Venting Thread- Vent about anything.

[VulpesZerda]

THIS, so much. I really, really value my sleep, and if I get less than 8-9 hours, I just fall asleep everywhere at random times of the day and can't seem to get anything done at all. I was talking to fellow cohort members today about sleep and one guy was saying that he can get by with 5-6 hours every day and drinking tons of coffee. Why do my "excessive" sleeping and refusal to rely on caffeine indicative of lower work ethic? Ugh.

 

I'm the same exact way! 9 hours is ideal for me. Another student blatantly asked me, "Wow, how do you get anything done?" Well, actually, having a good night's sleep makes me way more productive than all those people getting 3 hours and guzzling coffee. And when they tell me about their habit I'm just like... "neat."

[Monochrome Spring]

I lost all almost all of my friends. I feel completely lost without a support system to fall back on. It's a struggle to get out of bed every morning, not knowing what the future holds, if anything matters, or if anyone cares. 

[thepinkdragon76]

I lost all almost all of my friends. I feel completely lost without a support system to fall back on. It's a struggle to get out of bed every morning, not knowing what the future holds, if anything matters, or if anyone cares.

How long have you felt this way? Have you seen anyone about it? It sounds like you are suffering from depression. So I hope, that, if this statement is true, you will seek help. You're not alone. We are here for you.

[ERR_Alpha]

I lost all almost all of my friends. I feel completely lost without a support system to fall back on. It's a struggle to get out of bed every morning, not knowing what the future holds, if anything matters, or if anyone cares.

I felt like this for a while my senior year in high school. Family problems made me reclusive and push everyone away, and I adopted some pretty bad habits I still have. The best advice I can give is just go one day at a time. Be easy on yourself. When no one else is around, you need to be your biggest supporter. You may have some days where you lay in bed, and that's okay. Try to identify what makes you happy or relaxed and what stresses you out. If people offer to listen (and you trust them) then vent. I made the mistake of not thinking that people cared, when so many people actually did.

Above all, put yourself first. A PhD will be a part of you. Not all of you, or what defines you. If you need a break from school or anything else, take it. Mental health comes first.

Personally, video games and reading help me to refresh. Or taking a long drive.

I hope this helped... I'm sure I speak for a lot of us on here when I say we're all here if you want to vent about it or talk about something to distract you.

[laminator]

@Monochrome Spring: Please see a therapist. Or you're welcome to message me. I've been there, and it really helps talking to someone.

 

Venting: Just had to tell all my POIs at n-1 of the schools that I wouldn't be joining them. At the one other program I was really interested in my POI said "wow that is a HUGE bummer" and told me he thought their research was the best in the world in the area... Nothing like making a hard decision even harder. Ugh.

[mockturtle]

The REU stress-dreams have begun. I just had one where I had my project stolen (somehow) and everyone said I was a terrible person after I told the guy off. And then they all went bowling without me.

 

The ruined research and personal insult I can take, but leaving me out of the bowling trip????? 

[maelia8]

It's 4am, I ate too many garlic fries eight hours ago, I just woke up with a bad stomachache, and I'm all out of antacids. NOBODY IS SUPPOSED TO BE AWAKE RIGHT NOW. AGH. 

 

Sorry that this is irrelevant to grad school (except for the fact that I ate the fries at our weekly cohort bar night), but it is creepy being awake at this time, alone and in a fair amount of gastric distress.

[Marst]

It is day 4 of excruciating pain. It will pass. It always passes, so that is what I hold on to. All I have been able to think is how much I want to kill myself. I really need someone to talk to, but there is nothing to be done, no one to help, so it seems so pointless to bother someone with. I could not avoid telling one teacher, but other than that I have been keeping on appearances, somehow.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Marst

[Cheshire_Cat]

I have to get 8-9 hours a sleep at night to function too!  Every once in a while people tell me I shouldn't need that much and I try to test their theory with bad results.  Just let me sleep!  I drink caffine in the morning, but that doesn't mitigate my need for sleep.

Also, one of my coworkers on my project was let go yesterday.  Told he had a month to clean up his work and then he was gone. WTH?  I mean, I knew he wasn't doing as well as I am at it, but still... they keep asking us for productivity and then firing people. What am I supposed to think?  I understand the project, but lack the project management skills to make sure I don't forget one or two of the reviews I'm juggling.  Hopefully this will get better with time, since it will be needed in the Ph.D program.  Also, being bored really hurts my attention to detail.  If I get fired then I really will breathe a sigh of relief and become a starbucks barista for six months.

[Cheshire_Cat]

I know this is supposed to be a venting thread, but WHOOHOO!!  I just got let go from that damned project!  I still have to finish my work, which sucks, but at least they won't be giving me anymore, and I will be going back to something I enjoy.  My office wanted to keep me, so I'll still be working here, just not on that project.  I'm glad they are at least as loyal to me as I am to them.  I'm back on one of two projects that I enjoyed.  Such a relief.  I really was about ready to become a coffee barista.

[ERR_Alpha]

My SO is SO much more passive (nicer?) than me. (Probably a good thing...) his manager at work is treating him like crap and being a psycho and I just want to go in there and make her cry... And he's just like "it's not worth it!" Fjsjehdndndnf I know he's right but damn, if that was me I would be reacting so much differently.

[Guest]

People who post about having  mediocre GRE scores. Then, you read on to see them complaining about their score being in the low 160s and classifying it as being 'mediocre' in their terms. Including myself, there are people out there who scored in the mid 140s to low 150s and would personally trade for such a score,my friends.

Edited March 7, 2015 by Guest

[TenaciousBushLeaper]

The lab manager in the lab I'm completing my undergraduate studies is a dick. I get this vibe that he think's he's above me and another undergraduate in the lab. He once asked if participants(for a study) I had in mind, were documented(here legally), simply because they were non native english speakers. His account as hacked and he immediately assumed it was me. LKJDLSKFJDSLKFJLEKJF ......I enjoy the people in my lab, everyone EXCEPT for him and worse of all he might be a graduate student in the lab this coming academic year. 

[Quantum Buckyball]

"Which division are you in again?"

 

I was like, really? 

[Wonton Soup]

The definition of insanity is NOT doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That's ridiculous! Read Foucault!

 

Ugh the worst cliche ever.

[landshark]

Drives me nuts when you tell someone no, and they want explanations and keep coming back like a really annoying ex who can't seem to get a date with anyone else.

[Page228]

Drives me nuts when you tell someone no, and they want explanations and keep coming back like a really annoying ex who can't seem to get a date with anyone else.

...Said every university ever.

[SLPosteriorCricoarytenoid]

I also can't stress enough how annoying it is that I am applying to the graduate program at my current institution. I get a lot of junk emails about sporting events and things on campus. I get trolled daily by them sending me junk emails about sports (I DON'T CARE)...Regardless, I never fail to freak out when I see my school's name in the sender area. 

[.letmeinplz//]

I also can't stress enough how annoying it is that I am applying to the graduate program at my current institution. I get a lot of junk emails about sporting events and things on campus. I get trolled daily by them sending me junk emails about sports (I DON'T CARE)...Regardless, I never fail to freak out when I see my school's name in the sender area. 

This is me but with every email that causes my phone to notify me (I use Google Inbox so only priority emails and financial ones notify my phone). Just the sound of a vibration puts me on edge and then I see it is Amazon asking me to rate some salt.

[MangoSmoothie]

^Same. I'm not sure how Amazon asking me to rate pens gets in to my priority inbox and alerts me (they're awesome pens, though, and good pens are a priority in my life...), but I always get excited at that blue light meaning I have a gmail notification. The one time I wasn't excited at it it was an acceptance offer go figure.

 

I'm even excited when I'm walking towards my front door and see I have postal mail sitting in my box since some of my schools notify by post. 90% of the time it's spam mail or my internet company trying to sell me cable.

[shadowclaw]

It's really annoying when people post non-results to the results page. There are things like "still waiting" and "has anyone heard anything?" Posting stuff like that is helpful to no one but yourself and clutters up the results. That is what the discussion forum is for.

I also get annoyed when people don't even know the real name of the program they are applying to. One of my programs is a doctoral program in Biological Sciences, but almost everyone who posted to the results page put Biology. It's also annoying when people can't follow instructions and put abbreviations of schools names (e.g. PSU instead of Pennsylvania State University).

Sorry, this has all annoyed me for a long time, and today a few people using the results page like a forum really got on my nerves.

[MangoSmoothie]

It's really annoying when people post non-results to the results page. There are things like "still waiting" and "has anyone heard anything?" Posting stuff like that is helpful to no one but yourself and clutters up the results. That is what the discussion forum is for.

 

That's what I was going to complain about! Speech-path people seem to be particularly bad about it...or maybe I notice it a lot there because that's the results I browse. Haha. There was a quite a few posts even a week back or so where people complained on the results page that their posts were getting deleted because "not everyone wants to use the forums so we should be able to use the results board" and they said people who are irritated by non-results crowding the results page need "lighten up." They were actually discussing the program, visit dates, etc. All of which can and should be done on the forum. It's not that hard to make an account if you really want to discuss that, and then it's in an easy-to-find and accessible place...

 

And speaking of the forum, I'm getting more and more irritated by people not searching before creating a thread. As far as I'm aware, this website doesn't have a policy against bumping old threads, and if you just search a little bit you often can find the information you're looking for, rather than making a new thread with a question that's been asked ten times before.

Edited March 10, 2015 by MangoSmoothie

[.letmeinplz//]

It's really annoying when people post non-results to the results page. There are things like "still waiting" and "has anyone heard anything?" Posting stuff like that is helpful to no one but yourself and clutters up the results. That is what the discussion forum is for.

I also get annoyed when people don't even know the real name of the program they are applying to. One of my programs is a doctoral program in Biological Sciences, but almost everyone who posted to the results page put Biology. It's also annoying when people can't follow instructions and put abbreviations of schools names (e.g. PSU instead of Pennsylvania State University).

Sorry, this has all annoyed me for a long time, and today a few people using the results page like a forum really got on my nerves.

 

 

[same]

There was a thread here recently about it (someone who was for it and asked why paragraphs of asking "does anyone know this" were being deleted from a results search). I got downvoted for saying

 

They specifically link the forum as a place for discussion, results page should be for results so people can use the page for results.

 

Whatever, reporting those non-result results posts as spam seems to work in getting the clutter removed from the search.

Edited March 10, 2015 by <ian>

[Cheshire_Cat]

 

 

And speaking of the forum, I'm getting more and more irritated by people not searching before creating a thread. As far as I'm aware, this website doesn't have a policy against bumping old threads, and if you just search a little bit you often can find the information you're looking for, rather than making a new thread with a question that's been asked ten times before.

To some extent I agree, but a lot of people don't go to forums for information, they go primarily for discussion.  Plus, 2012 information may no longer be accurate 3 years later.

[shadowclaw]

I report them as spam when I see them, but I just decided to take a gander at SLP results to see what it was like. MangoSmoothie is right, there is so much of that going on with those programs, and the volume of results (and non-results) is so high, it would be a lot of reporting to get even a day's worth of non-results cleared.

I just love when people downvote just because they don't agree with you. Someone could have the most logical and well supported post ever, but there will always be whiny immature posters who can't stand to be contradicted.