venturin12 - i think my comments are rather straight forward if read with an open mind. My contributions now henceforth will be directed towards answering ally's questions and not clarifying the obvious.

"venturin12 - i think my comments are rather straight forward if read with an open mind. My contributions now henceforth will be directed towards answering ally's questions and not clarifying the obvious."

Jojo, that sounds rather snobbish and arrogant. I think it might be useful to come down from the queen bee's throne and accept other's opinions as well as yours.

Otto - no pun was intended in my previous statement and being referred to as a queen is something. lol. thanks.

again, no pun intended

I still agree with Queen jojo LOL

If we're handing out royal titles can I be Princess SixKitten???

from this day henceforth, i declare you Princess SixKitten. You shall entitled to anything you ask within the bounds of this great kingdom.

oops, that was meant to be, 'from this day henceforth, i declare you Princess SixKitten. You shall be entitled to anything you ask within the bounds of this great kingdom.'

Let the Queen have no word of this.

The Queen's Buttler.

Dear Queen Jojo and Princess Sixkitten,

thanks a lot for your answers. I agree with you - I have to be 100% sure a phd is for me. But I find that asking others for their views helps making up my own mind.

Strangely enough, I usually have a very reliable "gut feeling", when it comes to making major decisions (the one time I didn't listen to it I failed big time). But regarding this phd question I feel rather lost: My heart says "Yes"; my mind says "Careful - are you really really sure? This is not like 'pizza or pasta for dinner'" and my gut feeling keeps out of the discussion and has apparently gone on holiday.

What I'd like to know: How did you decide to do a phd?? Was it a rather natural move because of the field you're in or because you always wanted to be in academia? Or did you have to weigh options like me??

Greetings to the Great PhD Kingdom from the humble Republic of Industrial Employees,

Lady Ally.t (sorry, without appointment by The Queen)

Lady Ally.t - The Queen appreciates your modesty in using your title.

For me, I knew I wouldn't be happier elsewhere, i'e. in industry and even though the PhD was gonna be hard, I knew it was what I wanted to do. Money has never been a factor in my decision. For me, my hapiness comes first and then the possibility of a good salary later. Although I do not deny that lack of money can make one miserable and that I intend to make good money when am done. Had I gone to industry i would have had a great job, huge career prospects and that. I do not intent to end up in academia full time and doing my PhD has nothing to do with my wanting to be a full time academic. I will return to industry and teach part-time should the opportunity arise. I intend to do a bit of writing in my time, so i deem a PhD appropriate for me to write to a high standard in my field. I would never chose to do a 9 to 5 job anyday.

I'd rather do my PhD which offers some flexibility and i suppose that's why academia seems attractive at times. Only reason am returning to industry is to get some experience, to improve my perspectives on things. At least in academia, you can have a life. Unless you choose to, you don't have to do 9 to 5, Mon to Friday. You can pursue other interests on the side. There is more to life Ally, than sticking to a job that isn't fulfilling; you will make good money, but have few memories. Passion resides in the heart, not in the mind. . You can control your mind, but the heart is difficult to align to stuff you ain't really interested in. Hope that helps, if it confuses you, remember - only you can decide what's good for you.

I totally agree, Jojo

"We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that death will tremble to take us" (Charles Bukowski)

Sorry for sounding horribly solemn, but that came to my mind when I read your last answer, Jojo. I so much agree with you! And it's exactly why I'm thinking about doing a phd - so no, it's not confusing at all.
For me, a phd is still like the great big unknown - which is why my heart and mind are debating seemingly endlessly whether I should go for it, with my mind being annoyingly reasonable and playing the killjoy part. It's controllable, but I can't always silence it

Still, your views helped me a lot, so thanks to everybody. If anyone has any other opinion, criticism, encouragement or whatever - I'll be grateful to hear/read

I spent a year reading and creating a PhD topic because I couldn't afford to start straight away. Perhaps you could try that for say six months and see if you want to take it further as a student?

such committment SixKitten . i spend my master's year try to figure out my thesis question and did my masters on my exact thesis topic. i managed a merit the dissertation and tried to carry on in the same direction in my PhD , but i came to a dead end and changed tact. what seemed fab to my masters supervisor was disregard as crap by my PhD supervisors and my own private pursuit of the same revealed my supervisor's sentiments. I guess what am saying ally is you might wanna do what Sixkitten suggests so that you're on the right track early or you avoid going down a lane that could lead to a dead end early enough - if you eventually decide to do a PhD. otherwise, am glad that my sentiments did help in some way. life is what you make it.

oops, meant spent {mother tongue interference }