recipe that is for banana sorbet...it's literally just mashing up a froze banana...it's so good!! I always try to avoid snacking...because it can end up in mindless eating...but I can't help myself! I know what you mean about it not making you feel good after awhile...sometimes I'll stop to take a break from work and be like..."oy...my belly..." then I'll look over at my snack and be like "WHO ATE MY SNACK!!?" hehehe Are wine gummies Canadian? Tims coffee is amazing. You either love it or hate it (but secretly love it!)

I think that would be a pretty funny exchange! In regards to smilies...I learned something the other day. Did you know a " ; ) " in a text to a person you're flirting with/dating means you want to 'bow chicka wow wow' with them? I didn't....it explains a lot though....

I lived with my mom for the first two years of my PhD. I did it because it made sense financially and worked with my family dynamics (helping my mom take care of my grandfather). I won't lie, I kind of felt weird telling people about it, thinking they would think that I wasn't independent or self-sufficient...but honestly, everyone I talked to said they would do the same thing if they could! {{On a side note, I actually LOVED living back home...it was kind of nice to have someone be all like, 'oooh, you're working so hard dear, here's a snack!' or 'ooh, you're getting home so late tonight, I'll make sure to have dinner ready!' ...it was literally heaven! It was also nice to spend time with my mother who saw me as a roommate, and a woman- rather than a child. I had a lot of great time with her and enjoyed it!}} But I knew it was temporary- just like it's temporary for you! And it's also a great way to ease into the transition of your program without the worry and stress of finding a place, roommates, etc. You can worry about that later - if you choose to! I also think if you're spending 10-14 hours a day at school/work, then why pay for a place where you're hardly there? On another note: I think the western culture pressures children to leave from the nest early and go off to find their own lives- it's a sign of success and growth. In a lot of eastern cultures, the family stays together through out the entire lifespan..the same sense of success that leaving has in the western culture, is accomplished by being there for your family and creating a sense of community. So, in other cultures, it's normal for a child to live with their parents well into adulthood, and be there to support their parents in a bunch of ways! This has always bothered me, because I live close to my family and see them everyday- I do this to help them in a number of ways, but people often see it as a co-dependence and me not being self-sufficient...but I'm choosing to do it- I don't need too...ok...done tangent rant!

Please do! My research is based in the biophilia hypothesis! And I totally agree about your comment on sustainability. Children today don't experience the natural world, and are more likely to have lower stewardship toward sustainable ventures. Therefore, we risk demolishing our natural environment! I think children grow up in a virtual world. And it's much easier to make and break bonds that way. For instance, you can simply log off if your online friend is annoying you, but real life isn't like that! It would be interesting to see how relationships are formed/kept/broken in the next generation!

Haha! Well it's nice to hear that there are others out there that aren't sticking to a consistent schedule! I have heard melatonin is good for jet lag, I've never considered it for a more daily use! I do need to get into a routine. A couple months ago I would go to be by 11pm and read for an hour, and I would always fall asleep before midnight... Maybe it's just my overloaded schedule, but I feel that if I can just get one more thing done before bed, it's one less thing for me to worry about tomorrow! haha! Hopefully our situations will both work out! I'm a big coffee drinker, so that was the first thing I thought I would cut out in the evenings...so I stop at 6pm...but maybe that's not even early enough. It's weird, I crash around 7-8, and then get a boost of energy around 9/10...so I take advantage! I do think it's most likely the exercise. I am going to have to start meditating. Before the holidays I was doing yoga 2-3 times per week, and I think that helped my sleeping...but since then I've stopped...tonight I'm going to try the breathing and the mindfulness they teach you in yoga! Hopefully that works...if not, I have a bottle of wine to help me relax Do you nap a lot during the days? I would love to nap, but am terrified that I won't end up sleeping until the sun comes up the next day! haha I totally agree that sleep is really important. I use to need 7 hours to function, and I probably still do, and am going to crash sometime soon! I'm hoping I can reset my clock this weekend by going t bed at a decent time and forcing myself to go into work at the normal time tomorrow. Ideally, I would love to be on the schedule you have! I'm so glad not to be alone! haha! I use to freak out being up so late when everyone else was asleep! I was like "if something happens, I'll be the only person who knows about it!" haha! How do you find the napping impacts your sleep at night? I have 2 4-7 classes this semester, and they kill me...I really really enjoy them, but I find after working all day, to go and sit for 3 hours just depletes me of all energy...(until I 9pm when I get a boost!)

For me, when I sit down for a day of hardcore work, I indulge in guilty eating to make the process 10000x more enjoyable. What are your go to study foods, good or bad. I'm on a wine gummy kick! They're the perfect size and chewy factor! I'm also big into Triscuit crackers (their new tomato ones are so yummy)...oh, and I have to have a can of diet coke. Do you let yourself have treat snacks to make the work time better? I always have study dates with my friends where we all bring snacks and eat all day while we study. Junk food does make it much more enjoyable!

That makes perfect sense! I'm not in the hard hard sciences, so I hear mixed comments about PhDs - some say it limits you outside of academics, others say it does nothing, and ...well, that's all I've heard! hehe - but this is coming from my small group of science people I know personally. It's great that you're taking advantage of the career counsellor! I hope it really helps you! Another way to look at it, especially if you're not interested in staying in academics but really getting a PhD for the credential aspect, is that it's just a means to an end. I've said it in another thread, but for most, the PhD is just another step in their long career...what they do during the PhD, doesn't necessarily matter. From personal experience, it's much hard to find the motivation and interest in completing a project you're not interested in..but if you have a project, and the support, and feel you can get through it and be done in a good time...it might be worth doing it - especially if it will get you into the career you want! I'm going more on my knowledge of my field and what I've heard from friends...so I apologize if I'm totally off! But we're all here rootin' for ya!

I am 99% confident that SSHRC results, regardless of the competition level, will be announced no earlier than April!