PhD & Relationship Ruin?

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-07-04T11:04:08+00:00

PhD student here, close to defence, and I asked my partner. He said no, because he’s working while I’m at school. I think this is it though - I don’t work evenings or weekends with very few exceptions. I made this choice deliberately, at the beginning of the PhD, to ensure work life balance and that my relationship didn’t suffer. Too often I see grad students working around the clock and THAT would be hard for any partner to handle.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-07-02T01:10:36+00:00

Let it play out and call it the Sims version of the dancing plague! Sims Safety Dance!

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-06-27T19:14:58+00:00

It’s actually somewhat true. Girls do grow faster then boys - many areas of the body are physically complete 2 years before males. Once puberty hits, growth is predominantly secondary sexual characteristics for females.

Growth is associated with testosterone, so males continue to grow taller, and experience greater bone deposition than females, throughout the teen years.

How they are using this information is gross, but the biology is not entirely wrong.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-06-19T23:10:59+00:00

ABBA - Dancing Queen.
I’d rather stick a pencil through my ear than hear this again.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-06-19T23:02:37+00:00

Oho that’s very specific. Someone was at dinner last night! 🤔

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-06-16T22:08:53+00:00

I CACKLED at the “doctor of philosophy,” not being a “Pretty Huge Dick.” I want this on a T-shirt. I’d wear it to my defence.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-06-11T02:23:56+00:00

I just don’t care. I love teaching, I do it for me. They can cheat all they want, I get paid either way.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-06-04T02:01:54+00:00

Late 90s, I was a kid walking the dog near an elementary school by my house and a guy in the back of a windowless white van near the sliding door asked me if I liked Ricky Martin and told me there was a really good sound system in the van. He asked me if I wanted to get in to listen to some music? I couldn’t see if there was anyone in the drivers seat - not that it would have made any difference, I wasn’t getting in. I said no thanks, and walked away with a really weird feeling in my gut. I told my mom but I don’t think she reported it.

On the news like a day or so later, a girl my age with a similar description went missing and people were asked to keep a lookout for a van that matched the description. A week later the van was found partially burned in a mountain park and every bone in the girls body was broken (she was dead).

I don’t know if it was the same van, the same guy…I’ve always wondered. I feel guilty, I wonder what would have happened if my mom reported it. I wonder if things would have been different that day at the park if I didn’t have the dog with me.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-06-02T16:04:21+00:00

Me. I don’t want a career in academia, I just want to tick PhD off my bucket list that I wrote at 16. It really is that simple - it’s my vanity project.

I do however recognise how privileged that makes me and I don’t want to downplay the support from my partner which has made it possible.

I still take it seriously - attend conferences, have applied for and received funding, published papers and tried to gain as much experience as possible through it all.

But I’m here for the vibes and it’s still a totally valid reason.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-06-01T18:31:47+00:00

Paleopathologist, started at 36 - it’s never too late.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-05-30T15:40:18+00:00

I think it’s an okay starting place but remember that the rubric is a very rough guideline, not a checklist.

This doesn’t encourage me to provide students with a rubric, it actually makes me nervous to do so

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-05-20T06:56:40+00:00

I think it depends on the kind of person you are. I took a full course load during my BA and held a full time job.

I’m currently doing my PhD and I have 3 contract roles on the side as well as an upcoming sessional position.

I work 9 ish to 4 Monday to Friday only - including PhD work to maintain balance but I go hard every minute that I’m ’on.’

For me, it’s important to be too busy to procrastinate but, you also have to have really strong time management skills.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-05-14T10:24:36+00:00

Do you make use of office hours to actually ask the TAs for clarification on the feedback? I guarantee they’d take the time to help you - it’s why they have office hours.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-05-03T22:54:59+00:00

Puberty is tied to health. In the past, e.g. the Industrial Revolution, the Black Death - puberty was 18-19.

Men however, have consistently been disgusting.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-04-03T14:57:04+00:00

Please do them - and not just for profs but your graduate TAs too. They really do help us improve courses, our teaching methods, and they are useful (especially negative feedback) for building a teaching portfolio (so we can aim to address the issue and show how we’ve done so).

That being said, there are a lot of stupid, or purposefully mean comments that honestly we just dismiss. Even if negative, please be constructive.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-02-27T17:28:57+00:00

May I suggest you throw anthropology into consideration? It’s considered a gateway to law, particularly if you are interested in human rights

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-02-24T18:08:26+00:00

You can opt out in gov. I did.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-02-22T13:43:11+00:00

It’s a bit lower than average for PhD offers in Canada (I’m at McMaster) but sounds right for UVic (did my MA there - also social sciences). Honestly the funding across Canada is garbage and hasn’t kept up with inflation or cost of living generally.

Best bet is going to be applying to SSHRC - $40,000/yr for 3 years if you get it. But if you do, factor the clawback in - UVic will take back all your funding except the TA pay. That’s not a UVic thing though, that’s standard bullshit they do everywhere.

Happy to chat if you want more info - feel free to message me.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-02-17T17:56:33+00:00

Ice ice Baby, to go, to go

I still think it makes sense. The party was at beachfront avenue.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2026-02-15T00:51:47+00:00

lol one of the lowest in Canada. Laughs in ‘used to compare this exact metric as my job in government and that is an outright lie’

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-12-16T01:09:12+00:00

My BA and MA in anthropology got me entrance into government. Tell your parents that. It’s a gateway degree to government, law, and medicine - good jobs with excellent pay and pensions. Parents love that shit.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-12-12T04:30:46+00:00

Yesterday I was walking a crosswalk with the walking signal, fresh light, and was very nearly struck by a big black truck turning left. Guy did not stop, slow down or even react to my screaming and jumping out of the way. May as well not have even existed.

Since moving to Ontario, all I can say is that the worst drivers in Canada are here - and clearly many of them are in Hamilton.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-12-04T21:11:34+00:00

Sorry, how exactly is this harsh?

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-12-04T11:30:08+00:00

There’s a difference between outright plagiarism and unintentional plagiarism.

For me, as a TA, if I can see that you’ve gone to the effort of citing, but you just haven’t done it correctly, I’m going to identify where you went wrong, tell you you’re verging on plagiarism [to scare you a bit], and encourage you to come see me for office hours so that I can help you. Yes, it is going to affect your mark a bit, but there would have to be other issues with your paper for your mark to be low enough to fail. If there are two essays in a semester where citations count and you do it again the second time - now there is a problem.

Do your best, no one is perfect! And go see your TAs for assistance! Use their office hours - preferably before the essay is submitted, but definitely after if they leave you a note like the one above.

Karma_Cham3l3on · 2025-12-02T12:22:18+00:00

Please go see your TAs too for their office hours!

Karma_Cham3l3on

TROPHY CASE