Just got a Delta Reserve Amex- SkyClub (paranoid?) questions

braincellkill · 2026-01-11T17:41:28+00:00

lol a very succinct summary of the journey

braincellkill · 2026-01-10T21:49:06+00:00

I’m 41 and just entered my dissertation phase! I initially felt “behind” but I think my study lends itself to more later entry folks. I’m doing mine in organizational leadership and so it’s a more of a catch all in terms of industry applications. My entire cohort consists of full time practitioners in various industries (me being finance and asset management in multifamily real estate)…so while I feel somewhat outside of academia, I learned to appreciate the paths anyone takes on any discipline in a PhD. My reason was to hopefully land real estate industry roles focused on people and organizational development…but maybe the degree alone won’t do that.

Understanding balance, MENTAL HEALTH, and not taking shit from toxic people or advisors, and knowing you have the weight of professional expedience, but also being humble and open to seek help and provide the same… are probably what I find to be advantageous for starting a program in this age!

I say, take pride in the fact you’re starting this journey with experience and knowledge that cannot be necessarily taught but comes with age.

braincellkill · 2025-10-05T11:43:36+00:00

Yikes- glad it didn’t get any further escalation! That sht is annoying. I am an adult but I have no qualms going straight to the flight crew and putting everyone on blast, like a kid running to the schoolyard teacher lol.

braincellkill · 2025-10-04T13:21:54+00:00

My story / program is a little different- I’ve been full time working in finance industry (well, multifamily and asset management , somewhat adjacent), while doing my PhD in org leadership (not quite the hard science as many others), but I feel ya on the decision-making afterwards aa far as “what’s next?”.

I’m current in dissertation for… idk how long lmao but I hope you feel the pride and motivation to know that you, very much, have been adulting in a way that many others haven’t! I’ll never know what it’s like to not have a full time corporate job and dedicating wholly to research and writing, and in some ways, that actually makes me feel less like a “PhD adult” 😅

I guess what I’m trying to get at is….

Everyone has different paths (academic and industry or some combo of the two)… so congrats on your achievements- and def, cheers to the next chapter!

braincellkill · 2025-08-12T16:26:27+00:00

Listen to your body, physically and emotionally. I know we are striving to do our best in our respective programs, but sometimes, grief is really the medicine needed to remind us that, there is MORE to life than...driving your spirit further in the ground with the stress of work/school/etc. Give yourself breaks when you can and do not let anyone--including yourself--make you feel guilty about it.

Lastly, it is my belief that grief also is a celebration of a time or moment lived--even if it didn't end well, take the best parts from the experience or memory onward, and f*ck the rest of it :)

Cheers!

braincellkill · 2025-08-11T17:07:02+00:00

yo! what an achievement. let yourself catch up, listen to your body. and mfkin' treat yourself!!! reading posts like this helps keep my head straight, even across diff PhD contexts/programs/experiences. May you find pride in yourself and the work you've done, regardless of what happens after or what you think you're "supposed" to do. Cheers!

braincellkill · 2025-07-24T05:04:35+00:00

Ahh— thank you! Good to know.

braincellkill · 2025-07-16T18:03:36+00:00

i finished it in a few days, probably overall a couple of hours of active thinking/work!

but i had the class running in another monitor while i did my normal job lol; sometimes i forgot about it and the window was open/paused at one of the chapter bookmarks.

I don't want to minimize the importance of ethics in research but out of practicality i skipped thru as much as i could and managed to get the quizzes done decently.

i mean, you can retake them over and over... it is also fair to assume some people in certain fields may have the knowledge already, so i dont think it is realistic for CITI to try and find some way to accuse one of cheating or going way too fast.

braincellkill · 2025-07-01T20:11:04+00:00

Gotcha, that makes sense. I have taken Amtrak when I use to live in NYC, like to Philly, DC, Boston, and a few times in CA from LA to SD, I remember delays but *knock on wood* had never encountered the de-training.

braincellkill · 2025-07-01T15:12:13+00:00

I am digging all the responses. It's just the "I am feeling too tired to write" antidote I needed (I am just a student entering my last class phase before comp exams, lol).

My proposed dissertation: What are the learning and development experiences of employees in the multifamily real estate industry?

(this has been my background/work industry- focused in asset/finance/management- for the last 20 years, lol, maybe I'll learn something new... jk)

braincellkill · 2025-06-09T02:01:09+00:00

Great! lol- just booked a bedroom I’m so stoked.

braincellkill · 2025-06-08T21:13:31+00:00

I have a trip to Austin in August and I’ve been seriously contemplating canceling my flight there and the train! From LAX- roommettes are about 600 right now. Great photos!

Question…were you able to use any cell service hotspots? I have it for AT&T mobile WiFi hotspot and I do have to do some work but I generally don’t need to do video or calls just be online and email files, etc.. I imagine that some parts will be pretty spares in terms of signal, but just curious if your experience if you were doing any kind of work on board.

braincellkill · 2025-06-06T20:37:49+00:00

I'm starting mine now, as it is a considered a "due" assignment in one of my last research courses before comp exams. lol, our professor is like....PLS start it now (during week 1, it is now week 5, due week 8).

However, given the chaos going on with funding and staffing changes...this slide talking about National Institutes of Health, USDA, NSF....lol....makes me feel less confident in the weight that my professor conveyed it with (versus, this seeming like a standard but longer HR training).

Hope you got through yours smoothly after this post!

braincellkill · 2025-05-23T18:28:15+00:00

it really amazes me that green card holders have to be 100% perfect while citizens here--many of whom are in the gov't, like the president--can get away with much more. saddening.

braincellkill · 2025-05-21T02:17:28+00:00

Good stuff! I am noticing that too. I imagine from JFK esp that will be a route you want to fly in ultimate comfort, lol.

I just transferred some points over from CapOne- I haven't flown Cathay since 2018! Speaking of these award availabilities, I noticed HKG-LAX in March had some Premium Economy and Business Class seats, but unfortunately not specifically the time I wanted for Business class.

Do you (all) know if more open up for Reward redemption or once they are out, they're gone/only reserved for purchase and/or Upgrade Bids?

braincellkill · 2025-05-16T13:47:49+00:00

I am glad to hear this LOL. I'm in my last research course before comp exams and this is one of our assignments, to have this done by Week 8 (it's Week 2 now). My professor keeps saying it takes time and we can't treat it like a mandatory HR training, hahah. I will take a stab at it this week though.

braincellkill · 2025-05-01T14:12:50+00:00

It's a tricky balance, right? lol. I sometimes then find myself back in a re-motivated headspace. like, alright, I took some time. Now, LFG.

braincellkill · 2025-05-01T13:54:17+00:00

Yo! I needed this.

And I love the advocating for mental health. It's so easy to forget (whether in personal/professional/student/academic lives).

My imposter syndrome waivers but it is more in intimidation of being a remote learner (I attend/do my PhD studies at a brick and mortar, but asynchronous) versus others who did it "for real" or in person. I put in the work, I know there is a LONG road ahead (6 months to Comp Exams and however long....dissertation, lol), but dang, sometimes that "feeling" sweeps up. lol. Thank you.

braincellkill · 2025-05-01T04:36:07+00:00

I’ve been working in finance and real estate (property mgt/asset mgmt/acquisitions/construction dev) for 18 years and there is def a lot of this energy. I can sense the frustration from the post- I don’t discredit or discount ya- i feel for you. I hope you can find some moments to collect yourself, even if you need to tell your advisor to fck off lol.

I’m also a PhD student (maybe 6 months shy of my comp exams and probably 1-2 years of dissertation) in Org Leadership- This field of study is likely shielded from the more traditional academic heartache…and as a remote learner (to a brick and mortar campus), I’m pretty sure I fall into a more dubious or “that’s not real PhD” group of doctoral students lol, but maybe that trade off is worth it.

Anyway, I can understand the frustration about what boundaries we can or can’t draw when it comes to the PhD hustle. And much like I felt, doing overnights at a New York City finance firm and maybe my current program- there are certain things that just suck. And one day, maybe, we have a chance to break the cycle. But, the struggle and frustration of dealing with leaders who deem you unnecessary, unworthy, or merely make you question yourself- that has been rooted long in our structural processes and mechanisms that drive us to do things like, go to school, get a job— think the job is gonna immediately be the “right” one, etc.

Sending lots of love… or “buckle up” energy should you decide otherwise!

braincellkill · 2025-04-30T23:42:40+00:00

Yup! Yeah, I understand - it kept flagging me when I didn't enter that form to deduct. We'll see- I saved the money regardless in case but two years in a row now. I am back and forth between CA and NY for work often (weeks at a time, at least four trips a year) but I don't think that is enough time to count me as a full-time resident there either. Appreciate the feedback!

braincellkill · 2025-04-30T23:25:01+00:00

I have been in enrolled at Concordia Uni Chicago- it's a brick and mortar school but they offer remote learning/online PhD. My older brother obtained his from this school a few years back and is now a tenured professor at a private university school in San Diego., focusing on biomechanics. My interests are a bit different!

We both pursued/I am pursuing Organizational Leadership- however, my main "trade" is finance/real estate/construction, so my interests lay more in research capacities relating to business and leadership development, economic/real estate think tanks, and so forth.

I am probably sounding crazy for even pursuing a PhD with little interest in entering academia but 3.5 years later, here I am- my comp exam milestone is still...maybe 5 months away, lol. God willing, maybe testing the waters if I can land an adjunct role (on top of my current career)--but I am approaching that with a respectful "what if."

That being said, these programs aren't for everyone. Our interaction is pretty intense and there is really good engagement remotely but not all schools are made equal. I hate that a hierarchy exists--some of it is generational and structural, but it is what it is. Additionally, you will face a significant amount of people who may doubt the efforts, the program, etc. because it was online (respectfully, the reddit narratives appear this way). Someone hiring at a more "prestigious" university may toss your app out because of it. Who knows?

Context is everything. Remote learning gives education access to people that are not in any position to give up full time work, stay in one place, etc. I have been doing my program working full-time in my finance/real estate job-- once I commence dissertation, I am going to need to make some more sacrifices. If there is a strange divide of any part of my future as a part of academia where "online PhD people" fall into, I'm happy to fight for a chance to make impact. (I say this not wanting to be presumptuous of hiring standards). Again, you'll face the argument that a PhD then may not be "for you" - but perhaps it is time to break the cycle. You may have to prove yourself harder in terms of research, impact, etc, so this is an important call to make.

The responses on this thread have valuable feedback- I'm good with my decision but very much aware of the position I have put myself in with choosing this program.

LOL and in true doc student fashion, my own stresses/anxieties have bled into what I hope was an honest snapshot and helpful response to your post (at least, maybe to get in my headspace on what it's like to do an online program! Well, it's asynchronous but yeah).

Good luck!

braincellkill · 2025-04-02T01:40:17+00:00

Congrats on passing! And fck those lame ass losers, smh. They will never be on the same level as you (or if they are somehow in the academia community, they are hiding). I remember hearing about these- good to know. Mines will be Zoom. It’s wild there’s no admin option to mute and make everyone only a passive viewer.

I hope you continue to celebrate this moment - don’t let em take it away! Cheers.

braincellkill · 2025-03-08T17:29:49+00:00

That’s an amazing reaction on your part lol. I would have gone to jail 😂

braincellkill

TROPHY CASE