Moral of the story: communicate. Communicate with your supervisor, communicate with your peers and communicate with your friends/family. Your academic life is not your Instagram, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Be filter free.
I guess my message today is: make the most of where you are now. Keep and make the connections, learn everything you can from where you are and keep looking to the future. Your PhD isn’t the be all and end all, it’s a launchpad for whatever is coming next.
My post today is a positive one, I just wanted to share that this process isn’t easy, because I wish that I had believed the people around me who said they struggled too.
Moral of the story: Imposter Syndrome sucks. Everyone is on their own journey and bluntly, the time and money wouldn’t be wasted on me if I wasn’t good enough to be there. This was their chance to kick me out and they didn’t. People might look on the outside like they are very well put together and confident, but under the surface and behind the scenes that’s not the case.
I need to keep that Impostor Syndrome monster at bay, because it’s really not going to help my progress or productivity. Rationally and logically I know that, I just need to find a way to remember that consistently, because I know things are going pretty well. I have some results and I have some progress…more and more each week. That really is a great thing to be proud of.
The best and worst thing about doing a PhD is that it’s totally up to you, so the only way this week was going to be better than last is if I made it so.
Today has been long..not only long as in the hours I was in the office but also by how hard I worked my brain. It feels good, it feels productive..
As I come to the end of the my first full week as a PhD student (yes, I know technically I only worked Monday-Friday, but my mind has been wurring all weekend so it counts, okay?!) I’ve realised that this is going to be a super long process with many ups and downs.
I thought I’d collate a list of the tips I’d received, partly because it puts them all in once accessible place for me but also they’ll be in once place for anyone else who wants them too.
Shruti's PhD 