A piece of advice

I wish to share the following piece of advice from a friend. She wrote to me a couple of days ago when I told her that I was down with my research. And I am so blessed to have her as my friend. My true friend. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

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The progress of one's PHD depends a lot on oneself. You could slooow down when you feel too stressful; you could up the tempo when you feel your research needs a push. In short, you decide the rhythm of your PHD - just you & your research - within the stipulated 3-4 years. simple life=) whereas, working as a lecturer, you are bogged down with - students, lectures, tutorials, quizzes, exam questions, vetting, marking tons of scripts, evaluate presentations etc - these have their own deadlines.

To add to these as a lecturer, we need secure grants, start our research lab, train postgrads (with so many ragam & kerenah), prepare grant reports, endless meetings, committee conference work, grant presentations, guide postdocs, politicking, write papers and only then finally, have the time to update oneself with one's research. I miss going to the lab - buat labwork - but i don't have the time to continuously be in the lab. nowadays, i'm more like an armchair scientist... so that's why i'm looking forward to my sabbatical - it's an opportunity to be free again and focus on just research;-) that said, do enjoy your phd life. despite some 'downs', I remember lots of the 'ups' time - that it's one of the best years in my life, and may not be likely to happen again;-)


A PhD is akin to a journey of searching for one's soul, one's voice in the midst of so many voices around us. At some points in the journey, one needs to move two steps backwards, before one could take a step forward. I've backtracked my work so many times - that at one time, I could do some reactions without looking at my lab book ie similar like you cooking the yummy asam pedas without a cook book!;-)

FYI, during my PhD, my first year results were not strong enough to turn into a convincing story - so it became a middle chapter just to beef up my thesis. It's my work in the second and third years that turned out to be my core story. Some people are somewhat quite lucky that PhD was a breezy 2.5 years etc. But honestly, I thoroughly enjoyed my time during my PhD - made more enjoyable and fun with good companies and support from friends, supervisors and family=)


It's normal to feel tak bersemangat when you are in research. if you feel that way, try to talk to your hubby and families back home; talk to your office mates; take a walk; read a book that would move/improve your spirits or anything to rejuvenate your spirits. sometimes, remembering why you are here would work. i knew getting a phd is like a one-way street - i couldn't afford to go back without one coz we have all put in all hopes, efforts and dreams in this phd. so i carried on plodding everday, lama-lama benda yang susah jadi lebih senang.
banyaklah juga berdoa - it's the time i felt closest to Allah too=)

hope i haven't rambled too much;-)
and hope this would help bring back the 'fighting' spirit in you to carry on getting with PhD. InsyaAllah!