Posted on by mamothena

My PhD Sunday plate of experiences…

In the South African township where I grew up we have a special meal on Sundays. It’s called “Seven colours”, or the Sunday plate. You will have rice, butternut, beetroot salad, a coleslaw, chakalaka, chicken or meat, French beans, spinach or cabbage…a mish-mash of foods and beautiful colours on your plate. Something you don’t see for the rest of the week, where meals are simple and consist mainly of pap (maize meal) with a side of vegetables or meat.  I thought today I would give you my seven colours of my PhD experience… It is a mish-mash of experiences/revelations I have had in this journey of PhD so far. Next year I will be in fourth year, and I thought this is an opportune time to take stock of the last three years.

1.     On a scale of one to ten…

I was speaking recently with my sister-in-law regarding her interest in doing a PhD. And it brought me back to my inaugural blog, What brings you here? I am always interested in people’s motivations for doing a PhD so I asked her about that. Turns out she is very well invested in her area of knowledge, and seems like the type of person who would actually enjoy exploring ideas more. She asked the basic question – do you think it is a good idea if I did a PhD? It was almost like, on a scale of one to ten, would you recommend a PhD? And my first instinct was, “Absolutely!” This surprised me because it wasn’t a particularly positive day in PhD land.  I still had the perspective of how this process is making me grow made me happy. It is the nature of the beast to have good and bad days because a PhD is life.

2.     15 drafts, one paper…should I give up?

Even if you have published before, your next paper can be a nightmare. I’ve changed my mind on this paper I am currently writing a number of times. It didn’t help that a conference opportunity came along and I, again, shifted my angle on it. So, a few months later (don’t worry, I have been doing other things), I think I finally have a solid draft. On the 15th try. Well I guess it doesn’t matter, because I have something I am happy with at the end of the day, no? We will see what reviewer 2 says about that. The point is, don’t give up. Just constantly improve.

3.     Technology is nice…but use your common sense

As a PhD student, you come across a plethora of tools for project management, writing, data analysis etc. I remember one time in particular discussing an analysis tool with one of the mentors in our department. There are all these neat data analysis tools out there! But these tools don’t do the thinking for you. And on top of that, the machines sometimes just don’t have enough information to give you valuable output. It is like the GPS that sent me in circles for eight minutes, to a building that was right across the street. But it was the first time in that country, I was there for a conference, and I trusted the machine more than my common sense — to the point of not believing my eyes. So sometimes trust your instincts, and always use your brain to interpret the outcomes, no matter what the sophisticated programs say.

4.     Writing retreats are the best thing money can buy.

To every supervisor out there, if you can afford it, or have the necessary connections, take your students on writing retreats. Two words for how writing retreats work: Mental space. Even if your student comes into the office every day, a writing retreat affords mental space in a way that they haven’t experienced before. I pray that they are the norm at every university in South Africa. A writing retreat is a space where you don’t worry about anything other than your writing. Someone else makes you tea, and food, and there are no errands. A week of writing can accomplish more than a month of trying to write. It’s made more enjoyable by the presence of your peers, who you meet over meals and tea, and informally discuss your experiences. Have a laugh, go back to your books. A lot of down, quiet time – in a collegial atmosphere. I have a sneaky suspicion that scholarship was always meant to be this way.

5.     When your proposal was your best work.

As it currently stands, my proposal is my best work in this entire three-year PhD process. (It will be topped by the thesis soon hopefully). But it is clear to me now why I took almost a year developing it. I read widely…I haven’t done that much reading since. My ideas were consolidated and my plan was solid. When I flail, I always go back to the proposal to ground me. In my mind, my ideas were supposed to get better with time. The proposal was supposed to be something I did just to get into the program and just to get started. But it has become my whole blueprint and my foundation. This week I am attending a writing retreat (high five emoji) and the one thing that has unlocked all of my creativity was going back to my read a section of my proposal. Taking stock of what I have managed to implement and most importantly, the rationale for my entire thesis. I am reading old papers that I haven’t read in three years. All this to say, yes to writing retreats 😉

6.     Surround yourself with inspiring people… People who think their PhD time was the best time.

Talk often to people who have gone through the PhD,  for perspective. I realize how important it is to talk to people who see their whole PhD journey as a positive experience. Because they have faced challenges as well, and can tell you about them. But they seem to focus on the good stuff. Because even when we talk about heavy issues such as mental health in academia, they have a way of showing you that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Those people tend to be solution oriented, and they motivate you to fight hard to design a positive experience for yourself. And sometimes that means shutting out contrary voices.

7.     Friendships and the PhD

This has been an interesting one. I have successfully retained my old friendships — but only those that don’t need a lot of time and constant engagement to be sustained. I have formed new friendships within the PhD environment. And you share with these people some very personal things, at least as far as they affect your work. And yet, these friendships somehow don’t work outside of the PhD environment. I guess it is the same idea as “work friends”. And these friendships have a very useful and important place in our lives. They are in the arsenal of the little things that help you go through the PhD.

Well there you have it! My seven colours of delicious PhD-esque experiences and reflections. Hope you enjoyed and it inspired you to reflect on your own experience, especially if you have been on this journey for a while.

Posted on by Loosely Translated

The year is 1 BD, it has to be

As this year comes rushing to a close, there are a lot of stressed-out postgraduate students trying to squeeze every last little bit out of 2018 so that they might get their work done to try and hand in their thesis now or early next year. I am one such postgraduate. I am counting down the days!

Counting is something humans do to keep order and monitor progress. The B.C./A.D. system is a good example and is based on the traditional reckoning of the year Jesus was born. Since 1988, it has been adopted as an ISO 8601 standard, allowing all of us to keep record the past, present and future.

Marking calendars for special occasions is one thing, but creating your own designation for something really special is next level. Therefore, in my life, I have decided that 2019 will be 1 A.D., or After Doctorate, which would make 2018, 1 B.D.  Note: There is no 0 B.C. or 0 A.D because Roman numerals, which was commonly used at the time, did not have a zero number.

There is some method in my madness. This designation, like the B.C./A.D. system, marks a significant moment in my life. Life after getting my doctorate, I feel, is going to change completely. I’m told that having a PhD opens more exciting doors, even though those recent graduates are doing postdoctoral fellowships that don’t seem too different to what they were doing before. Granted, there are more freedoms in a postdoc… and the title is a hard-earned badge of honour.

From 27 B.D. till now, I have felt a little lost navigating a path that has been remarkably different to the ones my childhood friends ventured down. Many of them went to school, then University or College for three to four years, got a job afterwards and started their families. Since I was six years old, I have been on a journey that is based, almost entirely, at institutions of learning.

They say Life is the greatest teacher of all but if you have been at school for most of your life, the greatest teachers are… teachers and lecturers. They taught me where to find my compass, how to use it, and when to follow it. There is no doubt that after my PhD I’m going to learn a lot about life in the ‘real’ world but I think studying has allowed me to wade in already.

As I prepare to cross the B.D./A.D. line, to submerse myself in the world post PhD, I can’t help but feel a little nervous. I have made a commitment to finish in the next few months. I can’t make this statement and not hit my deadline. My friends and family are as excited as I am, I can’t let us all down.

A big part of my life is coming to an end. It feels like the end of a long pilgrimage but I know that it is just the beginning. With the PhD at my side, who knows what the future holds. I hope it is great. After all this, it is the start of a new era.