When I started my PhD, I was inundated with stories from former and current PhDs about what a grueling and nerve-wrecking experience it is. The contrarian that I am, I dismissed the stories as self-important twaddle from people who were trying to feel special. I was determined to not only enjoy but glide through my PhD. After all, I hadn't lost any sleep over my master's research paper, unlike many of my classmates.
Now that I am in my final year of my PhD, it is time to acknowledge that I was wrong. The PhD is grueling, potentially nerve-wrecking and unique experience. I was determined to treat it as a 9 to 6 job but its not. What makes it special? Firstly, it is an isolating experience with few clear milestones. It is a continual struggle to keep one spirit's up and fight impostor's syndrome, sometimes on a daily basis. A PhD dissertation is like a book, but doing a PhD is much more difficult. Most people who write non-fiction books have a reasonably clear idea what they want to write a book and have established expertise in the subject, not to mention a decent-sized publishing record. In a PhD, one lacks the training, the confidence, the subject expertise. The only thing one doesn't lack is the ambition to do a stonking PhD. So, yes, doing a PhD is a unique experience and one has to endure unique pressures.
Now that I am in my final year of my PhD, it is time to acknowledge that I was wrong. The PhD is grueling, potentially nerve-wrecking and unique experience. I was determined to treat it as a 9 to 6 job but its not. What makes it special? Firstly, it is an isolating experience with few clear milestones. It is a continual struggle to keep one spirit's up and fight impostor's syndrome, sometimes on a daily basis. A PhD dissertation is like a book, but doing a PhD is much more difficult. Most people who write non-fiction books have a reasonably clear idea what they want to write a book and have established expertise in the subject, not to mention a decent-sized publishing record. In a PhD, one lacks the training, the confidence, the subject expertise. The only thing one doesn't lack is the ambition to do a stonking PhD. So, yes, doing a PhD is a unique experience and one has to endure unique pressures.
No comments:
Post a Comment