hey there....

just wondering. am almost done with my first year and am feeling really lost. in the first term (sept) i did lots of work and then in the 2nd term (Jan) i didn get much done coz of all the teaching preparation i had to do, now its 3rd term and i have done some work, say about 3000 words on what should have been done at the start of my thesis. to put it in another way, my thesis is on the role of x in y. so imagine am still figuring out how x and y relate and i don feel am getting anywhere with all the new stuff i have to learn. does anyone else feel like me.....or maybe you've been in my shoes b4.....where were you all at the end of your first year????

thanks guys. i will try and gather my nerves and talk to my supervisor and let you know how it goes. am sorry to hear about your loss verdy. it's great to know that you are fine now. thanks mia.

hey people. has any of you coped with grieving and deadlines? i have two deadlines this Friday- to submit work to my supervisor & take seminars. i have just received news that one of my best friends was hositalised last and her brother suddenly died a few days ago. i find that i'm struggling with concentrating...is this normal as it isn't a direct loss as such? am living away from my family and i think that is what is worrying me more than anything. i couldn't possibly postpone my deadlines as am teaching as well. help- any tips on how to deal with this situation.

pea- meant that it doesn't make sense to spend £60 a month on a pair of jeans rather than £8 in the name of environmental protection when my budget is £200 max a month excluding rent. i'd better not be ethical and have the money to stay alive long enough to do research whose benefits will in the long term will outweigh the benefits of starving and wearing a £60 jean.

on a different note - it strikes me that people on here like to keep their stuff for ages. how do you do that? there aren't many of my clothes i end up loving that much. i love having a different look depending on the season.

if the problem is only getting replies to your emails, why don't you pop in for audio replies duting his/her student hours. i've tried that one a few times....it worked. trouble with my supervisors now is that they don't know a lot about my area of research and have abandoned me. they keep expecting me to submit work when all they do is disregard my ideas and confuse me further point me to the broadest of areas which are not quite relevant to my research. i have decided just to follow my own ideas. any of you got advice?

to whoever - they know themselves- for your info, my phd is in environmental protection. not only ignorant people shop at Primark. logical people do.

keep making sure staff knows that you are interested in teaching. that's how i got mine. don give up.

Crystal- great thing about Primark is that I get new stuff. Why should i go sifting thro used stuff in the name of ethics when i can buy new stuff? I LOVE myself. Secondly, I like to change my wardrobe regularly, so the wear and tear of Primark stuff doesn't bother me at all. It only makes my life easier when deciding whether to throw away my old stuff or take it to charity shops. If i like something that much and it gets torn, I can always pop in and get it again, e.g. 7 pairs of the same jean (£8) and that will still be less than £60. Simply lifestyle that fits my taste and budget :).

i definitely go to Primark before anywhere else. Ethical standards...those hardly cross my mind as a broke student. Even tho they did, why on earth would I spend £30 on a pair of jeans in next when i can get it in Primark for £8?? or £22 on a swimsuit in BhS when I can get it in Primark for £4. I really don't think research students have a choice when they find themselves in Primark. If i couold afford it, i'd go to GAP, Next etc, but i need money to have a decent social life so.. i save on everyelse...clothes included. :)

the question i really hate of late is 'what are you gonna be doing after your PhD?' In September when i started off i was so ambitious, energetic and I had the future all mapped out. Then come the first term, I just got by. All the hard work, the loneliness of being away from home for more than a year, the solitary confinement of phd life, the scary seminars i had to take....and now the pressure to keep up with all this stuff and publish soon....my goal right now is just to get by each week. i feel tired at the thot of the great cycle with the supervisor meetings and the fear of not making it past my first year. I'm I the only one who doesn't know what to say when people ask me to talk about my research and future plans?

he he. me too eatingelephants. how do you wake up early???

hey blueberry. i started in my first year. first semester i took first year seminars and now am taking third year seminars. No doubt the last term was quite scary and stressful coz i had to learn a lot of stuff i had to teach when i never studied it before..but you know what? I got thro :). am kinda apprehensive about this semester, but i will get thro. when you get paid, you realise it was worth all the stress :). what exactly do you wanna know blueberry?

thanks for the wickid plan DJWickid. My ten days start today :).

always surprises me how hard people work. any one out there doing what suits their personality? 3 hours max a day?

am definitely leaving academia. am gonna run my business and do some consulting. immediately after my phd, am considering a postdoc year in the states, just to pass time while getting paid. otherwise, am in it for the title. after that. research? never again! i like the flexibility tho.....but i find it quite boring as well. So i guess i prefer the hassle and an interesting life.