Tag: featured
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Lessons after multiple rejections
Last week was a rough one for me. I received two rejections in one day. And one of those rejections was for a SSHRC doctoral award, which is an award that I have been working to earn for the past four years. It was a personal goal that I wanted to achieve in my PhD,…
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Losing motivation after a major milestone
A pattern I’ve started to notice in my PhD is that every time I finish a big milestone, such as completing coursework, my qualifying exam, and now my proposal, I often lose motivation after it is complete. At first, I shrugged this off as me needing to take a break and nothing more. And I…
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Giving and Receiving Feedback in your PhD
Giving and receiving feedback is a skill I highly underestimated I would be using before going into my PhD. I am not sure what I expected actually, was I expecting everyone to say, “this is fantastic” and me to fly through my PhD with ease? I think it mostly has to do with PhD students…
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10 personal reflections of a 3rd year PhD Student
It has become a tradition to reflect on each year of my PhD and somehow put my reflections to words in a blog post. You can read my reflections from my first year here, and from my second year here. This year, it has taken me a while to write this post. My third year…
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My PhD Qualifying Exam: Part 1
I am excited to share with you today the first part, of a three part series, in my experience with my qualifying exam. This first post will share an overview of my story with the qualifying exam – what it looked liked in my department at my school, my personal journey with it and some…
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Mental health and my PhD
DISCLAIMER: This is my story of anxiety and depression. Please consult a doctor or health care practitioner if you are seeking help for your anxiety or depression. Now entering my fourth year of my PhD. I sit here a bit stunned thinking “how did I get here”? Perhaps it’s because I am entering into my…
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How I am *trying* to stay motivated during COVID-19
Heading into week four of quarantine, I have a variety of feelings and thoughts – per usual. First and foremost, for anyone who has been personally impacted by COVID-19, I want to say I am thinking about you and sending you love. Secondly, for anyone on the front lines – from doctors, nurses, to those…
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Life Happens Outside of Your PhD
This semester, my life outside of my PhD has been pushing me to pay attention to it. Many circumstances have forced me to put my work aside and put my personal life first; planning a wedding, health concerns with family, moving apartments, and most recently a death.
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Burnt out before I’ve even started? How I am putting myself before my work
After two and a half years of my PhD, my body feels depleted. Last semester, nothing went to plan, which has made January was one of the hardest months of my PhD this far. I didn’t feel like myself, my body gave up on me and my mind felt against me. How could this be?…
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Mindset shifts for grad students
The end of a semester is often a busy time for most scholars. The past two months have been especially difficult for me. I am completing my qualifying exams, prepping to teach my first course, working on a research study, and other paid jobs. In times like these, it is easy for me to get…