and lmao at the being forced into this ;-) the amount of people who've said to me when i've been threatening to throw myself out of the window 'well nobody forced you to do it' ;-) lol, no, we weren't forced, but maybe there's something in those of us who chose this route that enjoys suffering lol - sorry, i shouldn't be saying that with you about to start - its not 'that' bad - not all the time anyway ;-) I'm just mid paper right now and feeling that I should be forced to undergo psychiatric treatment for doing this to myself he he he.

Ok, make this your mantra - I will NOT feel guilty about relaxing - repeat it as many times a day as necessary! You're gonna have plenty of guilt in the coming years so enjoy not suffering for now ;-) And please, please don't worry about the blank look - a) its expected, and b) you're there to learn. You know your basic stuff, you've proved that, so just relax now. Trust us on this, if you're anything like me (and probably many of the others) you'll find that what you do now doesn't actually help that much - they don't expect you to come in having already done a huge amount. I was quite lucky in a way that I went straight from MA to PhD with the same supervisor - I only had 3 blissful weeks of freedom - he threated to remove my place if he caught me studying anything in those weeks off! So, take it from a prof as well as us PhDers - RELAX and enjoy :-)

Ermmm being 2 years in I'd say relax, put your feet up, sunbathe, see friends, have bbqs and enjoy life through the summer. It will come so soon and all of the above cease to happen once you start ;-) Seriously, enjoy this break cos you don't get one later on without guilt lol lol lol

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Massive congrats Dr Jinkim 8-)(up)(gift)

So glad it went well and wasn't as bad as you expected! I imagine more being tied to a stake and having them walk around you whipping you with a cat'o'nine tails whilst firing questions at you and asking why the hell you think you should be a Dr - so its not like that then? Phew, I think I can take the dark room with spotlight thing provided they don't actually beat you up 8-)

This waiting is murder.... thinking of you Jinkim - it must be over by now, maybe you're stuck in the SU bar celebrating? I too cannot imagine how i will feel with less than an hour to go til the viva - I don't want to imagine it actually

We also have a blanket ban on teaching in the first year in humanities, its just not allowed, although they will allow you to apply for GTA in the second year. I'm not allowed to as I already work 10 hours in my dept as an RA and that's the limit. As bewildered says, the hourly paid staff often aren't treated as well, and if you were to volunteer then you'd be potentially causing problems for those other grad students who are looking to work and accepting the slave labour terms and conditions! As far as I'm aware so long as you have a certain amount of teaching experience (most in my uni only get 1 term) then its ok, some can do more, but they try to spread it out so that everyone has the option to teach if they wish to. I know of several grad students who were employed by more than one HE establishment so there are opportunities out there, but for now you need to concentrate on getting your studies underway ideally.

Lol, I'd seen this too - I also like reading the DM for entertainment value :-) Its made me chuckle though that despite having studied the images I'd not notcied the camel toe at all - maybe us girls look at the overall picture rather than the guys who look at the details ;-)

(((((((((((KC)))))))))))))) step away from the man!!! Love is a complete pain in the butt! Ok, so I'm married lol, but boy did I have to kiss a lot of frogs in the process of finding 'the one'. Stick with your Dr, forget the other one - yes, it hurts, of course it does, but he may not even have a gf and be one of those that tries to make you feel jealous, you don't need that hon, you don't need to waste time and energy on a guy like that - save it for having fun and when the time is right the one will turn up ;-) (cliche ridden I know, but that's love for you!)

Yes, maybe do a bit of each - but if I were you I'd spend the weekend doing stuff you want to do - another couple of days of relaxing and doing 'fun' stuff isn't gonna kill our PhDs, but not stopping might!

Oh that's just lovely :-) Well done you!!!! It must be so nice to receive a mail like that :-)

I think that no matter what side of the fence you're on the grass will always be greener on the other side - or appear to be. The work market is such now that for a 'good' professional job you aren't gonna do a 9-5 unless you're incredibly lucky. Fixed contracts don't exist in most places now, its easier to buy in cheap and disposable labour and that's the case in a lot of fields of employment, and even if you get the hallowed high paid, 9-5 on a fixed contract anything can happen in your life that can destroy it in a moment. In my case (although I hated my job) it was illness - very sudden - very drawn out. The one certainty is that there are no certainties in life. On that basis, my personal feeling is that you should go for the dream, for me, at the moment, that dream is an academic career - it may actually turn out to be a nightmare, but if you're doing something that interests and challenges you then hey, you're doing ok. The short term nature is a nightmare, but things change so fast and go through cycles - academia may never be what it was again, but then no job is perfect. If you decide to go into the big wide world then there's every chance that eventually you'll find something that suits you, I think the key is to be open to possibilities. To be perfectly honest though, right now, all I really want is something that pays the bills and doesn't make me completely lose the will to live lol.

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Massive, massive congratulations Dr Bilbo :-) so so happy for you, that's just the best news :-) I really hope you have a wonderful relaxing Easter and enjoy that egg :-)

A very tough one... I think I'd also say that so long as the student isn't being taught by the lecturer (or supervised - dear God, can you imagine????) then I don't see the problem. By definition, although they look as though they are still in nappies, all students are legally adults, and in that then there's no issue really, but I think there's a definate problem with a relationship that is carrying on and the lecturer is marking that student's work. I'm not suggesting that they marking would be inaccurate - the lecturer has a career to take care of, but it would get very messy potentially - particularly if said student is an 18 year old girl who doesn't like getting a 3rd and lots of red pen from her boyfriend ;-) I do think that the potential pitfalls, legal issues, gossip, etc etc etc would just make it all far too hard for both the lecturer and the student and so should then be avoided. Fine after graduation, or if in another dept or in a different area where no professional contact is made and its purely personal.

As for people in our situation - supervisor/student - ouch!!! That needs to be soooo professional. I can understand how the whole power thing could be attractive, it is to women, but a complete stay clear zone imo. Maybe I'm lucky in that I'm married lol, and also in that the staff in my dept, although a few are quite good looking, are for the most part older, married, and although lovely people who I get on well with on a professional level are not the slightest bit sexually attractive lmao!

Really hope that you found it and all is ok now. I was reassured by a policeman friend of mine that with the type of software that Wal has sent you anything is recoverable - its how they catch those nasty pieces of work... nothing that is on your harddrive can ever be totally wiped no matter how hard you try - the only way to do it apparently is with an industrial strength magnet! Fingers crossed for you that you've got it back now and panic over - been there, done that, have the neurosis :-) xxx

Belford certainly sounds a wonderful place.... is it too late to transfer?