What I Wish I Knew Before I Started My PhD
From the importance of taking breaks, finding a supportive group, to valuing yourself and networking, these tips will help you get through the rough times and make the most of your PhD experience.
From the importance of taking breaks, finding a supportive group, to valuing yourself and networking, these tips will help you get through the rough times and make the most of your PhD experience.
Structured as ten tips, this article forms an atypical guide to getting a PhD. It highlights a 10-year trek to a bachelor’s degree and a much-delayed 3.5-year sprint to a doctorate – all before age 50!
‘If a PhD is to be an ordeal – and indeed, it is – then let it be an ordeal wherein you find meaning in something that is true to yourself’. This article explores the feelings of imposter syndrome and the pressures to follow academic trends at the start of your PhD journey, disconnecting you from your true interests. A translation project helped the author realise the value of embracing his authentic self and focusing on what truly resonates with him. By shifting to linguistics and translation studies, the author found fulfilment and meaning in his research.
Follow Marco T.P. Gontijo’s journey as he applied to PhD programs, received the prestigious Fulbright scholarship, and was accepted into a PhD program at Duke University in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology.