Hi Fay

I second what Magictime has to say:

I too spent time in the real world in my 20s and am only now in my 30s pursuing academic stuff, where my heart really always was. Wish I had done it long ago.

It could be a slight tangent for you, but some people with philosophy backgrounds are involved in philosophical counselling (e.g. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/5914/ OR http://www.practicalphilosophy.org.uk/philcoun.html) which is a different, non-psychological twist on helping people with their problems. You'd probably have to be quite driven to make a go of it as a philosophical counsellor, but I think it's quite an interesting field (and I'm a psychologist!)

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Is it just me who finds the name 'Professor Bouillon' funny?

Cheers people

I've been in two parallel universes: one thinking that everything is normal and one full of paranoia. :p As it happens, he was contactable today and we're meeting tomorrow so he can give me the broken machine and my data.

But it did make me think for the first time how any techie could potentially nick info. And I will keep an eye on my password-protected stuff.

And although I have an external hard drive for backups, I could do with understanding how it actually works...

Thanks again (up)

My laptop broke down - it wouldn't reboot any more. So I took it to a technical guy I'd used before. He said he couldn't fix it as a capacitor was blown but that he'd recover my files from the hard drive and put them onto DVD.

This is the foolish bit: I then left the laptop with him. He's now had it for 36 hours and is proving a little difficult to get hold of. I'm very worried that my data security is heavily compromised as there is plenty of personal info on the machine.

So I'm now changing every bank and e-mail password I can think of so that he can't hack into my life. I appreciate I've been pretty naive, but are there any other security measures people can think of at this late stage?

Any advice appreciated. (up)

Thanks - thoughtful comments as I've come to expect from this site.

Despite being halfway through the application I too am starting to have doubts. I should have said before - the teaching itself would only amount to two hours 'face time' per week. However, as I recall from having taught English as a Foreign Language, if you are at all conscientious AND a beginner then the prep time amounts to about 10 times that .

:p

I tend to be a borderline Distinction kind of student in my past experience. Able to get As with extreme hard work but am prone to slipping down if under time pressure by making silly mistakes. Maybe I don't need this teaching challenge just yet.

Hmmmm, am seeing my tutor tomorrow - will ask his advice. 8-)

Hi all
Am halfway through a part-time MSc. Intend to do PhD and am doing OK with an A in one module and a B in the other. Wanting to really pull out the stops next year so hoping to aim for As in the remaining modules and project.

This summer I hope to nail down a method for my dissertation and start some serious reading for that and other modules so that I hit the ground running in October. I'm currently working 4 days a week in an unrelated boring job, and that'll go down to 2-3 days a week during termtime.

My question: I've seen an ad for some casual teaching work of pre-degree students at a local university - I appear to have the minimum requirements to apply. On one hand it's good to get some teaching experience as an academic career appeals - but on the other I worry that preparing lessons, etc. would stop me focusing enough on my own research and studies next year.

I know that this is just a tiny version of the tension twixt teaching and research that all academics encounter. Is it best to walk right into it now, or should I ignore the opportunity, continue with my boring but easy job and just put all my energies into the all-important second year of the MSc?

Your opinions are solicited :-) (up)

I'm lucky enough to be doing a part-time Masters over 2 years, so this summer between year 1 and year 2 is not very intense in terms of work, apart from beginning to read around my dissertation idea and meet with my supervisor. It's at this point, now they've seen what kind of students we are, that they are beginning to talk about PhDs with some of us.

Natassia, if you really feel compelled to read *something* over the holidays, how about just reading more popular books in your field? There are lots of books for the intelligent layperson, and that can enable you to follow your interests without getting into study mode when you should be taking a well earned break.

Well done and good luck!



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What excellent points you all make, especially the above. Research is needed because if everybody continued to hold "common-sense" views of the world without investigating whether they were true or not, we would still believe the earth was flat.

We can only implement useful change in aspects of the world if we know what is going on in the first place.

One of the managers at my (non-academic) job seems to have a real chip on his shoulder about my studies. I just smirk when he makes his feeble comments. Others that I work with accept that it's horses for courses and that we all have different types of talents.


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As time goes on, things will change. Either the sexual tension will escalate, which will put you both in a very difficult professional situation (not to mention personal). Or, you'll both get bored of each other which will lead you down the slightly healthier road of just being good friends - which is a nice thing to have with your supervisor.

Thrilling though the former might be, it's the latter which should probably be encouraged... you can do this by cooling things down a little. As suggested above, by being a bit more formal.

It's your choice. (up)

On a related note:

I am female, single and would like to do a PhD soon. But as I'm 35, this is all looking as if it's going to clash with my final years of fertility.

In the same way that BHC may sometimes wish he were the opposite sex, I am currently fantasising about having kids but being a father instead of a mother! Because in most cases the woman's life changes far more than the man's when a child comes along...

And that's partly societal, partly biological. Perhaps I will find one of those house-husband type men. But if not, maybe I won't have kids at all.

A very competitive world is tough on all of us, and there are advantages and disadvantages to being male and female. :p

I agree with your points, one and all. The whole thing of being a postgrad is the willingness to get stuck in to any new subject area, while accepting it might be slow at first.

Hell, one of my lecturers spends half the lecture googling terms he doesn't understand!

Thanks Keenbean

Very useful to know that it could also help with that all-important funding. (up)8-)

I will start asking around.

Ogriv

Thanks for your swift reply, Ju-Ju. Yes, I do mean Research Assistant work.

I'm using the MSc (esp. the dissertation) to see whether I want to go for PhD. So academia is certainly Plan A. I think even if I decide against that in the long run, it would still be more challenging than my current work, so it could open other doors, etc.


Glad to hear you think it would be useful for Plan A, though. Will keep my ear to the ground.

Hi - am doing part-time psychology MSc. My actual paid job I do 3 days a week. It is almost completely irrelevant to my studies, is mind-numbing, but pays quite well per hour (nearly 15 quid - it is London!) and it's the devil I know.

But I think it would benefit my mind and my studies to seek casual RA work. Think I'd need to volunteer first to get some experience, but do any other forum members have opinions on this kind of work, its usefulness on an academic CV and what the hourly rate is like? I am aware it will be a pay cut for me, but it might be worth the sacrifice!

Cheers (up)

Thanks for all your advice. It's good to know that there's hope of my speed increasing.

Yes, Bobby, on this MSc I've become more specialised - more biological/evolutionary than before. On the standard psychology degree or conversion you don't really get a bio grounding so just a few weeks ago I was sitting there copying diagrams of DNA using felt tips and making up rhymes to remember nucleotides - oh that I had done science A-levels!

Sneaks - I was just reading abstract and discussion, but then if I'm not understanding it I want to go deeper, and then I get sucked in to the whole thing. Got that beginner's worry that I'll miss something important - and this is just for a simple essay... Think I'll go your way: abstract, intro and discussion. (up)