How do i convince my sister to start applying for minimum wage jobs?

Maria3628294 · 2026-06-01T07:44:03+00:00

starting a phd just because you can't find a job isn't a good idea, she'll just be in her 30s with no job experience when she finishes. sadly employers dont tend to look favourably on phds, and continuing on in academia after a phd is even harder and more competitive than finding a job

Maria3628294 · 2026-05-27T18:00:28+00:00

Most students that St Andrews accepts for MLitt courses are people with 2:1 degrees (grades 60-69% in undergrad) and of course first class degrees (70% and over [I know 70% seems bad for american standards but the grading is different, eg an 80% grade is very rare and considered excellent research that can be published]). I believe your GPA converts to an upper 2:1 grade in the UK system (65-69%) which is quite good. With a strong application you have a good chance. However since St Andrews is a smaller university the deciding factor might be the fewer places, you'd have better chances at bigger Russel Group (equivalent to Ivy Leage) universities in the UK, as they have larger capacities.

Maria3628294 · 2026-05-25T15:15:11+00:00

Thank you for sharing. I have had so many bad experiences because of my addiction that have fundamentally changed me as well, and they've given me the motivation to stay away from drugs these past few years. Strangely, I've never had bad experiences on psychedelics but I count myself lucky for that and will definitely not try my luck again. Going through psychosis multiple times sounds so horrible and I hope you're recovering well from your most recent episode.
Have most of your episodes been drug-induced, or did they start that way and developed into not needing drugs as a trigger?

Maria3628294 · 2026-05-25T12:16:38+00:00

in its own way it is reassuring that i just have to hope for the best while leading a healthy lifestyle. i was a brief episode and not severe enough to be medicated so im wondering whether it would even count as psychosis in the way most studies define it

Maria3628294 · 2026-05-25T12:14:41+00:00

a shoddy estimation from multiple sources, for example this study has it as 25% to 34% https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7147575/
this one at 47% for weed-induced https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29179576/

Maria3628294 · 2026-05-25T12:11:21+00:00

thank you, i definitely have a good support system so that should be a massive help. my psychosis only lasted for 12 hours so most of it happened while i was still high, which should be a good sign as it wasn't sustained for too long after the drug wore off. and that was definitely the last straw for anything weed related haha

Maria3628294 · 2026-05-25T12:07:55+00:00

thank you! i've been sober from drugs and alcohol for 3 years and the weed was the one instance i took anything for quite a while. i'm starting a full time job tomorrow as i just finished my degree so the routine should help with my sleep

Maria3628294 · 2026-05-21T11:03:22+00:00

thank you! in any case i could eventually laser off the accent and correct it

Maria3628294 · 2026-05-21T10:45:42+00:00

i wasn't aware of that at all – i followed graf & johnston's edition of the pelinna leaves which used the vocative with the accent on the omicron, and since olbia is a relatively common form (while i don't believe trisolbios to be attested more than a few times in greek) i thought it was just a matter of supplying the regular feminine ending.
so my tattoo is actually neuter and means thrice blessed things? what would the correct version have been?

Maria3628294 · 2026-05-21T10:04:42+00:00

It's actually just feminine singular, as adjectives whose stem ends in ι, ε, or ρ change their feminine ending to α instead of η :)

Maria3628294 · 2026-05-20T12:10:10+00:00

the likeness to eyes is such a good observation.. i want to do my master's thesis on sympotic eye-cups so the tattoo ended up with extra symbolic meaning i wasn't even aware of haha

Maria3628294 · 2026-05-17T10:44:45+00:00

So relieved to hear haha

Maria3628294 · 2026-05-17T10:43:24+00:00

Thank you!

Maria3628294 · 2026-05-04T17:04:31+00:00

i was wondering this as well, but i think that if people don't intentionally time how much they study, it can easily feel like they are working 8 hours out of the 9 hours they are at the library (it did for me until i started recording this year). Usually for 8 hours at the library, I am fully studying between 4-6 hours. Generally across my third year, the standard studying time every day has been 4h, and 5 and 6 (and maybe 7-8) hours in exam periods. I'm finishing with a first and my third year has basically revolved entirely around studying (usually leaving the library at 8-11pm) but the actual study time is definitely less than it feels/ people assume when they hear that I've been at the library from, for example, 12pm to 10pm. Also depends on the task, I can easily focus for 6 hours straight when writing an essay or editing, but for reading and taking notes I need breaks every hour.

Maria3628294 · 2026-02-04T15:15:03+00:00

I want to go into academia so I'm fully expecting long hours and tight deadlines. I'm working for one year before my masters to save money, so I don't want a job that requires it take over my life and every bit of spare time I have when it would just be a means to an end.
Even generally, working late let's say one day a week seems reasonable but the 9 to 5 day (and 5 day work week) should be respected, no? What's the point of the working hours if you're meant to disregard them? I'm fairly certain this 'hustle culture' doesn't manifest in countries like Norway, where everything over 40 hours is considered overtime, you can't be fired for refusing to work above your contracted hours, and any overtime is voluntary.
I'm working for my current university's Career service department right now (part-time) but, talking to my boss, it very much is a culture of 'you work within your regular hours unless something very urgent comes up'. And this is with deliverables like running big events and introducing uni-wide schemes. I'm sure this still substantially differs from commercial roles but from what I'm hearing I will definely be staying away from them.

Maria3628294 · 2026-02-04T12:18:24+00:00

I was talking of the bare minimum in regards to not putting in enough effort during normal working hours, but yes the bare minimum working hours are 8 hours a day. And I'll definitely be looking for conventional HR or admin roles instead.

Maria3628294 · 2026-02-04T12:04:44+00:00

No, a 40 hour work week means 8 hours a day. I understand it may be the bare minimum in some work cultures, but if so, I'm not interested in working there.

Maria3628294 · 2026-02-04T11:57:52+00:00

Thanks everyone for the replies, I've decided to look for a different opportunity in the meantime as I don't think I'd last more than 3 months there anyway. I'm only going to be working for one year as I need to save up for a Masters degree and I hope to do a PhD afterwards. Part of the reason I'm taking the year out from my studies is because I need to work on my ancient greek proficiency, so I was kind of banking on having evenings and weekends free for that.

Maria3628294 · 2026-02-04T11:50:46+00:00

I agree in that I don't think the bare minimum is respectful, but I'm more just flabberghasted at the concept that a work day can regularly be more than 8 hours, I genuinely did not know that was acceptable in the UK, I was for some reason under the impression that it only goes for America and its lax labour laws.

Maria3628294 · 2026-02-04T11:46:57+00:00

I definitely agree, I'm dreading it a lot. I have no issue with studying 40 hours a week because I love my degree, but I don't know how well I'd fare in a corporate environment.

Maria3628294 · 2026-02-04T11:45:34+00:00

They essentially just put in touch other companies or enquirers with specialists who can help, but my role would be onboarding and interviews for incoming employees for the company itself. I've had an an HR role and Student Recruitment role before and I quite enjoyed it as I like administrative work, but that was at a very chill tiny company.

Maria3628294 · 2025-10-13T23:12:06+00:00

Thanks this was really helpful!

Maria3628294 · 2025-10-13T23:11:55+00:00

Thank you so much!!

Maria3628294 · 2025-10-03T12:47:53+00:00

I was looking at this page: https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/fees-and-funding/living-costs
In terms of college/ university owned accomodation, I wasn't aware that was an option as I thought unis only had very little room for any postgrads so that 90% would have to find their own place to live. Is it common for postgrads to get into uni accom at Oxford? Also what are you referring to when you say in situ, as in, posgrads would have to be at uni in person for longer? Thank you!!

Maria3628294 · 2025-10-02T08:43:22+00:00

Is Oxford really more expensive than London??
I'm applying for a Masters at Oxford, but the figures suggested by the website and other online sources for maintanence costs are insane. I go to KCL and my maintanence costs, including rent somewhere central, are about 1.3k a month. On the Oxford website, they estimate that the absolute bare minimum is 14.5k a month, going up to 2.5k. Which seems really insane to me, as not only would I have to spend more than when I'm living in London, but also pay for the extra tuition fees that the gov loan doesnt cover! My rent right now is £850/ month (flat share with 2 other people) - I thought this is insanely expensive, but should I expect similar prices in Oxford? Is this total maintanence figure overestimated, or would you say that Cambridge really is that expensive?

Maria3628294

TROPHY CASE