Joker Self-Portrait
ANONYMOUS
A PhD is closer to juggling than one might think."
"
ANONYMOUS
A PhD grad is often seen juggling multiple roles and activities at any given time. If you observe a PhD student in the wild, you might notice all the roles they are juggling: sometimes a student, a mentor, a washer of flasks and jars, a nutrient provider to their (favorite) organism, a writer, an organizer—basically, any role you throw at them, they will try their best to juggle that too.
This reminds me of a famous clown joke, and I'll end with my version of it:
PhD student: "Doctor, I am exhausted. I’ve been handling multiple projects, never-ending experiments, and deadlines. My advisor is often unhappy with my progress, and I feel stuck."
Doctor: "The treatment is simple. The famous scientist Dr. Pagliacci is in town, giving a talk on how to maintain a work-life balance and achieve your goals during a PhD. Go and attend his talk; it should lift your spirits."
PhD student (bursts into tears): "But… Doctor… my advisor is Dr. Pagliacci."
About Anonymous
They are a biology PhD. student at one of the premier institutes in India.
Related Posts
To Paying Attention
ZAKHIYA
"When you are curious is when you pay attention, and when you pay attention you get more curious, it's the one inexhaustible cycle that can wheel your journey. Life is long, life is tedious, the system will keep forcing you to determine but the world is ever changing and the only way to make sense of it all is to be curious and to pay attention, to what is around and to what is within."
Share this page: