Yesterday was September 15, exactly 3 years after I officially started with my Ph.D. Time is fun when you’re having flies! This means that today I have just under a year left to go, which in turn means that the stress is beginning to pile up.
I apologise in advance if I accidentally bite your head off.
4 Comments to “A Gentle Warning”
September 17, 2003
Congrats at making it this far! A couple of days ago , September 11th to be exact, was the 5 year aniversary of me starting my Ph.D. So you’re still soing fine. I looks like the “European Ph.D. factory” churn out grads at a slightly faster rate than the US though. Over here the average time needed to complete a Ph.D. is 6.7 years (for CS and EE). That of course includes the obligatory 1 year Masters… which over here usualy forms part of the whole Ph.D. package.
You’re dead-on right about the stress piling on when the end starts approaching. I’ve been a nasty stress-messjob for the last year at least. Luckily I’m about 2 weeks away from handing in my thesis… which is groing (in pages) at an alarming rate.
So I guess my advice is this: Make your peace! Its going to get worse before it gets better.
Good luck!
September 17, 2003
We’re all very proud of you boykie. It will be a special moment when you can introduce yourselves as Dr and Dr Botha.
The rest of us mere mortals are settling for an obscure life of drinking, rude words and hitting our heads with bottles to keep the intelligent ideas from getting in where they don’t belong. You are transcending us and will evolve into a new social bracket filled with garden parties, Copenhagen and dry white Spritzers. I envy you before I pity you.
September 17, 2003
Will, you already have a Ph.D. in Wittiness. Maybe you could join the Professor of Cunning[1] on the Faculty of Oxford University.
Thanks both of you for the kind words. I’ll bite your heads later.
[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/remembrance/article/0,2763,195512,00.html
September 17, 2003
Then there is always… this:
http://www.wozar.com/photos/PhD-game.jpg