Just a quick note to praise the longevity of pen and paper and their importance to PhD life...well, mine anyway.
Advances in technology have put computer desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones wherever you look. The main purpose of technology is speed. To make tasks quicker, easier and more efficient. Of course, I am very grateful to be able to type my 80,000 word thesis rather than hand write it, for the software that can compute all the nasty statistics for me and programs that file and organise my references. I admit that mighty Google has been a life-saver on many occasions, and having instant access to materials from around the world through electronic journals has made research a much easier job than scholarly predecessors had. I have barely stepped foot in a library since I started studying but if I ever need to look at an actual book then Amazon.com usually does the trick. Without the beloved computer, my presentation skills would take a massive nosedive if I were forced to return to the days of acetate sheets, overhead projectors and hand-drawing tables and graphs. Let's not forget the hours of procrastination provided by Facebook, YouTube, and, for when you want to pretend you're keeping up to date with current affairs, BBC News.
Yes, technology really is wonderful and most of the time I would say it wins hands down, I couldn't do without it and I will admit to being surgically attached to my iPhone...BUT there are just some tasks I find almost impossible to do on-screen, no matter how fancy, clever and intuitive they make the software.
Reading academic papers, or reading anything for that matter is a key example. Proof-reading chapters/papers, presentations, etc. I am unlikely to be a Kindle convert any time soon. Yes you can highlight text, make comments and track changes when proof-reading and editing but it's just not the same as getting a hard copy and going to town on it with a highlighter, red pen and spreading the pages all over the place. It's much more satisfying scribbling through some ridiculous waffle you previously bashed out and scrawling "what was I thinking?!" in bright red ink, than simply pressing DELETE until the evidence is gone for ever. There's no danger of accidentally leaving some of your own 'bad writing commentary' on the final version as it will be in the recycling; type it in your document and it could be overlooked and sent to your supervisor by mistake.
Personal timetabling is another thing I just don't find as useful in the electronic world. I know there are people who swear by their smartphones, Google calendars, Outlook planners, and have every single aspect of their life synced to ensure they don't forget anything, but it just doesn't work for me. Give me a to-do list on my whiteboard or a list of notes in my diary and I'm happy as Larry (and more likely to turn up to my appointments and get the jobs done - most of the time).
Finally, brain-storming or doing a bit of tough mental work. I can sit and stare at a screen and try and work out a plan, or how my stats all work together and I may, eventually, reach an answer. But. give me a bunch of pens, preferably in a multitude of pretty colours, and some paper to hash out my ideas on and I'll get there much faster and with a greater sense of understanding. I don't know whether it's because you are physically writing out words and this takes you longer, giving you time to work things through, but I find writing things down can often be the only way of wrapping my head around something I'm particularly struggling with. Personally, I don't think you can beat a handwritten spider-diagram for planning or revision.
It may be because you have to engage your brain a little more when handwriting something, at least I think so anyway...don't quote me. Whatever the reason, I value my stationary just as much as the several hundreds of pounds worth of technology I use to help me get through my studies. I will never have a fully digitised existence. My house will always be full of real books and I'll enjoy reading a handwritten card or letter much more than an e-mail. I might not be able to live without technology but I couldn't do without the traditional way either!
Wednesday 29 August 2012
Monday 30 July 2012
In My Expert Opinion...Wait...What?!
I realise that as a now, nearly, third year PhD student I should be pretty much 'on it' when it comes to my research topic. By the time this thing is all wrapped up, bound and gathering dust on my bookshelf I should consider myself an expert on the whole shebang. But that all feels very distant and far away at the moment, or is that the denial kicking in?
With as this 'supposed' expert status rapidly approaches it just seems so hard to believe after spending the last two years asking for help. It doesn't seem that long ago since me, my luggage, my Northern-come -Scottish accent and I arrived in the South with not a scooby doo on how to go about this whole PhD malarky. It felt like I was having to ask absolute everyone on what I should be doing, and how I needed to do it.
How does the ethics system work here? How do I recruit schools for my study? How does the Research Participation System work? Could I please have a copy of your paper Mr/Mrs Bigshot Academic? What methods did you use for your research? How do I analyse the data? Which conferences should I go to? Where can I get funding? What do you say to a tutorial full of students that haven't done the reading? Who knows about this area of research? Who can help me with....*insert endless list of needs and questions here*
So it makes a nice change when someone comes to me and asks me how to do something on the expectation that I'm likely to know better than they do! My fellow PhD intake buddies and I got a flavour of this when last year's PhD students started, and I'm sure there will be just as many questions when next year's batch start in September. We had somehow acquired a year's worth of semi-useful knowledge and when people start to ask you things, and you start to be able to answer, you realise just how far you have come.
Last week, and again today, I got an e-mail from two Post-Doctoral Researchers asking my advice and opinion on a study they were putting together. They also were keen to know more about my own research in order to help them write a paper, asking if I had any papers that they could read and cite! (Unfortunately I haven't written any papers yet but I was able to send some data summaries to help them out and I think they may cite my conference presentations instead!).
They've been where I am already, they've done the whole PhD thing BUT they haven't done it in my area. So, even though their experience and knowledge will far outstrip mine in many areas, it seems I've somehow become a 'go-to' person on refreshing testimony and that's both encouraging and terrifying first thing on a Monday morning.
I wouldn't consider myself an expert in anything - other than maybe Disney or Harry Potter but few professions will find that kind of information anything other than geeky - but it is nice to be paid the compliment of someone asking.
With as this 'supposed' expert status rapidly approaches it just seems so hard to believe after spending the last two years asking for help. It doesn't seem that long ago since me, my luggage, my Northern-come -Scottish accent and I arrived in the South with not a scooby doo on how to go about this whole PhD malarky. It felt like I was having to ask absolute everyone on what I should be doing, and how I needed to do it.
How does the ethics system work here? How do I recruit schools for my study? How does the Research Participation System work? Could I please have a copy of your paper Mr/Mrs Bigshot Academic? What methods did you use for your research? How do I analyse the data? Which conferences should I go to? Where can I get funding? What do you say to a tutorial full of students that haven't done the reading? Who knows about this area of research? Who can help me with....*insert endless list of needs and questions here*
So it makes a nice change when someone comes to me and asks me how to do something on the expectation that I'm likely to know better than they do! My fellow PhD intake buddies and I got a flavour of this when last year's PhD students started, and I'm sure there will be just as many questions when next year's batch start in September. We had somehow acquired a year's worth of semi-useful knowledge and when people start to ask you things, and you start to be able to answer, you realise just how far you have come.
Last week, and again today, I got an e-mail from two Post-Doctoral Researchers asking my advice and opinion on a study they were putting together. They also were keen to know more about my own research in order to help them write a paper, asking if I had any papers that they could read and cite! (Unfortunately I haven't written any papers yet but I was able to send some data summaries to help them out and I think they may cite my conference presentations instead!).
They've been where I am already, they've done the whole PhD thing BUT they haven't done it in my area. So, even though their experience and knowledge will far outstrip mine in many areas, it seems I've somehow become a 'go-to' person on refreshing testimony and that's both encouraging and terrifying first thing on a Monday morning.
I wouldn't consider myself an expert in anything - other than maybe Disney or Harry Potter but few professions will find that kind of information anything other than geeky - but it is nice to be paid the compliment of someone asking.
Monday 18 June 2012
Feeling Blue-da-ba-dee-da-ba-daaaa
When you start out doing a PhD everyone tells you it will be one of the most difficult things you've ever done. Your motivation will fluctuate and there will be times when it will be a constant struggle to keep working towards the finish line. You're told that you will be sick of the sight of your data, your supervisor and your writing and you will slowly lose your soul, becoming disillusioned with the whole thing after having nothing else but your thesis to focus on for three solid years.
At the very beginning of a PhD it's difficult to comprehend these sentiments and near impossible to believe that this is how things are going to turn out for you because the longest project you're likely to have worked on will have been a only been few a months long. The end was always in sight with these projects and you always had other deadlines, lectures and exams to divide your time between. There really is no way to know how soul destroying a thesis can be until you're half way through and by that point it's too late to turn back and choose not to start it in the first place.
Since coming back from the conference (where I had two lovely weeks off) I have spent a week jet-lagged and a week unwell. That's another two weeks where I didn't really get much PhD work done other than firing off some e-mails and submitting an ethics form for my last study (yes, LAST...eek). It's now Monday afternoon of week three and I just couldn't get myself out of bed and into the office this morning, despite my grand plans to be there first thing to finish my analysis and kick start the right up of another chapter. Granted I didn't sleep well last night but after resetting my alarm 5 times it was only 9am, there shouldn't have been anything stopping me from going in and getting on with my ever growing to-do list. Instead I sat and moped on the sofa drinking cup after cup of tea, watching back-to-back Scrubs and wondering why I didn't feel in any way guilty that I wasn't working on my thesis all hours of the day like I know I should be... I just don't know what to do with myself and I can't even muster up enough concern to snap myself out of it and get back to work. At the moment, I quite frankly couldn't care any less.
When I think about the amount of work that I still need to do it really is quite an overwhelming list. I can make an intellectual guess at how long it is all likely to take but rather than freaking out and realising that I should get a move on get on with it all it's almost like I'm completely detached from the whole thing. 'The Fear' has left the building leaving behind 'The Bemused' who, frankly, isn't that helpful in motivating me to start working at all, let alone flat out like I need to.
I'm not quite sure how to kick this little doom and gloom cloud that seems to be hovering over me. I'm hoping something will come and blow it away, and fast. I may feel like I want all this PhD malarky to be over, to be scroll hand with the initials after my name but I know that it's going to take a lot of time and a painful amount of effort to get there and it won't happen all by itself. My effort may have gone on an extended vacation but time is ticking on regardless and I know I'm just wasting the days I have left each time I give in to my indifference and press 'play' on the DVD.
So, I will join all the voices of previous scholars who started the quest to become a Dr, warning anyone thinking of doing the same that it WILL feel like it's never going to end, you WILL want to give up, and there WILL be days, weeks, months where you simply just don't care anymore. BUT part of me is still hopeful that I'll also be able to join the same voices in a couple of years time to be able to say that it's all worth it, you come through those difficult times and you pull it all together....
fingers crossed, eh?
At the very beginning of a PhD it's difficult to comprehend these sentiments and near impossible to believe that this is how things are going to turn out for you because the longest project you're likely to have worked on will have been a only been few a months long. The end was always in sight with these projects and you always had other deadlines, lectures and exams to divide your time between. There really is no way to know how soul destroying a thesis can be until you're half way through and by that point it's too late to turn back and choose not to start it in the first place.
Since coming back from the conference (where I had two lovely weeks off) I have spent a week jet-lagged and a week unwell. That's another two weeks where I didn't really get much PhD work done other than firing off some e-mails and submitting an ethics form for my last study (yes, LAST...eek). It's now Monday afternoon of week three and I just couldn't get myself out of bed and into the office this morning, despite my grand plans to be there first thing to finish my analysis and kick start the right up of another chapter. Granted I didn't sleep well last night but after resetting my alarm 5 times it was only 9am, there shouldn't have been anything stopping me from going in and getting on with my ever growing to-do list. Instead I sat and moped on the sofa drinking cup after cup of tea, watching back-to-back Scrubs and wondering why I didn't feel in any way guilty that I wasn't working on my thesis all hours of the day like I know I should be... I just don't know what to do with myself and I can't even muster up enough concern to snap myself out of it and get back to work. At the moment, I quite frankly couldn't care any less.
When I think about the amount of work that I still need to do it really is quite an overwhelming list. I can make an intellectual guess at how long it is all likely to take but rather than freaking out and realising that I should get a move on get on with it all it's almost like I'm completely detached from the whole thing. 'The Fear' has left the building leaving behind 'The Bemused' who, frankly, isn't that helpful in motivating me to start working at all, let alone flat out like I need to.
I'm not quite sure how to kick this little doom and gloom cloud that seems to be hovering over me. I'm hoping something will come and blow it away, and fast. I may feel like I want all this PhD malarky to be over, to be scroll hand with the initials after my name but I know that it's going to take a lot of time and a painful amount of effort to get there and it won't happen all by itself. My effort may have gone on an extended vacation but time is ticking on regardless and I know I'm just wasting the days I have left each time I give in to my indifference and press 'play' on the DVD.
So, I will join all the voices of previous scholars who started the quest to become a Dr, warning anyone thinking of doing the same that it WILL feel like it's never going to end, you WILL want to give up, and there WILL be days, weeks, months where you simply just don't care anymore. BUT part of me is still hopeful that I'll also be able to join the same voices in a couple of years time to be able to say that it's all worth it, you come through those difficult times and you pull it all together....
fingers crossed, eh?
Friday 8 June 2012
The Joys and Sorrows of a Conference
One of the more glamorous aspects of academia is the opportunity to attend conferences and if you're very lucky, you'll be able to beg, plead and bargain your way into getting some funding to help you pay your way. A conference, particularly the international kind, is a great way to meet other researchers in your area, to keep up to date with the latest findings and to get some feedback on your own studies through a poster or oral presentation.
In the first year of my PhD I attended three conferences in the glitzy and tropical locations of Hull, Cambridge and Dundee. All three were interesting, provided great networking opportunities and sparked some interesting ideas for my own work, but fundamentally I didn't need my passport to get there. This was quite disappointing, but of course I'm not just doing this for the travel opportunities...
This year I hit the jackpot! The International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (iIIRG) held their annual conference a little further afield and before I knew it my flights were paid, the hotel was booked and my bags were packed. We were going to Toronto, Canada!
Although the chance to visit somewhere new is great, conferences can be a very lonely, especially when they are abroad. Most of the researchers already know each other and have forgotten how difficult it was for them to network when they were lowly PhD students. You never really know what to do during the refreshment and lunch breaks because everyone already seems to know everyone else and if you're not a particularly outgoing person it can be difficult to strike up conversations with strangers (in this case the answer was easy = sunbathe on the rooftop patio) . Thankfully my supervisor and one of the Post-Docs from our lab group were attending, and I'd met some fellow PhD students at the conference the year before, so I didn't feel like too much of a wall flower this time as I knew there would be a few friendly faces!
If you are lucky you may have the presentation fear to contend with. I was giving one of the presentations this year and it is something I dread with every fibre of my being! At the last conference my presentation had gone well, I'd got good feedback and questions and I felt I had done a good job. As an unknown name I had been put in a smaller venue last year and the room had been pretty packed which can be the only reason I can think of as to why they decided to put me in the main room this year...with a stage...and a podium...and a lot of anxiety. If you do get a paper accepted at a conference it really is something to be celebrated but it is a nerve wracking experience for someone who fears public speaking. I may have talked a little fast this year, lost my way a little and but I think I handled the questions at the end well and again, good comments and feedback so it wasn't a complete disaster. The best thing a PhD can do is get their research and their name out in the field and hope something good comes of it later when you're on the hunt for a job. Fingers crossed someone somewhere will remember me for the right reasons.
Aside fromt these slight negatives, there's so much you can take from attending a conference. There's the excitement of getting the programme and working out which presentations you're most interested in and having an internal battle with yourself when there's a timetabling clash - do you go with what you're most interested in hearing about or with what is potentially most useful for your PhD, it's a tough decision, one not always entirely weighted towards the PhD (oops!). This years conference had some inspiring presentations from both academics and professionals, something that iIIRG strives to achieve, and left me with a lot of quickly scribbled notes and a lot to think about.
Another exciting part of conferencing is that you never know who're you're going to meet. Over one lunch break I was sat with a lovely man who works in the business which is heading up the technological revolution in digital evidence gathering and storage and we had a lovely chat. You can imagine my surprise when later that day I found myself sipping ice win at the evening's social event with an FBI agent! I think I managed to play it cool ... just! You may just meet your future employer at the conference so it can be quite tiring trying to make a good impression to everyone - not a time to drink to much or sleep in.
Thankfully, I had a lot of funding to go with this exciting trip which meant I could save up my own hard earned cash and extend the trip into a HOLIDAY! My partner came along too and we took ourselves down to New York for a few days and had a few days back in Toronto before we flew home. It's a long way to go just for three days so why not take the chance to make the most of it I say!
It may be exhausting and daunting but there are so many positives to attending conferences as a PhD student that they by far outway the negatives.
Next stop on the conference bus? The Netherlands!!!!
Ciao for now
In the first year of my PhD I attended three conferences in the glitzy and tropical locations of Hull, Cambridge and Dundee. All three were interesting, provided great networking opportunities and sparked some interesting ideas for my own work, but fundamentally I didn't need my passport to get there. This was quite disappointing, but of course I'm not just doing this for the travel opportunities...
This year I hit the jackpot! The International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (iIIRG) held their annual conference a little further afield and before I knew it my flights were paid, the hotel was booked and my bags were packed. We were going to Toronto, Canada!
Although the chance to visit somewhere new is great, conferences can be a very lonely, especially when they are abroad. Most of the researchers already know each other and have forgotten how difficult it was for them to network when they were lowly PhD students. You never really know what to do during the refreshment and lunch breaks because everyone already seems to know everyone else and if you're not a particularly outgoing person it can be difficult to strike up conversations with strangers (in this case the answer was easy = sunbathe on the rooftop patio) . Thankfully my supervisor and one of the Post-Docs from our lab group were attending, and I'd met some fellow PhD students at the conference the year before, so I didn't feel like too much of a wall flower this time as I knew there would be a few friendly faces!
If you are lucky you may have the presentation fear to contend with. I was giving one of the presentations this year and it is something I dread with every fibre of my being! At the last conference my presentation had gone well, I'd got good feedback and questions and I felt I had done a good job. As an unknown name I had been put in a smaller venue last year and the room had been pretty packed which can be the only reason I can think of as to why they decided to put me in the main room this year...with a stage...and a podium...and a lot of anxiety. If you do get a paper accepted at a conference it really is something to be celebrated but it is a nerve wracking experience for someone who fears public speaking. I may have talked a little fast this year, lost my way a little and but I think I handled the questions at the end well and again, good comments and feedback so it wasn't a complete disaster. The best thing a PhD can do is get their research and their name out in the field and hope something good comes of it later when you're on the hunt for a job. Fingers crossed someone somewhere will remember me for the right reasons.
Aside fromt these slight negatives, there's so much you can take from attending a conference. There's the excitement of getting the programme and working out which presentations you're most interested in and having an internal battle with yourself when there's a timetabling clash - do you go with what you're most interested in hearing about or with what is potentially most useful for your PhD, it's a tough decision, one not always entirely weighted towards the PhD (oops!). This years conference had some inspiring presentations from both academics and professionals, something that iIIRG strives to achieve, and left me with a lot of quickly scribbled notes and a lot to think about.
Another exciting part of conferencing is that you never know who're you're going to meet. Over one lunch break I was sat with a lovely man who works in the business which is heading up the technological revolution in digital evidence gathering and storage and we had a lovely chat. You can imagine my surprise when later that day I found myself sipping ice win at the evening's social event with an FBI agent! I think I managed to play it cool ... just! You may just meet your future employer at the conference so it can be quite tiring trying to make a good impression to everyone - not a time to drink to much or sleep in.
Thankfully, I had a lot of funding to go with this exciting trip which meant I could save up my own hard earned cash and extend the trip into a HOLIDAY! My partner came along too and we took ourselves down to New York for a few days and had a few days back in Toronto before we flew home. It's a long way to go just for three days so why not take the chance to make the most of it I say!
It may be exhausting and daunting but there are so many positives to attending conferences as a PhD student that they by far outway the negatives.
Next stop on the conference bus? The Netherlands!!!!
Ciao for now
Wednesday 2 May 2012
The Significance of No Significance
I don't know how 'tearing your hair out' became a phrase and symbol of stress and despair. Maybe the 'head in hands' pose was insufficient one day and someone needed to take it a step further and, presto... However it came around it fits the bill for how I'm feeling right now.
Months and months of testing, enduring no shows and no brain participants, not to mention the bitter coldness of our lab room in winter, have been followed by many hours of coding, with many more hours are still to be come. I'm halfway through inputting my data into the "friendly" statistics software that is SPSS when I thought I'd treat myself to a cheeky bit of analysis to get some preliminary results, us PhD students have to get our daily excitement somewhere.
It's difficult to describe the hopeful build up as you click various buttons, check boxes and give your analysis commands. The excitement builds during those few moments as SPSS computes and the anticipation heightens as you scroll through the output to get to that all crucial p value which either makes or breaks your hypothesis...
It is NOT difficult to describe the stomach sinking disappointment when the p value indicates that your analysis is not significant, it's not even in the neighbourhood of significant. In fact, it might as well have jumped on a plane and flown around the world to the other side as it would probably be closer to significance over there. I know this is only half my data set but I would be expecting it to give me some indication as to which direction it was heading in, and it's not looking good at the moment folks.
Having spent a large chunk of time working out a logical rationale for these hypotheses, I've reasoned why I expect what I expect and when the unexpected happens, thern where are am left? I have either conducted a poor experiment which doesn't measure what I thought it would, not a great position to be in if we're honest, or my non-significant result is significantly interesting. How on earth do you make the distinction? More hypotheses, more experiments, more anticipation and the threat of even more disappointment. Isn't academia fun?
Academic journals seem to shy away from the publication of non-significant results unless you can prove the significance of your non-significance. I might have a shot of this but it's going to take another few months of testing, transcribing, coding and analysing to find out.
Lucky me.
Monday 30 April 2012
Tuning In, Growing up and Looking Back.
There's no denying that this post has very little to do with my PhD but it does give some insight into my procrastination habits, prompted by a recent purchase of the first seasion of Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place on DVD - a happy place from my younger years.
A recurring topic of conversation amongst people of a similar age and background, usually over a drink in the pub, is which TV shows you watched as a child. Anyone born towards the back end of the 80s and early 90s will have been exposed to some truly wonderful/awful tv shows during their childhood and Youtubing the intros to such programmes can be a happy pastime. It instantly conjours up feelings of rose-tinted nostalgia, happy memories and provides hours of entertainment. Putting them all in one place will save me some time during future moments of boredeom and if you find an old favourite listed amongst these then you're just one click away from having a happy minute at your own desk.
You can't forget the incredibly catchy Poddington Peas theme tune, or the genuine distress that you felt when watching the Animals of Farthing Wood. Then there's The Funny Bones and I must admit that I spent a chunk of my undergraduate degree watching episodes of the Gummy Bears instead of revising (I'm now outraged to learn that you can only buy Gummy Bears on US Region DVD...gutted!).
During my first school days I used to love coming home to watch Budgie the Little Helicopter, Power Rangers, episodes of Chucklevision, Bodger and Badger, Rosie and Jim or Tots TV ... and Brum! A particular favourite has got to be Fun House. Stupid children covering themselves in gunk, making a mess and complete fools of themselves with the help of two cheerleaders - what's not to like?
Saturday mornings were spent watching Live & Kicking wrapped in a duvet or back-to-back Sabrina the Teenage Witch (which you can rent from LoveFilm FYI...just waiting for the next disc of Season 2 to arrive, thank you very much!), Hang Time or Saved by the Bell and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air were always great ways to pass the time!!
Then there are shows which I was probably too old to watch at the time but, being the big kid that I am, I watched and loved them anyway, such as Arthur and, lets be honest, who didn't watch Teletubbies!?
When I look back to my PhD years it's probably going to be the Friends theme tune that makes me smile the most - an irreplaceable favourite. Many years from now I will still be watching the boxset from start to finish once a year and enjoying every moment that I know off by heart.
They just don't make TV intros like they used to but at least we can enjoy the good ones at the click of a button.
Happy Watching :)
A recurring topic of conversation amongst people of a similar age and background, usually over a drink in the pub, is which TV shows you watched as a child. Anyone born towards the back end of the 80s and early 90s will have been exposed to some truly wonderful/awful tv shows during their childhood and Youtubing the intros to such programmes can be a happy pastime. It instantly conjours up feelings of rose-tinted nostalgia, happy memories and provides hours of entertainment. Putting them all in one place will save me some time during future moments of boredeom and if you find an old favourite listed amongst these then you're just one click away from having a happy minute at your own desk.
You can't forget the incredibly catchy Poddington Peas theme tune, or the genuine distress that you felt when watching the Animals of Farthing Wood. Then there's The Funny Bones and I must admit that I spent a chunk of my undergraduate degree watching episodes of the Gummy Bears instead of revising (I'm now outraged to learn that you can only buy Gummy Bears on US Region DVD...gutted!).
During my first school days I used to love coming home to watch Budgie the Little Helicopter, Power Rangers, episodes of Chucklevision, Bodger and Badger, Rosie and Jim or Tots TV ... and Brum! A particular favourite has got to be Fun House. Stupid children covering themselves in gunk, making a mess and complete fools of themselves with the help of two cheerleaders - what's not to like?
Saturday mornings were spent watching Live & Kicking wrapped in a duvet or back-to-back Sabrina the Teenage Witch (which you can rent from LoveFilm FYI...just waiting for the next disc of Season 2 to arrive, thank you very much!), Hang Time or Saved by the Bell and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air were always great ways to pass the time!!
Then there are shows which I was probably too old to watch at the time but, being the big kid that I am, I watched and loved them anyway, such as Arthur and, lets be honest, who didn't watch Teletubbies!?
When I look back to my PhD years it's probably going to be the Friends theme tune that makes me smile the most - an irreplaceable favourite. Many years from now I will still be watching the boxset from start to finish once a year and enjoying every moment that I know off by heart.
They just don't make TV intros like they used to but at least we can enjoy the good ones at the click of a button.
Happy Watching :)
Wednesday 11 April 2012
Bittersweet Bank Holidays
A bank holiday is a welcome day for the majority of people: you either get a 'free' day off or you get paid more than usual if you still have to work. Whichever of these categories you fall into, people are generally pleased despite the British tradition of making every bank holiday cold and rainy.
With this in mind, people become positively giddy around Easter. In addition to the traditional celebrations and over-chocolated children, there is a double whammy with not one, but two bank holidays! Woohoo!
A four day weekend is a luxury and while the rest of the country felt smug as they turned off their alarms for a nice mini-break, the academic world took things one step further. My College felt the need to turn the four day weekend into a six day one, by giving everyone two "discretionary" days off, either side of the bank holidays. All the services closed and most of the academics stayed at home. A nice and relaxing time was had by all...well, not quite.
PhD students, who quite frankly aren't too sure what to do with themselves at the best of times, are handed a bona fide bank holiday excuse for kicking up their feet with everyone else and taking some well earned time off. Yet many will tie themselves in knots trying to descide whether they will actually take the time off or still come in and work like the studious individuals they like to hope/pretend that they are.
There is the argument that nobody else will be working. You won't be able to contact your supervisor so you should make the most of this chance and relax. You've worked hard since Christmas, you're not going to get another chance for 'free' time off for several months so you would be a fool not to. Your better half is off work and you're beginning to forget what their face looks like so this would be a great opportunity to spend some time with them. Cheers all around from the 'time off' camp.
BUT...then there's the counter-argument: well the department will be so much quieter, you could get so much work done with nobody else around to distract you. There's so much work to be done and every day that passes takes you one day to closer to the end of your funding and then what are you going to do? If you take a few days off, will you be looking back and cursing them in a few months when you're running out of time? Are your fellow PhD colleagues working? Are you going to look like a complete slacker for taking the time off if everybody else comes in to work?
What to do? What to do? What to do?
So this argument goes back and forth, back and forth. There are some conscientious PhD students who work all year round, they don't need a break, bank holidays are for wusses, etc. They spend every waking hour at their desk/library/lab and, personally, I think these people need to get a grip, and probably some sunlight and social interaction. There are other PhDs who take more time off than they really should and will be struggling to the finish line. You often wonder what it is they actually do with their time, and their funding. And then there's everyone else in the middle, struggling to find the balance between the first group of sunlight deprived keenos and the second, whose chances of submitting become slimmer every day.
What do the inbetweeners like me do? Well, they take the time off, kind of enjoy it, allow themselves to relax a little and then spend a large proportion of the time with their mind in the office, checking their e-mails to make sure their supervisor hasn't decided to test their dedication and get in touch during the day. They are racked with guilt, worrying about those few precious days they've lost, returning to the office just as stressed as they were before this 'wonderful' holiday that everybody else in the country took off.
Ciao for now!
With this in mind, people become positively giddy around Easter. In addition to the traditional celebrations and over-chocolated children, there is a double whammy with not one, but two bank holidays! Woohoo!
A four day weekend is a luxury and while the rest of the country felt smug as they turned off their alarms for a nice mini-break, the academic world took things one step further. My College felt the need to turn the four day weekend into a six day one, by giving everyone two "discretionary" days off, either side of the bank holidays. All the services closed and most of the academics stayed at home. A nice and relaxing time was had by all...well, not quite.
PhD students, who quite frankly aren't too sure what to do with themselves at the best of times, are handed a bona fide bank holiday excuse for kicking up their feet with everyone else and taking some well earned time off. Yet many will tie themselves in knots trying to descide whether they will actually take the time off or still come in and work like the studious individuals they like to hope/pretend that they are.
There is the argument that nobody else will be working. You won't be able to contact your supervisor so you should make the most of this chance and relax. You've worked hard since Christmas, you're not going to get another chance for 'free' time off for several months so you would be a fool not to. Your better half is off work and you're beginning to forget what their face looks like so this would be a great opportunity to spend some time with them. Cheers all around from the 'time off' camp.
BUT...then there's the counter-argument: well the department will be so much quieter, you could get so much work done with nobody else around to distract you. There's so much work to be done and every day that passes takes you one day to closer to the end of your funding and then what are you going to do? If you take a few days off, will you be looking back and cursing them in a few months when you're running out of time? Are your fellow PhD colleagues working? Are you going to look like a complete slacker for taking the time off if everybody else comes in to work?
What to do? What to do? What to do?
So this argument goes back and forth, back and forth. There are some conscientious PhD students who work all year round, they don't need a break, bank holidays are for wusses, etc. They spend every waking hour at their desk/library/lab and, personally, I think these people need to get a grip, and probably some sunlight and social interaction. There are other PhDs who take more time off than they really should and will be struggling to the finish line. You often wonder what it is they actually do with their time, and their funding. And then there's everyone else in the middle, struggling to find the balance between the first group of sunlight deprived keenos and the second, whose chances of submitting become slimmer every day.
What do the inbetweeners like me do? Well, they take the time off, kind of enjoy it, allow themselves to relax a little and then spend a large proportion of the time with their mind in the office, checking their e-mails to make sure their supervisor hasn't decided to test their dedication and get in touch during the day. They are racked with guilt, worrying about those few precious days they've lost, returning to the office just as stressed as they were before this 'wonderful' holiday that everybody else in the country took off.
Ciao for now!
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