Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Yeah, like I have time to do all these stupid "hands on" projects.

Also, I have managed to do pretty well in my classes without buying the textbooks. Do I dare continue the semester without books, or should I just buy them like a good little grad student?

I'm thinking of returning the one that I did purchase. Possibly buying it on amazon and waiting the 12 days to get it and saving 4 quid in doing so.

ohhh goodness. I'm in my Con Law II class and we're on Romer v Evans (law saying no "special" rights for gays and lesbians in Colorado) and some kid said he would have voted for the law because of something like no need to specifically allow drinking beer on Sundays for football games as opposed to just allowing drinking beer on Sundays. I didn't quite follow it, but I thought the prof was going to burst trying to not to laugh.

So I'm on my 10th year of tertiary studies. I finished my PhD in genetics and immunology last year, wanted nothing to do with research so bummed around for 7 months before deciding that I wanted to be a genetic counsellor. Here I am doing a masters degree to become qualified in that. Sadly, it too has a research component so I clearly can't escape it...

I hope to avoid stepping onto a university campus for at least a decade after I graduate from this one.

Why the hell did I go back to school again?

So…. any self care tips?
At about 12-14 hrs a day six to seven days a week I am quickly running down to E. I think I overloaded myself. Has this happened to any of you? What did you do?

1. Have healthy meals ready to go in the freezer. I would cook big batches of soups, chili, enchiladas, lasagna, etc. and freeze in single portions.
2. Try to get as much quality sleep as you can. I found taking melatonin helped me feel more rested.
3. Try to find time to take breaks throughout the day. Even just a 10 min. walk outside would help.

Those are off the top of my head. Not that any of the above kept me from having numerous breakdowns of crying and wanting to quit grad school when I was super worn out...

hugs, p-j! I feel what you're going through in my own way!
Lobster's ideas are so great. Definitely don't go through the day without a break!
It is so important to find some sort of balance, whatever that may be for you. For me, it was setting time aside as many days a week as I could to go to the gym for a certain amount of time. Don't stop doing something you love just because of school. It might lessen, but don't give it up!

UGH. PMS and my first cold of the season have conspired to coincide with my first paper of the semester. It's not due until next Friday, but I have a lot of reading to do, in addition to researching (and actually writing) the thing. I felt too shitty yesterday to do any work at all, and this morning I have a headache, itchy eras (?!), a sore throat, and I cannot breathe through my nose at all. I am currently sitting here in my bathrobe, clutching a mug of tea, and trying to muster the strength to get into the shower, find something to wear, then get in the car and drive an hour to school...followed by three solid hours of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto III ("This Time It's Personal"). Pray for me, PPK.

Feel better Desdemona!

I'm not a grad student but taking my pre-reqs for nursing. For my previous MS, we didn't have a dissertation but it was a 6 month project with a paper. And I guess we had to write a few smaller research papers here and there but it was largely a technical degree. That was also 5 years ago. Now I'm in two classes where both of them require proper writing assignments with references and both have a research paper. It is kind of freaking me out.

I'm constantly on E, but it started about two months before I actually started grad school, and it has nothing to do with my workload. One thing that helps me is to plan easy/healthy meals (much in the way lobsteriffic suggests) and also utilize a slow cooker if you can. I've found that I really easily fall into eating crappy food when I feel down, so if you do that, be aware and ready to counter it! (I won't tell you how many times I've had fries in the last week.)

When I was feeling healthy, exercise made a world of difference in my mental clarity, and it made me get everything done a little faste

I think the most important thing you can do is to pay attention to your body! Right now I'm in the process of trying to figure out what is wrong with me, nearly two months into the semester, because I kept thinking my long term exhaustion would go away. I'm so far behind because I've been run down and can't focus or stay awake to read...if you think you're doing too much, really try to see if there's a way you can alleviate some stress.

Real quick before I run on to my next thing.. thanks for the support! I think these are some great ideas! I'm going to post more tomorrow, when I get a moment! Hugs everyone :)

whoooo, I'm officially ABD as of 1pm today! I'm incredibly happy to have passed my (two! oral!) exams. No one tell me the hard part is still coming, OK. Because as of right now this feels awesome.

That's wonderful - congratulations!!! I am so happy for (and jealous of) you!

Thanks! Now I get to relax for a few days at least, which is most excellent. Figuring out IRB may suck though.

Just got the email my dissertation has been accepted. Once I get my signatures I will be done!
(nevermind i'm not on the other side of the continent from my committee).

YAY! Congrats.

I am so grateful my school has a fall break. I must hit the grind on monday, though, and buckle down for midterm papers and projects.

I am ready to submit my professional paper to my adviser today! I hope she likes it.

We are almost half way through our first semester here, which blows my mind. Hope all the other first year grad students of the ppk are having as much fun as I am so far!
In my lab we are all set up to start consenting people and collecting data on Monday, and this is the project that my thesis data will come from! Hell yes for progress!

Congrats to everyone - such great news and milestones!

Hi all,

I'm just checking in to see how everyone is doing! It looks like some people have made some headway with their programs, great job!!!

One issues that continues to be brought to the attention of my cohort is self care. What do you all think about this? What are some of the ways you engage in self care? Do you think its important?

Alright, I hope everyone is off to a fantastic week.

Best!

I haven't bought all my textbooks. I also haven't done a reading in months. And I'm still doing well.

*In my defense, I don't learn that way.

I'm finishing up at the moment, and so temporarily out of the university environment. In terms of maintaining sanity: I ate a lot of leftovers, planned packed lunches a week in advance (I know I'd get too absorbed in whatever I was doing to get around to buying something before I got too hungry!), banned myself from too much work on weekends (Overworking myself was actually detrimental to the quality of what I was producing, but then I was doing research only) and maintained a circle of people I could meet up with at short notice for a bit of distraction.

Outside time and/or/as exercise time, for sure for sure. Right now, I'm into blended soups, so I buy a huge pumpkin, a kilo of onions and beets and am set for cooked food for ... a long time. Probably until my tub-of-miso runs out. (I can eat the same thing like 20 times in a row before I have to change, so this works.)

Tonight, I got an email from someone at the Max Planck inviting me to give a colloquium talk (!). I am a first year PhD student studying at a university almost nobody has heard of. How the hell did these awesome people hear about me?

I've spent the last few days writing my first paper of the semester, and between that, a huge pile of reading, a terrible cold, and my partner being away for the past 5 days, I'm feeling a bit hermitish right now, and in need of some fresh air and in-person conversation with an actual, living human. Fortunately, my cold is better, my BF is on his way home - YAY! - and I have that temporary glow of virtue that comes when you finish something. Of course, I still have more stuff to do, but for right now I think I've earned an evening off to make a decent meal and relax with a martini or two.