Hi!
I just started my PhD, and I was wondering:
What is something you wished you could tell yourself at the beginning of your PhD, if you could go back?
Hi!
I just started my PhD, and I was wondering:
What is something you wished you could tell yourself at the beginning of your PhD, if you could go back?
Comments
Don’t let your self-doubt or feelings of incompetence stop you from trying. Oh, and maybe therapy is a good idea.
Write more often like every single day. Even if it’s just 30 minutes.
Please do not neglect yourself (health/hobbies/socially), the PhD is not a linear path and you will not be able to brute force it by solely focusing on it. Also try to find enjoyment in it without comparison to others (tricky). You likely have deep passion for your subject, please nurture and protect it.
There is one thing that gets you through a PhD. Love of your subject. If you don’t love it, drop out now.
And have a Plan B if you don’t drop out. Academia is always a crapshoot.
Collaborate with as many professors and grad students as possible. At least give each of them a chance. 1 research project per person at a time. Dont wait for your advisor to give you a project. Start them on your own.
I tried to turn everything into potentially publishable research. If you do a class project, think of how it can be published. If you want to learn a new technique, learn by doing, while using it in a project. Most wont get published but some will.
I always tried to do this during my masters and phd and had a great experience.
I wish I had known that research pays off on different timelines for different projects and different people— and so you don’t have to feel intimidated or unworthy the first time your PhD peers pass you up on publications, presentations, or awards. In other words, play the long game.
Also, always be thinking about your own identity and voice— work with your adviser but take time to think about who YOU want to be in your field, and don’t be afraid to increasingly speak as your own researcher as you move through the program.
Good luck!
Have a plan B for what to do if being an academic doesn’t work out and make sure to cultivate the necessary skills for that path.
Learn a citation manager and begin using it for everything you read.
Network meaningfully.
Take any excuse to get to know others in your cohort/lab/department/building. You never know when you could use some help with something you never expected. These relationships will be invaluable during your PhD and can enrich your life in the years to come.
Work faster.
There’s a lot of good direct advice already, but here’s a financial opportunity that a phd program can enable but that students aren’t often aware of.
If you have traditional retirement plans from prior employment or traditional IRAs, look at doing Roth conversions while your income is temporarily low. Note that you have to pay taxes on the conversion amount, but (depending on your field) you may not see the 10 and 12 percent marginal brackets again.
If I had known to do this during my phd, I would have paid very little tax at the time and subsequently saved myself quite a lot in taxes.