hi everyone, lara, ruby
I bought Joan Bolker's book; was cheaper through amazon (than ebay).
I am now at page 62, today I did some freewriting and timed myself with that lovely online stopwatch
Today's time 53min. I wrote about why I like fruit salads, things I should do, things I want to do...
and 2 children's stories HAHAHAHAHA
Have a wonderful day:-) love satchi

hi, I dont know about career development loan; have you considered EU funding instead for your intended EU masters course? For example here ec.europa.eu/education/index_en.html -

I'm not so clear about this part: do you mean PhD in Distance learning or PhD by distance learning? If its the former, then I guess you would go through a school eg. School of Education in XYZ University to do a phd in distance learning. If its the latter, yes its possible :-) first check out which schools offer phd by distance learning: for example the School of Distance Education in ABC University; next check out what's offered; type of phd, supervisors and how they run their distance education. I went through distance learning; the university had a very effective methodology/ pedagogy with exams running and compulsory on-campus time etc.
Cheers, satchi.

hi lara thanks so much for the weblink
how's everyone today? I'm cooking dinner tonight and have invited a friend over to join me :-)
have a wonderful weekend

oh my goodness I suddenly can't think of any!!!! :-)

hi there; where I come from is similar to yours. For example, my mom's neighbor is a self-made millionaire who failed his GCSEs; he was always saying the same things--and I personally know some people who did so well in school--but they earn very little today.

I found this website 2 years ago; if you do a search on posts you'd probably find my post about "phd for old students". I was feeling insecure and I got very useful advice from people here. I am always thankful for that. Eventually I did get my scholarship and here I am :-)

The first supervisor I (ever) had told me, "do your masters (firstly) because you want to do your masters and not because of what you want to do WITH your masters". He was right, and I was lucky to have a supervisor like that. He never told me I was old, useless and stupid or that I could never learn anything.

If you've had this "running down phds" drummed into you--and you decide to do your phd anyway, I guess you have to learn to put these feelings aside and cope with them--I am also coping with my own insecurities--(on qualification etc., and yes sometimes I still feel uncomfortable about my age)--

so..I think.. we do our phds because we want to--and whether they are hard things to complete when we want them bad, really depends on us--its how we see it and how we take it--and yes you are right, the lack of desire makes them nearly impossible.

cheers, satchi

hi everyone I didnt get much done today; I went for a (part-time)job interview--and because I miscalculated (the distance etc.) I arrived at the interview venue 10 minutes before---only to discover it was the WRONG place (AAAAARGH). The staff there were very kind, they called up the correct place and asked if they could wait for me :-) so that was my whole morning...

tomorrow will be better; I am feeling better too, also less depressed.... I will be reading more papers tomorrow
love to all

:-):-):-):-):-)satchi is satchi
just me

hi, some ideas:
1. simply browse through phd grant/studentship advertisements; talk to your friends, your professors, something will come up.
2. settle down to some silent sitting/meditation/regular prayertime/personal time, something will come up..
3. go somewhere, travel, have a bit of fun, do something different, something will come up..
4. watch a nice movie, go shopping, something will come up...
5. write a list of your goals and prioritise, something will come up...
6. be optimistic, something will come up..
cheers, satchi

hi there. Heres my 2 cents: Masters degree in Management is when you study in a 100% management school; MBA in Management is when you do Business studies at masters level and concentrate on management (in business areas) and MSc in Management is when you do management related with scientific issues; eg. Environmental management; environmental economics; tourism management is also part of MSc in Management (and depends what kind of management u do go in). For MSc. in management you dont focus so much on business management.

cheers, satchi

hi there. First of all congratulations on your scientific breakthrough. I can understand what you mean by being in your 6th year and not having any publications (before now). About the realism of your career future: either way you do it, you'd still have to start from scratch, you'd still have to network and do presentations (even in careers off of academia), you'd still have to start again somewhere. Its good to acknowledge that you have good analytical skills and yes the past three years have been very hard on you. But skills for networking and presentations, these can be acquired and mastered. You've just had a rough time. Things will look up. You say you're pushing 30 and feel burnt out. Its never too late, no age is ever too late for research.

You say you love what you do but you hate being poor, careerless and not being able to do other stuff in your life. Well, here's the thing: actually, you CAN have your cake and eat it. Perhaps you can take some time to think about what you want and take some time to reinvent yourself. With positive thinking and affirmations, you will be able to attract money, resources, harmonious personal relationships and you will be able to have time to do all the things you've always wanted to do. It is not impossible. Only now you are going through a rough time, things will get better.

Personally I've been through poor self-esteem, periods of uncertainty, frustration (because my results couldnt be published etc.), depression, I think most people go through this. Sharing with you, I started my first degree at the age of 31. Some fellow students who happened to be policemen doing their bachelor degree in the same school asked me, "what is your profession". I said, "I'm a housewife". They laughed at me, "what do you need a degree for? You better go back to your kitchen". I felt so bad when I saw them laughing. Today, I am doing my PhD in UK on a full scholarship..and where are these men? ... still policemen at home. I believe I have risen higher.

See, it's not how hard we fall, but rather how we pick ourselves up.

Learn to let go, learn not to worry. just tell yourself you can do it, and surround yourself with positive people.

The answer will come to you. Remember to listen with your heart.

Cheers, satchi

hi delta i am also going into statistics. I don't know how your data is like. But here's what I have been reading so far:
By Jae-On Kim & Charles W.Mueller: Introduction to Factor Analysis: what it is and how to do it (I like this, its simple)
By Derek Rowntree: Statistics without tears (this one is a good refresher)
By Jeremy Miles and Mark Shevlin: Applying regression & corellation: a guide for students and researchers (its really good)
I know we can always ask for help from our stats buddies. But if nobody is around, at least these books are here..:-)

hi everyone, Lara,
today I'm going to read some more papers....and I have some lab work in the afternoon.
I've become depressed these days (its the last thing I need now!!!!) but I will fight fight fight it and I will be ok.
Have a good day

hi there! I would like to join your every-day-progress book!!! its a very good idea. I haven't exactly written anything yet. I did write something earlier but its all ffragmented and my project keeps changing!!!!

hi there. I like to use Excel and Keynotes (on a mac) but there's a website for kids called Create a Graph nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createAgraph/

I used it for my results during my MSc (!!!!) why because at that time I was in a hurry. For some reason my excel didn't work. And before this I had not used Keynotes so I had no idea I could make graphs with Keynotes. I found this kids' website, it was really good. I would use it again if I had to. Computing the figures are very easy and they pretty much do everything for you. The graphs look professional too :-) try it if your data can fit