Saya telah mendapat keizinan dari rakan saya yang baru saja mendapat ijazah kedoktorannya pada bulan April yang lalu untuk berkongsi pengalaman dan tips ketika beliau membuat PhD. Semoga ianya menjadi panduan kepada saya dan juga kepada rakan-rakan yang sedang bertarung dan berjuang dengan PhD.
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AS I close the PhD chapter of my life, I thought I’d share a bit of my roller coaster ride with those who are maybe, still thinking whether to take the PhD (or MSc) ride, just getting into their roller coaster car, at the highest point or the lowest point of the ride or after a lot of laughs and cries are moving towards the end of their ride. My PhD ride was as bumpy as any other… challenging supervisors, failed experiments, daunting analysis, three kids, tired husband, seemingly endless thesis writing but I found some actions work better than others and helps make my ride less bumpier . There were also actions that I wish I had taken during my PhD. I wish to share these actions /tips/strategies..which I will call as notes with all of you hoping that it can ease someone else’s ride too . I have 11 notes but will post it in batches..
So here goes...
Note #1 Family support is of upmost important!
Husband, wife, mom, dad, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, grandmas, grandpas… they are our source of strength. Keep them close emotionally and physically. For moms, let the children know that we need all the help we can get and make them do chores. Towards the end of my PhD, everybody in our family wash their own plates except for my little one. I rarely cook, throw garbage or hang the laundry which helped a lot. But also remember that we need their support and love as much as they need ours. The PhD ride is taxing to us and our family too.. appreciate them often and make the little time with them count. It's amazing how much a 10 minute chat or cuddles can help release stress. For families of PhD students, thank you in advance for all your sacrifices and for tolerating with moody, stressed, crying, fuming, upset and occasionally happy member of the family.
Note # 2 Get your intentions/”niat” right.
Please..please..please…do not start a PhD program just for the sake of it, or just because everyone does it…or just because the boss wants it.. Even if it is required by your boss or your institution.. find a strong reason that will motivate you to work for it..For me, I know I needed to do well in my Phd in order for me to do well in my future career. The topic that I was working for was also something that I personally have interest in so that helped. PhD is difficult and will be even more difficult if there's no passion for it.. so create the passion, have a project that you are really passionate about and find good reasons that can motivate when things get rough, as believe me things will.
Note #3 Finding and handling supervisors
Finding a good supervisor is tricky when we rely on e-mails as the only source of communication. We can’t see their character, we can’t tell how busy there are. But there is a high chance that a person can be a good sv if, he/she responds quickly, is actively writing and publishing and have many students. It’ll be good if you can somehow search for the sv’s old/current students and ask them about the sv. Because we only know so much, the Almighty’s help is especially vital for us to land with a good sv, so after all is done to get to know the sv, do pray hard for a good one.
I had two good and one challenging supervisors. Here are my opinions about how to deal with supervisors and make full use of their limited time.
a) Set to meet at least one of the sv regularly- literally chase them ! – weekly if possible . Not longer than biweekly. Even if it seems like there's nothing to say..there is.. these meetings keep us on our toes and the sv will keep us on track. Go prepared with results, problems, strategies.. When bringing in problems to the sv , think first and be prepared with a possible solution. Supervisors are not there to give us answers, that’s our job. They are there to just give us directions of where to find answers. The reading, the thinking, the trying, that’s all up to us. I was blessed because my good sv never gave me a chance and will make sure that I see her at least biweekly. I hated it! But now am thankful for it.
b) Promise them datelines – That really works for me because I am a procrastinator. I am usually late with my datelines but it’s ok, a week or two late is better than not doing it all which will happen to me if I don’t have datelines.
c) Understand how they work – Supervisors are very busy people. Although there are exceptions, most of the time, sv do not mean to neglect us. We are just not on top of their priority list. We have to work to get their attention and show them we are worth the attention. Figure out when the best time to get fast results from your supervisors is. For me, I usually get feedbacks faster if I give work to my sv on Friday evenings because he apparently work on less important matters i.e: my writing on weekends.
d) Give sv your best work. Not perfect.. but one that we’re happy with. Because their time is limited, they get annoyed if we give them dodgy work.. My sv actually told me once in my face..”don’t waste my time !” . Ouch ! she was right though.
to be continued in the next few days..insyallah...
So here goes...
Note #1 Family support is of upmost important!
Husband, wife, mom, dad, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, grandmas, grandpas… they are our source of strength. Keep them close emotionally and physically. For moms, let the children know that we need all the help we can get and make them do chores. Towards the end of my PhD, everybody in our family wash their own plates except for my little one. I rarely cook, throw garbage or hang the laundry which helped a lot. But also remember that we need their support and love as much as they need ours. The PhD ride is taxing to us and our family too.. appreciate them often and make the little time with them count. It's amazing how much a 10 minute chat or cuddles can help release stress. For families of PhD students, thank you in advance for all your sacrifices and for tolerating with moody, stressed, crying, fuming, upset and occasionally happy member of the family.
Note # 2 Get your intentions/”niat” right.
Please..please..please…do not start a PhD program just for the sake of it, or just because everyone does it…or just because the boss wants it.. Even if it is required by your boss or your institution.. find a strong reason that will motivate you to work for it..For me, I know I needed to do well in my Phd in order for me to do well in my future career. The topic that I was working for was also something that I personally have interest in so that helped. PhD is difficult and will be even more difficult if there's no passion for it.. so create the passion, have a project that you are really passionate about and find good reasons that can motivate when things get rough, as believe me things will.
Note #3 Finding and handling supervisors
Finding a good supervisor is tricky when we rely on e-mails as the only source of communication. We can’t see their character, we can’t tell how busy there are. But there is a high chance that a person can be a good sv if, he/she responds quickly, is actively writing and publishing and have many students. It’ll be good if you can somehow search for the sv’s old/current students and ask them about the sv. Because we only know so much, the Almighty’s help is especially vital for us to land with a good sv, so after all is done to get to know the sv, do pray hard for a good one.
I had two good and one challenging supervisors. Here are my opinions about how to deal with supervisors and make full use of their limited time.
a) Set to meet at least one of the sv regularly- literally chase them ! – weekly if possible . Not longer than biweekly. Even if it seems like there's nothing to say..there is.. these meetings keep us on our toes and the sv will keep us on track. Go prepared with results, problems, strategies.. When bringing in problems to the sv , think first and be prepared with a possible solution. Supervisors are not there to give us answers, that’s our job. They are there to just give us directions of where to find answers. The reading, the thinking, the trying, that’s all up to us. I was blessed because my good sv never gave me a chance and will make sure that I see her at least biweekly. I hated it! But now am thankful for it.
b) Promise them datelines – That really works for me because I am a procrastinator. I am usually late with my datelines but it’s ok, a week or two late is better than not doing it all which will happen to me if I don’t have datelines.
c) Understand how they work – Supervisors are very busy people. Although there are exceptions, most of the time, sv do not mean to neglect us. We are just not on top of their priority list. We have to work to get their attention and show them we are worth the attention. Figure out when the best time to get fast results from your supervisors is. For me, I usually get feedbacks faster if I give work to my sv on Friday evenings because he apparently work on less important matters i.e: my writing on weekends.
d) Give sv your best work. Not perfect.. but one that we’re happy with. Because their time is limited, they get annoyed if we give them dodgy work.. My sv actually told me once in my face..”don’t waste my time !” . Ouch ! she was right though.
to be continued in the next few days..insyallah...
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