new and struggling!!

W

just needed a rant!

i'm pretty new into my phd, started in oct 2008 and so far nothings working at all. i have no results, keep repeating the same experiments, following the protocol to the letter and its not working. cant work out where i'm going wrong! and then naively thought id prefer to make mistakes cause then id know where i was going wrong. why did i think that would be better? i made 3 stupid mistakes in a row. picking up the wrong tube, adding the wrong thing to the wrong well. and that's more frustrating!! ruining a 2 week experiment on a silly error like that!!
getting embarrassed going to my supervisor saying 'i did this wrong' 'that didn't work again'
scared he'll be thinking 'what have i let myself in for?' i know he wont, but working so hard for so long and having nothing to show for it is really disheartening.

so i'm basically looking for reassurance from people who are and have been in the same boat so i know i'm not alone and it will get better.

and for those of you reading this and feeling my pain...you're not alone!!!!:-)

J

I just wanted to say that, of course, you are not alone. Most lab based PhD s will at some point or other go through what you are experiencing right now. HAving said that, I know this does not make it any less painful! there is nothing worse than spending week after week (and loads of money too!) doing an exp only to find out that it did not 'work' for some reason. Try not to get too down, and remember to take breaks (you will definitely make more mistakes if you are tired and fed up...) so, keep at it. Things will get better in time!

good luck x

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