HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

:-)
(I have a good feeling about 2010).

Hope you all achieve amazing things this year, and especially good luck to all those who are aiming to complete their Phd's!!! :-)(up):-)

Thanks guys, you've given me tonnes of confidence to do this now. Looking at this plan from a more positive perspective really really helps. Rather than having the ums and ars about whether or not it can be done, I'm now thinking it's very possible and can't wait to get stuck in (and that can't be a bad thing can it (?), so I've given you both a big, fat, and hairy star for your awesome awesomeness).

p.s They're BIG chapters by the way...

I'm planning to read a couple of chapters everyday for the next 14 days, with 2 days off in between, and then the plan is to write 700 words a day for the following 10 days after that. At that point, if it all goes smoothly (fingers crossed :p ) I'll be able to have a whole week off before I start on my next chapter.

Is this plan realistic?
I would really appreciate other people's advice on this because I'm still at the trial and error stage and I'm too scared of wasting any more time. If it's completely unrealistic I'm worried that it's all going to collapse and I'll end up procrastinating again.

How do you normally work? Is there a particular study pattern that works for you?

Thanks in advance :-)

I've only just read it and...how depressing!
I've just spent the last 5 hours searching the net, wondering how I'm going to make a lot of money in academia (inside and outside the profession).
One of my dreamy aims is to purchase one of those £2million grand manor houses on some property search websites, and I'm trying to figure out how I can get there! :p

What a lovely post! I wanted to do everything when I was little.
I was going to be an artist of some kind: cartoon drawing, sculpture, painter, singing, acting, directing, product design, poetry... and so on. I always knew that I was gonna go to uni though (from the age of about 6), and I remember being so proud of myself for knowing how to spell the word UNIVERSITY. :-) So funny and sad at the same time.

I loved the secret seven and famous five. I never wanted to be a detective, but I always wanted to go on adventures.

My subject is now literature, and when I've finished my phd I'm going to spend the rest of my life dreaming and creating things, such as stories, poetry, plays, etc... :-)

Is it a common thing to get research jobs in humanities straight after doing an undergrad? I know the science people get opportunities like that, but what about us? Do they prefer to only employ those with a research/taught masters or phd first coz it shows experience?

I would love to get a research job right now because a) I would feel like a real academic person and would put my future into perspective a little bit more, and give me a taster of what it's gonna be like, b) looks good on the cv and gets me on the ladder, and c) I wouldn't have to do scummy p/t jobs that couldn't be any more unrelated to my interests. How do you find these research opportunites though? Also, is there much chance of getting a research job even if the topic/subject has nothing to do with your own subject area?

Thinking about it now, that's such a stupid question. THe only reason I'm asking is because I've got about 30,000 words to do in 10 months and I'm wondering how doable that is.

But I'm not supposed to be on the 6 month count down thread, so I'm gonna go now, but I wish you all the luck in completing it Sue. :-)

I thought that the whole word count had to be between 80,000 - 100,000

Just out of curiosity, how many words does each of your chapters need to be?

hmm...not sure....if I was really hungry, I don't think I would be picky about what I get to eat. Personally, I think receiving a load of chocolate would be an awesome treat that I wouldn't normally buy for myself because it would be cheaper to spend any money I get on a proper meal.
Eska, I think you should throw in a turkey too. That way we'll all be happy. Oh, but then again, the homeless man might complain that you forgot the two veg and roasties.

Damn f*cking homeless man! Always f*cking complaining!

======= Date Modified 28 Dec 2009 00:39:05 =======
I know exactly how you feel Natassia. Although I was really excited about getting my teeth into the work, I was quite terrified about sharing my ideas with the supervisor to begin with. I felt that he was far, far more superior (and probably is), but I thought "what could *I* possibly come up with compared to this already established academic!?!"

It takes a bit of time before you feel completely comfortable about sharing your ideas. I think it's because it's quite a personal thing in a way; in the world of academia you're supposed to share your ideas, but until you've had a bit of practice most of your ideas are normally kept in your head, written out in assignments, or shared with the occasional close friend or relative. The idea of sharing it with someone who you might feel 'knows it all' anyway can be quite scary.

What I've come to realise is this: 1. they DON'T 'know it all'. They know an awful lot, but they don't know everything. 2. don't feel intimidated by their position, but rather feel grateful that this person is one of your contacts - if you end up getting on really well with them, they will become an invaluable contact in the future and throughout the whole research process. 3. Don't expect your expression of ideas to flow out as perfectly as you had rehearsed them in your head the night before. It takes some time to feel completely natural and comfortable around the sup. In fact, the more you meet up, the easier it will get. You might find that quite early on you have a fantastic meeting, but for some reason the next one feels like an utter disaster. DON'T WORRY about it - it's perfectly normal for that to happen. 4. Don't worry about feeling 'not up to scratch' - you really, really ARE ready. You could spend a life time feeling that you are not ready. It's only because you don't know yet what's waiting on the other side that you feel like this. A good supervisor will steer you in the right direction, or in a direction that you've never considered or even heard of before.

It's absolutely brilliant that you're already thinking about the methodology that you want to use. You seem like you ARE ready and can't wait to get stuck in, and it is just nerves and your age that's making you feel a bit anxious. Use your age to your advantage - How can you possibly know everything at 22? You are still really young right? (Then go home and study like mad and then come back and kick 'em in the balls with your super superior intelligence at only the very tender age of 22.
;-)

You'll be fine. I know someone who started their Phd at 21!

Lastly, don't be fooled by some of the other Phd-er's. They might look the part, but most of em are full of bulsh*t anyway and really aren't worth worrying about. Just concentrate on why YOU are there and what you want to get from this experience. Good luck and enjoy it!

I'm with you there on that last one Natassia. What I do when it gets that bad is buy myself a little scrap book and tell myself that anything that I write in there is only going to be seen by me and me only. That way, I don't get so nervous with what I'm writing about. It all flows out beautifully after that.

======= Date Modified 27 Dec 2009 22:34:20 =======
Eska, pleeease don't throw them in the bin! That would be a disaster!!! What have those poor little innocent chocs ever done to you?

I think you should stuff your face with them, then you'll feel sooo sick and chunder everywhere, so much so, that you'll NEVER want to eat another chocolate again.

Sorted. :-)


p.s I voted for the nice homeless bloke outside Tescos.

Like yours, Joyce, my title is also very vague, and therefore allows a lot of freedom in what to explore. It's quite exciting actually! :-) I'm also going to propose extra ideas for others to look at. Maybe my supervisor was just trying to help me focus my attention a bit on one thing at a time. I was a bit unorganised before with notes and ideas all over the place.
Isn't it frustrating though when you can see some amazing new ideas, but you're not sure if you should go down that road yet (or at all) because it may steer your original intentions down the wrong path? It's so annoying. Since I've started I've seen so many new things I would like to do. There must be a way of incorporating them in....hmm