What Does it Feels Like to Embark in a PhD Program?
Bismillah,
Disclaimer: This is my reflection after being in the program for almost 4 months. Definitely, a long way to wade through and hopefully survive insyaAllah.
To be frank, it feels like a steel bar is being added onto my shoulder..lol. Just kidding. It does feel like a new responsibility is being handed to me, an ordeal which I sought. Gladly, both my supervisors kind of grilled me during the registration day. The big question of the day is:
I see it as a goalpost that I need to reach before getting to other destinations. I see it as a process, a 3-year period in which I will independently design my learning experience. At the end of the period, I hope to acquire skills and add some values to myself and the community I worked with. It is an intermediary, not the end. InsyaAllah, being a student of knowledge is one of the personal jihad which I can work on.
I am still trying to get the hang of it. Balancing my day to day work as a research assistant and my thesis is a bit tricky, sometimes I got off-balance, buried under piles of administrative jobs. Some other days I succeed to write and read important works. Meeting new people is cool also! I found vlogs on postgraduate studies by Tara Brabazon to be really engaging and practical.
I love the flexibility that I have in arranging my schedule, sometimes even slipping into open lectures organized in my uni. That's surely the plus point, flexibility. But motivation sometimes dried out, I had to figure out things that make me motivated to keep on doing the research work. Coffee helps, to a point I think I can consider being a shareholder at UUM's Richiamo (actually no, I bring my own coffee nowadays for austerity measures😋). I also travelled a lot.
BIG YES : surround yourself with positive people, other students, lecturers etc. Good vibes makes your day better. Pray that you can see good in others, and be inspired by their good deeds.
Another BIG YES: Starting my day with a long walk or ending it with 30 mins of yoga/exercise. Your health matters, big time.
It depends. If you just graduated from your masters degree, perhaps take some time off? Consider the opportunity cost of all available options. This journey is a commitment, not to forget the financial cost. Burnout exists and it happens everywhere, so be cautious of your mental health. If you enjoy research work, maybe this is for you. Imo, it helps to inform our family members of what kind of commitment you need to fulfill as a PhD student/ candidate / researcher and that their support is highly appreciated. It may seem like you're attending university again, but the level self-discipline and expectation of work quality is much much more than the undergraduate years. I know that some people imagine PhD students as 'pergi belajar je', yet the truth is, we are doing countless problem solving, document acquisition, conflict management, goal setting, project planning etc, the whole nine yards.
That kind of hard work surely deserves a pat in the back once in a while. And enough motivation + hope, so that we can wake up the next morning and think about the problem again.
1. Find a hobby other than reading and writing
2. Brainstorm the skills that you want to gain
3. Have Plan B, C, D until Z on future career paths. It's no longer linear here, highly competitive also. If an opportunity presents itself somewhere in the middle, I believe a bit of flexibility will help.
4. Keep dreaming, and fight for it!
5. Be ready to learn from other people, sometimes really random person. To be able to discern on a figure, grasping on their values despite how they look, is wisdom.
6. Reduce your expectations. I also began with 'I want to solve the world's problem' mindset, which both my supervisors realistically tone down. It will take some time to narrow down your research project to a viable one, just hang on there and keep working, you will get there.
Disclaimer: This is my reflection after being in the program for almost 4 months. Definitely, a long way to wade through and hopefully survive insyaAllah.
So what does it feels like?
To be frank, it feels like a steel bar is being added onto my shoulder..lol. Just kidding. It does feel like a new responsibility is being handed to me, an ordeal which I sought. Gladly, both my supervisors kind of grilled me during the registration day. The big question of the day is:
'what is my intention in undertaking this PhD?'
I see it as a goalpost that I need to reach before getting to other destinations. I see it as a process, a 3-year period in which I will independently design my learning experience. At the end of the period, I hope to acquire skills and add some values to myself and the community I worked with. It is an intermediary, not the end. InsyaAllah, being a student of knowledge is one of the personal jihad which I can work on.
So how am I doing now?
I am still trying to get the hang of it. Balancing my day to day work as a research assistant and my thesis is a bit tricky, sometimes I got off-balance, buried under piles of administrative jobs. Some other days I succeed to write and read important works. Meeting new people is cool also! I found vlogs on postgraduate studies by Tara Brabazon to be really engaging and practical.
I love the flexibility that I have in arranging my schedule, sometimes even slipping into open lectures organized in my uni. That's surely the plus point, flexibility. But motivation sometimes dried out, I had to figure out things that make me motivated to keep on doing the research work. Coffee helps, to a point I think I can consider being a shareholder at UUM's Richiamo (actually no, I bring my own coffee nowadays for austerity measures😋). I also travelled a lot.
BIG YES : surround yourself with positive people, other students, lecturers etc. Good vibes makes your day better. Pray that you can see good in others, and be inspired by their good deeds.
Another BIG YES: Starting my day with a long walk or ending it with 30 mins of yoga/exercise. Your health matters, big time.
Random photo of Bukit Tok Dun during our hike last July
Will I recommend this to others?
It depends. If you just graduated from your masters degree, perhaps take some time off? Consider the opportunity cost of all available options. This journey is a commitment, not to forget the financial cost. Burnout exists and it happens everywhere, so be cautious of your mental health. If you enjoy research work, maybe this is for you. Imo, it helps to inform our family members of what kind of commitment you need to fulfill as a PhD student/ candidate / researcher and that their support is highly appreciated. It may seem like you're attending university again, but the level self-discipline and expectation of work quality is much much more than the undergraduate years. I know that some people imagine PhD students as 'pergi belajar je', yet the truth is, we are doing countless problem solving, document acquisition, conflict management, goal setting, project planning etc, the whole nine yards.
That kind of hard work surely deserves a pat in the back once in a while. And enough motivation + hope, so that we can wake up the next morning and think about the problem again.
Last words?
1. Find a hobby other than reading and writing
2. Brainstorm the skills that you want to gain
3. Have Plan B, C, D until Z on future career paths. It's no longer linear here, highly competitive also. If an opportunity presents itself somewhere in the middle, I believe a bit of flexibility will help.
4. Keep dreaming, and fight for it!
5. Be ready to learn from other people, sometimes really random person. To be able to discern on a figure, grasping on their values despite how they look, is wisdom.
6. Reduce your expectations. I also began with 'I want to solve the world's problem' mindset, which both my supervisors realistically tone down. It will take some time to narrow down your research project to a viable one, just hang on there and keep working, you will get there.
Comments