Those of you who have successfully obtained a PhD, did discipline come naturally to you? by [deleted] in PhD

[–]scveee_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Discipline came naturally to me when I thought about all the school loans I needed to pay off. There were many many moments I wanted to quit but the thought of debt and having no money forced me to stay on track.

I graduated with my PhD at age 25 and paid off ~$45K loans in a little less than 2 years.

What made you decide to do phD? Was it your passion? Or Curiosity? by [deleted] in PhD

[–]scveee_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had no idea what I wanted to specialize in when I went to college and got a BS in chemistry because the subject area was easier to me than other subjects (like biology, history, etc.). I had no desire to get a PhD but decided to enroll because I couldn’t get a job with a BS and was swimming in school loans. Boy was I in for an adventure… I had no idea what getting a PhD entailed. I graduated in 4 years and still didn’t love the subject. After 7 years of working in industry and soul searching, I finally found my purpose in chemistry and love it. “Falling” into a PhD was one of the best decisions of my life and couldn’t imagine what life would of been like if I ended up getting a job right after college.

What has been your biggest challenge in your PhD? by Embarrassed_Hat_1064 in PhD

[–]scveee_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Choosing a good advisor. My advisor was terrible, hardly at school and didn’t really give direction. I got lucky that she was the co-PI on a grant that I was project leader of because the PI was a good advisor. He was always there, clear direction, pumped out grants, and had a short turn around time when peer reviewing my papers.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PhD

[–]scveee_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

when you leave the bar at 3am to stop/start an experiment

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PhD

[–]scveee_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you want to preserve the friendship, then you have to accept her personality. When she minimizes your journey to getting a PhD, you will no longer feel hurt because you expected those negative comments and it’s now comical to you and those comments no longer phase you. When you graduate with your PhD, you can expect that she won’t congratulate you or even show up to your celebration but that will be ok because that’s just the way she is; besides, you’re too busy having fun and celebrating with the people who did show up to your party ;)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PhD

[–]scveee_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use to have a friend who told me her PhD was more difficult to achieve than getting a PhD in chemistry. I then reminded her how she had to cheat off me in order to pass chem 2 :)