Hey, just starting PhD, well tomorrow acually, sitting in my little tiny room high of paint fumes and wanting to go out for a drink but dont know anyone here, rubbish, met my team and their um a little odd to put it nicely! So come on here and theres so many 'i hate it, im gonna quit' type posts, and I'm just wondering does anyone actually have a good time, am I about to make the biggest mistake of my life???

mark

Mark/sparklechops, I'm happy and don't hate doing my PhD. Sure, there are days when I want to quit, wish I had never started and contemplate moving to Abu Dhabi to escape - but from what I can gather you get that with most jobs.

Perhaps there are a lot of negative posts here because this is a great place for venting and getting electronic TLC. This forum makes me feel 'normal' when I lack motivation, question my own ability and have a failed experiment.

Don't judge your new team too quickly. Most of my labmates would seem a bit odd on first glance too - the highly-strung postdoc, the PhD student who doesn't shower or wash his clothes (even in summer!), the supervisor who wears far too much lycra. But they are great people and I call most of them friends.

I think you will be fine and perhaps it is just those paint fumes and cold feet making you worry at the last minute. Good luck tomorrow and let us know how it goes.

I am happy with mine so far and I started in October. There are days where I get daunted by the whole thing and wonder if i am cut out for the job, but i think thats fairly normal. The people I work with are really nice; strange and quirky in their own ways but they are all friendly..

What's your field?

I am having the time of my life.

Sparklechops - I LOVE my PhD. Sure -I have the odd off day, or rant about being broke / bit lonely during the day, but in the main it is a great life.
I try to remind myself on a regular basis what it was like before when I worked in an office.
I absolutely adore managing my own time. Trust me - there is nothing like sipping a coffee at a pavement cafe in the summer with a book in your lap and the sun on your back knowing thats your work and not having to fall out of bed at 6:30, to get on a smelly packed tube in rush hour to go and be a prisoner of work!

Pea, is your PhD to do with the study of pavement cafes?

Piglet - I nearly had to quit my PhD and move to Abu Dhabi a few weeks ago, my boyfriend was going to have to go out there to work for 9 months, might have actually been quite fun!

Hi!

I've seen a PHD I really want to apply for but the system seems to have changed since I last applied. Do I send a covering letter and CV by the application enquiry form or is this simply for finding out further details by way of a short email?

Thanks!

Ooops. wrong place

LOL @ mathew82. No, but I am thinking I should be able to produce an excellent suppliment review by the end of the thesis "Globalization, spaciality & the alfresco beverage; a personal journey of caffine & culture"

I'm happy!

I've finished a chapter section

And I'm having a glass of wine to celebrate

My PhD is full of ups and downs - one minute I'm really happy, the next I'm totally depressed. But even when I'm down I love my PhD and the fact I'm doing it

ah cool thanks for the replies, quite a happy bunch then :) yeah sipping coffe in the sun sounds good only problem its rained every day ive been here so far I think i'm getting S.A.D!

There was actually an ESRC-funded PhD project in coffee culture done at the University of Glasgow a year or so back.

http://web.ges.gla.ac.uk/~elaurier/cafesite/index1.html

Seemed to involve talking to people drinking in coffee shops. Nice.

Fraid im not happy either!! Maybe its a new PhD student thing? I started in Oct an have so far fonud the majority of my group to be odd and rarther good at intentionally or not excluding those of us who are 'new'!! An they are virtually all part of couples so they go off back home to there other halves at home!!

People in my halls arent really the kind to do many social things either....so my advice is find out if there is a postgrad soc at your uni I have at found a few 'normal' people to go out for the odd drink with!!