Hi!

My supervisor decided to move to different university so I was left alone and my department did not worry to help me. They offered me the chance to apply for a new PhD (one year into this one). I laughed them off and spent 3 months looking for a new supervisor and lab that would take me in. Finally I found one. I am not sure whether that was the best option, as my new supervisor all the time tells me that this is not her expertise so she can't help me much (though the fundamentals are the same to what she does in her research and I'm no expert either). However, that was the only person that agreed to help me so I'm grateful. Overall, I feel like it is the university fault to give permission to some people to supervise, who obviously don't care about students!

Year after my post I just wanted to say that I chose PhD.

I regret it now. Every day is a regret. I hate my PhD. I can't even talk to other people, I feel so antisocial.

So I just want to send message to other girls, don't decide on abortion. Ever.

Dear Tulip,

You are not alone. I feel the same.

I'm starting my 2nd year and I feel exhausted. My supervisor is a nightmare and this PhD made me so antisocial I can't even make new friends. I feel depressed all the time and I hate going to labs or reading or doing anything that would help me with my work going on. I also have a boyfriend who simply doesn't understand my problems. My family is also far away which I find really difficult (even though I've been leaving away for the past 5 years).
At this point I'm thinking about changing my future career completely and I'm looking at options there. I'm trying to keep myself busy by searching for different jobs, careers fairs, but also by doing online courses. I know I should spend this time on my PhD, but I simply can't. It gives me the biggest headache ever....

I don't know what is the solution to our depressed moods, but I just wanted to contribute to what you wrote and to tell you that you are not worse than other PhD students, they just can hide their emotions better.

I am about to start my PhD this October and I have just found out that I am pregnant. I dont know what to do... whether I will be able to combine both or whether I should resign from one. I would appreciate some advice, especially from someone who went through the same situation...