#uni tips

Hi! (this will be along reply, sorry abou that, but I hope it'll help you somehow) I'll start with saying that I totally get it, the imposter syndrome, the general anxiety and the illness part as well because I actually have a cronic illness and it generally flares up because of stress! So, little disclaimer: I'll just give you the most honest response I can based solely on my experience.

Specifically, talk to your instructors about what you want to do. Grad school, a specific profession, getting a particular grade in the course - verbalize these things to people in your field. Talk about your research interests. They’ll likely have experience and advice and may even be able to point you towards the right classes and programs.

How to apply: book office hours at the beginning of the semester. Ask to talk about how you can use this course to work toward your goal. Come ready to talk about where you see yourself in X amount of time and how it relates to the specific class you’re in.

Hi !! I had fun doing our thesis so I feel I might ramble a bit here, haha +++ this is a very long read so I'll list it down w bold key points blue if u dont want to read d whole thing – most of these are the things my team did, I hope this is of help !!

sorry for the delay w my response, I thought about this for days so I could be more helpful hehe

first, idk if you're doing a solo or partnered or group thesis but if you have a partner or group, getting along really well with the team + having mutual understanding can make the whole process smooth. my groupmates are my close friends (we're 6 in the group and i love them dearly) and everything went smoothly because we're aware how, for example, i hate cramming and love scheduling + doing things in advance, so all of us agreed to do things in advance but with a time period of 1-2 weeks depending on the heaviness of task (related lit is long so we did that 2 weeks minimum)

do not procrastinate and cram = love scheduling. following my first point, i made a time table for our group and i was the secretary/assistant leader so i made it a point to follow up every now and then and kept the deadlines pinned in our chat. since we had a system, we never crammed and since all of us also loves to do things now for longer chill days, we were never late for a deadline and just waited for our prof to ask for outputs since there were no fixed deadlines.

pick a topic you and your team is very interested in + relevant to today's society/generation + your major. all of us had very good topic proposals since each of us had to pitch at least one topic and we chose to do a study on telemedicine for chronic respiratory disease patients – very timely, interesting and relevant to our generation + our major ofc. we were very invested in this study :)

love reading, love your study and the process. this makes things SUPER easy. a little segwey but i did my junior internship under occupational therapy and loved the patients (majority were stroke patients) and one of them, when my intern asked what advice to give me since i want to become a doctor/hcp, he was a doctor and he told me to "isapuso" (take in heart/love) what i will be studying and doing and that's what i did with our thesis + my major. Makes everything easier ♡ oh and also since thesis needs loads of reading, the more you love your topic, the more you'll just automatically read on it regardless whether you're doing your related lit at the moment or not. i still read on telemedicine till now

have one in your team to be the one in charge of formatting and one for references. this seems very minor but it helps prevent unwanted headaches especially if there's a bunch of you in the group so the document won't be altered much as you work and would have a much more consistent formatting for both

ethics committee can be a pain in waiting both in uni and if ever you want to conduct your study based on a hospital. our uni ethics takes a week while hospitals take over 2 weeks to over a month to approve your request/s. best to also assign 2 people on ethics-related things since i think we filled out 5 documents the whole thesis period to submit to ethics. however, during the waiting process or even before submitting, make revisions and consult with your research adviser and/or other profs knowledgeable on your topic + our best decision was to consult the head of the uni research. though we had to revise our title + changes in the whole paper, as a result of consulting w profs n head, we were able to get the best result we could hope for !!

review your paper every now and then because there are technical and content-wise revision you won't notice at first and second time you proofread your paper. in addition, if working in a group, have your groupmates check on your work afterwards no matter how confident you are with it — this helps them study on your part/s and see corrections you weren't able to. double, triple, quadruple checking's not bad. It's very helpful.

this is ironic since thesis is a major task but: don't stress and don't put too much pressure on yourself. personally this was very helpful because it clears your mind, especially before defense and can help you think of the possible questions the panelists might ask and you yourself would be able to deliver your parts better + be the one to figure out the loopholes you missed (so idk but in our case before the panel pointed out our loophole, we were the ones who brought it up and already had a defense on it and stuff) and it makes the whole defense process shorter, smoother. just make sure to take notes on the loopholes, possible qs, panel qs and recommendations and not dwell on the anxiety (there will always be a percentage of it in u) you have in your body while they're asking stuff, hahaha

sleep early before defense days !!! i sleep latest 11 for these and go to dunkin near uni at 5 or 6am to study up for the defense, no matter if the defense is at 8 or 10. you can nap peacefully after + the morning auras can help calm your nerves

ran out of ideas but i believe you can do this !! thesis might sound intimidating and scary but i hope you don't let it get to you. you can have a stress-free thesis making period as long as you really like your study (as i mentioned), trust and have confidence both in you and your team, be very diligent to get rest and whenever you get time to. if you feel overwhelmed, step back and take a walk even just for 5 minutes, it makes a whole difference. I'm not sure what drives you – awards, grades, feeling of fulfillment... and I don't know what field your in but trust that your study can help make an impact no matter how you think it's "too simple" in comparison to those making apps (in my case, but no shade to the other contestants in the research competition, i was very proud of my fellow respi students regardless whether we're competitors or not that time).

I also want to ask, how do you set intentions for the beginning of the semester/school year and make sure that you stay committed to them? How do you balance separate writing projects with your coursework?

In addition, would you be willing to share advice for a reader halfway through her undergraduate degree? For context, I’ve had some rough setbacks in my first two years, but I’m really eager to prove myself. I want to build back my GPA and earn my way into a humanities PhD program.

Thanks so much! I hope your academic years are wonderful (in the true old meaning of the word!) and give you great joy, wisdom and inspiration.

#ADHDinacademia #PhD #dramione #darkacademia #hogwarts #oxford #oxbridge #ivyleague #columbia #manuscript #marauder #hermionegranger #undergradwoes #lumos

Sweet Piedra! Happy September, aka the best month of the whole year! (it may or may not include my birthday).

I will be a student this year again! I'm just about to start my second year as a phd student (programs in the UK are usually 3-4 years, so I'm nearly halfway through already?!).

The biggest advice I can give about studying is firstly: wanting to do well is the first step to doing well in anything, so you are already a good chunk of the way there!

2. pick things that you are naturally interested in (for option papers). Life is a hell of a lot easier when you're not making it harder for yourself, even if you think you *should* be studying something bc it sounds impressive (personally, I am not into Russian Literature at all, so I just don't force myself to slog through Crime and Punishment, etc. This simple realisation improved my life by at least 100%)

3. Do as much reading as you can. When I did my undergrad I was so surprised at how little reading people did lol, and doing the reading makes a big difference. The Professors have made the reading lists for a reason and they want to help you.

4. Utilise office hours! It took me ages to realise that I can just...go to the office hours and talk to the people who were teaching me. Go in person if you can. Talk them through your essay plans and they will course correct before they're marked. Let them know that you're interested in pursuing it further, and find out what they think you need to do to fill in any gaps you may have. Don't be discouraged if they're short with you, bc academics are a weird bunch.

5. Try not to be so focused on an end result that you forget to enjoy what you're doing right now. Romanticise the hell out of your life whenever you can. It's short!

In terms of my 'process' (sorry this is SO long):

This term is going to be pretty hectic! In addition to my PhD I work Tuesdays and Wednesdays at a corporate job to help pay the bills. I have funding, but funding in the arts is just...not enough.

I will also be teaching this semester for the first time ever (yay!) so I have reading lists and essay questions to put together before Oct. That's every other week though, so it's not too much work.

My supervisors and I try to get a 'chunk' of my thesis written a term (8-10k roughly). I have about 8k due at the end of this month as I have written 2 chunks over the summer, and will have another due at the end of term in Dec.

Also, I've been asked to give a talk about my research at the end of the semester which I am SO excited about, but it means I'll be adapting one of my thesis chapters for that, too! :)

Broadly speaking I do fanfic writing Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, as after grown-up-job-things my brain is too toasted for academic work. When I'm getting to the end of a story however I get real itchy fingers and have to get all the words out as quickly as possible, so I let a lot of other things slide, like cleaning or cooking or washing my hair or also doing my work. Gross, I know, but I've never been particularly functional when I have an idea in my head.

However, I do believe that if you are busy then you are more productive. I have 2 modes: INSANE or blob. I do not recommend this approach, but that is just the way that I'm wired. Today, for instance, I spent the entire day in bed. Tomorrow I really must go back to the library.

Oxford terms are only 8 weeks long, and honestly no matter how prepared I am at the beginning, by halfway through I'm clinging on by a thread. I try not to be too hard on myself when that happens, and focus on getting my work done and not keeping my house clean or whatever else I've decided to beat myself up about.

My username is about procrastinating for a reason. I just kind of productively procrastinate and then at some point everything just gets done?

Some personal mantras:

'everything in moderation, including moderation'

'say yes and figure it out later'

'the work comes first' (normally I say this to try and galvanize myself into staying in the library when I want to go to the pub)

'fuck it' (said when the pub wins out)