Reflecting on the first term.

Hi!

At the end of January 2020 I’ve now completed 4 months of my PhD and I thought this would be a great time to reflect on what it’s been like so far. I knew that starting a PhD would be a complete lifestyle change and so far out of my comfort zone that it was long lost in the horizon behind me. Knowing how difficult I find change I knew there would be an adjustment phase where I spent the first few months in the same state as Ross from Friends when he drank all the margaritas and kept telling everyone “I’M FINE”.  But I made it through and just like I predicted, I’m feeling a lot better. Although after speaking to a few different PhD students over the last few months I’ve come to the realisation that I may never feel completely settled or confident in everything I do here, I do feel like I’m starting to find my feet. Baby steps eh?

Back to the start: day one

Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash

I suppose it is hard to prepare someone for the start of their PhD because everyone is different, not just what they are studying but how they got there. I found out that I had secured a PhD place and funding in April 2019 to start in October 2019, in those 5-6 months I spent endless hours scouring the internet trying to find information, any information about what to expect. I found that some people had applied for PhD places like a job placement for a study already mapped out, others came straight out of university doing a 1+3, others had flourishing careers beforehand and wanted to improve in their industry. I felt lost and craved for the week of my undergraduate freshers where everyone was in the same position and the university held your hand.

As I approached my first week of term I was in the following situation: I had left my job the week before (after taking 2 years out of university to gain ‘real world experience’), I had never met my supervisors apart from on Skype, I had not been inside the university and apart from the occasional reassuring response to my panicked emails over the summer, I hadn’t received much information from the university since I got accepted. My lovely friends and family would frequently and supportively ask me questions such as “so when do you start?” and “what will you be doing?” when all I could muster in response was a slight shoulder shrug followed by some vague information I had read online and a (I’m sure a very convincing) statement such as “it will all fall into place though it will be fine”.

I guess as a PhD student there isn’t really a ‘day one’. Officially term started on October 1^st but our ‘induction days’ weren’t until a couple of weeks later, I took those first couple of weeks to pick up my student card (hello my old friend student discounts, I’ve missed you) get settled, meet my supervisors if possible and try to figure out some new routine that worked for me. When my induction day rolled around I got to meet other PhD students starting at the same time as me, meet the staff, learn the university ground rules and have some talks about what we should expect from the following years.

Reflecting on the first term 

I am in the VERY privileged position of being a full-time and fully funded PhD student, meaning that I get my fees paid for and a wage each month to live on. I am more grateful for this opportunity than ever after going through the last few months. Anyone that is doing a PhD alongside their job is an absolute hero in my opinion. I’ve never been so responsible for my own time before and that has been a huge learning curve.

Here are some exciting things that happened in my first term:

-       I met all my supervisors several times and produced my first piece of work for them

-       I worked from the British Library, from home, from the university, on the train, at my parent’s house and fully embraced the flexibility I have over my working environment

-       I attended TONNES of workshops, events and conferences

-       I read A LOT of articles

-       I became a rep for the PhDs in the London campus

Overall the biggest lesson I’ve taken away from the first few months is the realisation that I’ve made the right decision to do a PhD. Yes it is scary, yes it is hard and will get harder, but I feel more myself than ever and I’m so excited to take on this new challenge.

Until next time… x

Poetic thought of today: “All those past versions of me, were a path guiding me to who I’m meant to be”

Disclaimer: These posts are only written from my experiences and point of view only, everyone’s PhD will be different depending on so many circumstances.