PhD Surprises
I know a couple of people have always heard that you have to be extra serious if you want to get a PhD. People often say that PhD students should be perfect, have no time for fun, no time for relationships, etc. Coming from a background like mine, people often consider a PhD as such a high and great achievement, even though I still cannot figure out why lol. There are many times I look in front of the mirror and I tell myself, “Gbemi, you’re a PhD student” and laugh. Sometimes it is so unbelievable because left to me, I am still a child trying to figure out life.
Today, I will be going over some things that has surprised me about my PhD journey thus far and I hope these can help you get a little prepared for your journey:
1) You can have fun: Honestly, starting a PhD has made me realize how OVERRATED a PhD really is. Don’t get me wrong, one becomes an expert in his/her field, carries out amazing research, publishes great papers, makes connections with distinguished people, wins amazing fellowships/awards, etc. However, I honestly had not met more fun and exciting people in my life until I started my PhD. Not to say that my friends during community college and undergrad were not fun, but the people I have met during my PhD love having fun! At first, I would ask myself, how do these people have time to go out and also do so well in lab/class. I believe this is where the work-life balance comes into play. PhD students are regular people who love school, research, learning, but also enjoy traveling, trivia nights, meeting people, going to the bar, partying, etc.
2) Hard work is good enough: I have realized that you do not have to be SUPER smart to get a PhD. Do not get me wrong again, I do not mean you have to be lazy or dumb. However, the whole point of a PhD is to become an expert in your field by receiving training from your research advisor, post-doc, and people around you. People do not expect you to know everything; however, they expect you to be hardworking and put some time into learning what you need to know. You do not need to be in the top 1% or 5% of your class to get a PhD. If you are dedicated, hardworking, and motivated you will most likely do well. Know that a PhD is not easy, we are not really smart, we are just hardworking individuals.
3) Financial Growth: Some people might be shocked to see this, but I am not talking about getting richer. PhD students are so poor that we are forced to learn how to BUDGET! BUDGET! BUDGET! This PhD journey has taught me more about money. Spending, saving, giving, etc. Therefore, what I mean by financial growth, is spending wisely.
4) Feeling alone: There will be many times you will feel alone during a PhD. Compared to undergrad where most people tend to have friends in the same major and friends who mostly take the same classes as them, graduate school is completely different. You have people in the same major, however, these same people work in different labs, carry out different research/ projects and this impacts the classes you take with them and how much you get to see them. This is why it is important to consciously make friends and be part of a community during graduate school. Trust me, it helped me a lot.
5) You will feel like a lost boss: I believe that in a PhD you are basically in charge of your own life and will most times feel like you do not know what you are doing. Not to say that research advisors are not there to guide you, however, there might be tasks you will be given to complete in which you have to figure out the logistics, types of equipment, and experiments yourself. Some students may even have to come up with their own projects, which can honestly make one feel lost and unaccomplished but could also be very beneficial. This is why it is important to bring up questions to your advisor and to let them know when you are confused. No matter how stupid I think a question is, I try to ask my advisor. One can even go as far as seeking help from others who know more. Starting a PhD will make you realize how much you actually do not know.
6) People want to help you: This is a big one for me because this is something I had to come to terms with. There were times I did not want to ask other PhD students for help because I feared that I would be a burden. What I realized is that a good PhD program will have students who really just want to help each other get through qualifying exams, research, etc. Compared to my experience as an undergrad, there was more competition between students, unless you had a clique of course. However, in graduate school, people will want to help you whether they are in your clique or not.
7) Good health becomes important: Graduate school helped me become more conscious of my health. People may find this surprising because this may be the opposite for others. However, I started seeing a therapist, a nutritionist, and started going for health checkups during graduate school. My school in particular does a great job talking about mental health in graduate school. This helped me pay more attention to my wellbeing.
In general, some of the things I have learned from graduate school have been good/bad. I am grateful for what I have discovered thus far, and I cannot wait to share more of my experiences as I further this PhD journey.