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o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h240uh9 | h23vcb1 | 1,623,950,351 | 1,623,948,030 | 53 | 36 | I submitted my PhD the same week covid lockdowns happened and my examiners failed me. My supervisor reviewed my chapters over a week and most comments consisted of “I don’t like this picture.” She resigned a week after I submitted and couldn’t make a case to defend me so it was left in the hands of other academics. We tried to refute the examiner decision but the Dean of Graduate Studies said “Masters or nothing.” The Dean also came from the same faculty and had a notorious hate relationship with my supervisor so I don’t know if it was all politics. The 1 year anniversary of the failure news is coming up, I still haven’t told my grandparents about my big screw up and they’re still telling everyone I have a PhD. I’m trying to get an industry job with my masters, but I’ve also had a lot of teaching opportunities during my studies and am currently working as a tutor on the side. Aside from that, I really have no idea what I’m doing. To repeat what someone previously said, get therapy. | I've told my story elsewhere on here, but I can contribute one new bit here: The mistake people make is assuming their career path will determine their happiness in life. They push themselves through graduate school on the belief that landing a dream job will somehow "make it all worthwhile," and a title and salary will fill any emotional void in their life. It will not. Work is still work, and most of us are only there because they pay us to be. And you'll still have days where you feel depressed, unfulfilled, ignored, and aimless. Being called "Doctor" or "Professor" (and only in a few settings by a few people) is just part of a job. It's not a magical life booster that will justify the years you spent earning a poverty wage and reading dense books you've long since forgotten. Part of why people who have "given up and moved on" seem happier in their other careers is arguably because they have discovered contentment in life that doesn't come from their workplace. And part of why so many academics are perpetually unfulfilled is because they have cemented their entire self-worth into their career prospects. "No job = I have failed at life." It's nice to have a job you love, but it's a better goal to have a good life all around. | 1 | 2,321 | 1.472222 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h235f2a | h240uh9 | 1,623,936,741 | 1,623,950,351 | 33 | 53 | Goals can change over time too so not necessarily giving up. Academia is what I am aiming for but I know it's difficult, especially times like these, so I guess as I learn more I'm reshaping my goals to make them more realistic. | I submitted my PhD the same week covid lockdowns happened and my examiners failed me. My supervisor reviewed my chapters over a week and most comments consisted of “I don’t like this picture.” She resigned a week after I submitted and couldn’t make a case to defend me so it was left in the hands of other academics. We tried to refute the examiner decision but the Dean of Graduate Studies said “Masters or nothing.” The Dean also came from the same faculty and had a notorious hate relationship with my supervisor so I don’t know if it was all politics. The 1 year anniversary of the failure news is coming up, I still haven’t told my grandparents about my big screw up and they’re still telling everyone I have a PhD. I’m trying to get an industry job with my masters, but I’ve also had a lot of teaching opportunities during my studies and am currently working as a tutor on the side. Aside from that, I really have no idea what I’m doing. To repeat what someone previously said, get therapy. | 0 | 13,610 | 1.606061 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h240uh9 | h23f9v9 | 1,623,950,351 | 1,623,941,323 | 53 | 29 | I submitted my PhD the same week covid lockdowns happened and my examiners failed me. My supervisor reviewed my chapters over a week and most comments consisted of “I don’t like this picture.” She resigned a week after I submitted and couldn’t make a case to defend me so it was left in the hands of other academics. We tried to refute the examiner decision but the Dean of Graduate Studies said “Masters or nothing.” The Dean also came from the same faculty and had a notorious hate relationship with my supervisor so I don’t know if it was all politics. The 1 year anniversary of the failure news is coming up, I still haven’t told my grandparents about my big screw up and they’re still telling everyone I have a PhD. I’m trying to get an industry job with my masters, but I’ve also had a lot of teaching opportunities during my studies and am currently working as a tutor on the side. Aside from that, I really have no idea what I’m doing. To repeat what someone previously said, get therapy. | I've posted about my experience before. Basically my advisor screwed me over in grad school which forced me to Master out after 7 years. I want back in at another institution, had the same thing happen, but this time filed a Title IX grievance and fought for a year to graduate with my PhD. Some might consider that a success since I graduated, but I missed out on so much experience and learning because faculty refused to act in mentoring roles. I see people 10 years younger than me graduating with multiple publications while I essentially have none. My advisors didn't connect me to peers and to this day are more detriments than assets when it comes to references. I got the piece of paper, but not all of the other things that were suppose to come with it. No post-docs for me. I'm a 'failed' PhD because I didn't go into research or teaching, which are the career paths the a PhD is suppose to prepare you for. Currently employed at an entry level position for a fraction of the pay I should be earning. But when it comes down to it I am happier. The work is nowhere near challenging to me so I can breeze through the day. It gives me time to think and plan about the future. My position is stable and supportive enough that I could make a career out of it, although I will never have the comfortable pay or professional challenge. I could jump ship and do something else or I could do a little something on the side. I don't know if my story is a good one; in many ways things would have been better if I Mastered out earlier and started in industry from the bottom, but I wouldn't have been satisfied with myself. My advice? So many people in academia act like there's only one path: degree, post-doc, professor or research lead. There's so much more than that. Find your local professional organization and network with them, they represent a more diverse spectrum of careers than the faculty at your institution. Location matters a lot too, you might find more success in moving around. The city I was in 10 years ago had a fraction of the positions compared to where I am now. Get sleep and therapy. | 1 | 9,028 | 1.827586 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23sbt3 | h240uh9 | 1,623,946,744 | 1,623,950,351 | 17 | 53 | I left my humanities PhD program halfway into writing the dissertation. While program was good and I liked my advisor and the department, but I was burned out, struggling to get by on adjunct gigs/TA stipend, and I was having lots of trouble making any progress. Also my roommate had a mental break and committed suicide. So I left -- though looking back I probably should have left sooner. At first I was pretty depressed about giving up and unsure what I could do. I applied to all sorts of jobs that people recommend for transitioning academics -- USAJobs, college admin roles, etc... -- but it went nowhere. Realizing that I needed to expand my skillset, I taught myself how to program and other CS fundamentals. One thing you become really good at in a PhD program is teaching yourself. These days I split my time between teaching CS at university and research & development in the tech industry. | I submitted my PhD the same week covid lockdowns happened and my examiners failed me. My supervisor reviewed my chapters over a week and most comments consisted of “I don’t like this picture.” She resigned a week after I submitted and couldn’t make a case to defend me so it was left in the hands of other academics. We tried to refute the examiner decision but the Dean of Graduate Studies said “Masters or nothing.” The Dean also came from the same faculty and had a notorious hate relationship with my supervisor so I don’t know if it was all politics. The 1 year anniversary of the failure news is coming up, I still haven’t told my grandparents about my big screw up and they’re still telling everyone I have a PhD. I’m trying to get an industry job with my masters, but I’ve also had a lot of teaching opportunities during my studies and am currently working as a tutor on the side. Aside from that, I really have no idea what I’m doing. To repeat what someone previously said, get therapy. | 0 | 3,607 | 3.117647 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23t6qc | h240uh9 | 1,623,947,111 | 1,623,950,351 | 15 | 53 | It's not as serious or as relevant as some of the other stories here, but when I was quite junior I applied to sit on a national committee run by a Government department which regulates and advises on the ethics of a particular type of research. I got an interview. It was in a very fancy government building, high security, the works. The interview was with a government chief scientist and two very senior civil servants. I totally blew the interview. Total disaster. I was just too junior for that role. I get out of this interview and I can't even leave because I have to wait for my security escort so I have to sit with the interviewers until the escort shows up after totally embarrassing myself. Finally, I leave. I figure it was an experience I can learn from and to put it behind me. But, they contact me a few weeks later to ask for a second interview. Somehow I convince myself that maybe that first interview wasn't the disaster I thought it was and go. Turns out the second interview was with the government's chief statistician who couldn't make the first interviews. I bombed just as hard a second time. | I submitted my PhD the same week covid lockdowns happened and my examiners failed me. My supervisor reviewed my chapters over a week and most comments consisted of “I don’t like this picture.” She resigned a week after I submitted and couldn’t make a case to defend me so it was left in the hands of other academics. We tried to refute the examiner decision but the Dean of Graduate Studies said “Masters or nothing.” The Dean also came from the same faculty and had a notorious hate relationship with my supervisor so I don’t know if it was all politics. The 1 year anniversary of the failure news is coming up, I still haven’t told my grandparents about my big screw up and they’re still telling everyone I have a PhD. I’m trying to get an industry job with my masters, but I’ve also had a lot of teaching opportunities during my studies and am currently working as a tutor on the side. Aside from that, I really have no idea what I’m doing. To repeat what someone previously said, get therapy. | 0 | 3,240 | 3.533333 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23twg9 | h240uh9 | 1,623,947,417 | 1,623,950,351 | 8 | 53 | I got my bachelors in math, and I always dreamed of getting my PhD in math and becoming a professor. After 2.5 years in grad school, I dropped out with my masters. I’m lucky I guess because I ended up realizing how unhappy graduate school was making me early on. The grad school I went to was very toxic, and I wish I’d been more careful to ask students about their experiences before I ended up going there. The four other women in the program with me dropped out too; I never got to see any women pass the math qualifying exam while I was in the program. It’s tough, because I wish I had done more to change the way things were done in the department, but I just decided to leave instead. I am soooooooo much happier now though! I have my dream job working in operations research! Please don’t stay in graduate school if it’s ruining your mental health. | I submitted my PhD the same week covid lockdowns happened and my examiners failed me. My supervisor reviewed my chapters over a week and most comments consisted of “I don’t like this picture.” She resigned a week after I submitted and couldn’t make a case to defend me so it was left in the hands of other academics. We tried to refute the examiner decision but the Dean of Graduate Studies said “Masters or nothing.” The Dean also came from the same faculty and had a notorious hate relationship with my supervisor so I don’t know if it was all politics. The 1 year anniversary of the failure news is coming up, I still haven’t told my grandparents about my big screw up and they’re still telling everyone I have a PhD. I’m trying to get an industry job with my masters, but I’ve also had a lot of teaching opportunities during my studies and am currently working as a tutor on the side. Aside from that, I really have no idea what I’m doing. To repeat what someone previously said, get therapy. | 0 | 2,934 | 6.625 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23aw7y | h238mr8 | 1,623,939,343 | 1,623,938,295 | 47 | 45 | I know this isn’t a failure by most standards, but i haven’t been able to get a job as a PI in the three years since I defended. I realize that’s nothing compared to some people who postdoc for ages, but I have a family and debt and I can’t push them through for something that MIGHT happen. So I gave up on academia and shifted to high school. I start in August and I’ll be teaching at an j dependent school that pushes research and internships, and I’ll have the opportunity to take my students into the field (I’m a marine biologist). It does hurt closing the door on academia, but I’m excited to see where this position takes me. | I just want to say that I loved reading each and every comment here and found them encouraging. Thank you all for sharing! | 1 | 1,048 | 1.044444 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h235f2a | h23aw7y | 1,623,936,741 | 1,623,939,343 | 33 | 47 | Goals can change over time too so not necessarily giving up. Academia is what I am aiming for but I know it's difficult, especially times like these, so I guess as I learn more I'm reshaping my goals to make them more realistic. | I know this isn’t a failure by most standards, but i haven’t been able to get a job as a PI in the three years since I defended. I realize that’s nothing compared to some people who postdoc for ages, but I have a family and debt and I can’t push them through for something that MIGHT happen. So I gave up on academia and shifted to high school. I start in August and I’ll be teaching at an j dependent school that pushes research and internships, and I’ll have the opportunity to take my students into the field (I’m a marine biologist). It does hurt closing the door on academia, but I’m excited to see where this position takes me. | 0 | 2,602 | 1.424242 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h238mr8 | h235f2a | 1,623,938,295 | 1,623,936,741 | 45 | 33 | I just want to say that I loved reading each and every comment here and found them encouraging. Thank you all for sharing! | Goals can change over time too so not necessarily giving up. Academia is what I am aiming for but I know it's difficult, especially times like these, so I guess as I learn more I'm reshaping my goals to make them more realistic. | 1 | 1,554 | 1.363636 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23cjvr | h242yof | 1,623,940,105 | 1,623,951,226 | 40 | 45 | I came from a fairly academic family. Both my sister and myself were ok students, and both got graduate-level degrees. We both spent some time as adjuncts—and I mean, full time adjuncts, not just a couple hours a week. I suspect that neither I nor my sister were 100% committed to academic careers, but this was also *because academia was not committed to us.* Or, to put it differently, the universities believed we could be easily replaced—or believed that we were maybe not even necessary in the first place. And they seemed to go out of their way to remind us of this. We both found better treatment outside of academia. At this point, I look at a lot of grad students (outside explicitly practical ones like engineering and accounting) as victims of an MLM scheme. Incidentally, I currently live in Japan. With Japan’s rapidly declining birth rate and shortage of young people, Japanese universities are fairly brutal in their treatment of adjuncts. | 15 years ago, my spouse entered a top 10 PhD program in his field, because he didn't know what else to do, he thought it sounded fun, and he felt honored to be accepted into such a prestigious program. It took him 10 years to get his PhD. His PhD program was super toxic, too, but I won't get into that right now. In the five years since, we have moved twice, to a new state each time. He has had some interviews here and there for tenure track positions, including a couple of on-campus interviews, but he has never gotten an actual tenure track offer. He has only held lecturer and VAP positions since finishing his PhD. In fact, he's very lucky to be employed at all right now - a school where he knew people needed a VAP last minute and that's how he got his current position. My spouse is currently looking into transitioning from faculty to staff, and has been trying to build his network accordingly. A year ago, he came fairly close to getting a decent staff job at a state school on the East Coast, but the school implemented a hiring freeze due to COVID, which took away that opportunity. My spouse has never had a job outside of higher education and he fears that his PhD would be a liability when applying to industry jobs (because "overqualified"). Until this school year, my spouse and I made the same amount of money, despite the fact that I only have a liberal arts BA. Even now, he doesn't make much more than I do. I'm currently working on another degree in something more employable, so that I can get qualified for a better job with a salary that can support both of us. I get a lot of downvotes around here for discouraging people from going to graduate school, especially PhD programs, but the truth is that grad school isn't always the right decision and the vast majority of PhDs will never get a tenure track job. So many people, including my spouse, think that if they work really hard, get a PhD from the right program, have the right advisor, and get the right number of publications in all the right journals, that they will certainly beat the odds and get a tenure track position, but (while those things are generally helpful) that's not quite how it works. There are literally hundreds of applications per TT position, at least a few dozen of those are everything the department is looking for and more, it's a total crapshoot. Not to mention that the frequent moves (from one post-doc or temporary teaching position to the next) make it difficult to settle down, buy a house, and/or have a family, if that's your goal. TL:DR my spouse entered a PhD program without much understanding of what he was getting into, he got his PhD but it hasn't worked out very well for him career-wise. | 0 | 11,121 | 1.125 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h242yof | h23vcb1 | 1,623,951,226 | 1,623,948,030 | 45 | 36 | 15 years ago, my spouse entered a top 10 PhD program in his field, because he didn't know what else to do, he thought it sounded fun, and he felt honored to be accepted into such a prestigious program. It took him 10 years to get his PhD. His PhD program was super toxic, too, but I won't get into that right now. In the five years since, we have moved twice, to a new state each time. He has had some interviews here and there for tenure track positions, including a couple of on-campus interviews, but he has never gotten an actual tenure track offer. He has only held lecturer and VAP positions since finishing his PhD. In fact, he's very lucky to be employed at all right now - a school where he knew people needed a VAP last minute and that's how he got his current position. My spouse is currently looking into transitioning from faculty to staff, and has been trying to build his network accordingly. A year ago, he came fairly close to getting a decent staff job at a state school on the East Coast, but the school implemented a hiring freeze due to COVID, which took away that opportunity. My spouse has never had a job outside of higher education and he fears that his PhD would be a liability when applying to industry jobs (because "overqualified"). Until this school year, my spouse and I made the same amount of money, despite the fact that I only have a liberal arts BA. Even now, he doesn't make much more than I do. I'm currently working on another degree in something more employable, so that I can get qualified for a better job with a salary that can support both of us. I get a lot of downvotes around here for discouraging people from going to graduate school, especially PhD programs, but the truth is that grad school isn't always the right decision and the vast majority of PhDs will never get a tenure track job. So many people, including my spouse, think that if they work really hard, get a PhD from the right program, have the right advisor, and get the right number of publications in all the right journals, that they will certainly beat the odds and get a tenure track position, but (while those things are generally helpful) that's not quite how it works. There are literally hundreds of applications per TT position, at least a few dozen of those are everything the department is looking for and more, it's a total crapshoot. Not to mention that the frequent moves (from one post-doc or temporary teaching position to the next) make it difficult to settle down, buy a house, and/or have a family, if that's your goal. TL:DR my spouse entered a PhD program without much understanding of what he was getting into, he got his PhD but it hasn't worked out very well for him career-wise. | I've told my story elsewhere on here, but I can contribute one new bit here: The mistake people make is assuming their career path will determine their happiness in life. They push themselves through graduate school on the belief that landing a dream job will somehow "make it all worthwhile," and a title and salary will fill any emotional void in their life. It will not. Work is still work, and most of us are only there because they pay us to be. And you'll still have days where you feel depressed, unfulfilled, ignored, and aimless. Being called "Doctor" or "Professor" (and only in a few settings by a few people) is just part of a job. It's not a magical life booster that will justify the years you spent earning a poverty wage and reading dense books you've long since forgotten. Part of why people who have "given up and moved on" seem happier in their other careers is arguably because they have discovered contentment in life that doesn't come from their workplace. And part of why so many academics are perpetually unfulfilled is because they have cemented their entire self-worth into their career prospects. "No job = I have failed at life." It's nice to have a job you love, but it's a better goal to have a good life all around. | 1 | 3,196 | 1.25 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h242yof | h235f2a | 1,623,951,226 | 1,623,936,741 | 45 | 33 | 15 years ago, my spouse entered a top 10 PhD program in his field, because he didn't know what else to do, he thought it sounded fun, and he felt honored to be accepted into such a prestigious program. It took him 10 years to get his PhD. His PhD program was super toxic, too, but I won't get into that right now. In the five years since, we have moved twice, to a new state each time. He has had some interviews here and there for tenure track positions, including a couple of on-campus interviews, but he has never gotten an actual tenure track offer. He has only held lecturer and VAP positions since finishing his PhD. In fact, he's very lucky to be employed at all right now - a school where he knew people needed a VAP last minute and that's how he got his current position. My spouse is currently looking into transitioning from faculty to staff, and has been trying to build his network accordingly. A year ago, he came fairly close to getting a decent staff job at a state school on the East Coast, but the school implemented a hiring freeze due to COVID, which took away that opportunity. My spouse has never had a job outside of higher education and he fears that his PhD would be a liability when applying to industry jobs (because "overqualified"). Until this school year, my spouse and I made the same amount of money, despite the fact that I only have a liberal arts BA. Even now, he doesn't make much more than I do. I'm currently working on another degree in something more employable, so that I can get qualified for a better job with a salary that can support both of us. I get a lot of downvotes around here for discouraging people from going to graduate school, especially PhD programs, but the truth is that grad school isn't always the right decision and the vast majority of PhDs will never get a tenure track job. So many people, including my spouse, think that if they work really hard, get a PhD from the right program, have the right advisor, and get the right number of publications in all the right journals, that they will certainly beat the odds and get a tenure track position, but (while those things are generally helpful) that's not quite how it works. There are literally hundreds of applications per TT position, at least a few dozen of those are everything the department is looking for and more, it's a total crapshoot. Not to mention that the frequent moves (from one post-doc or temporary teaching position to the next) make it difficult to settle down, buy a house, and/or have a family, if that's your goal. TL:DR my spouse entered a PhD program without much understanding of what he was getting into, he got his PhD but it hasn't worked out very well for him career-wise. | Goals can change over time too so not necessarily giving up. Academia is what I am aiming for but I know it's difficult, especially times like these, so I guess as I learn more I'm reshaping my goals to make them more realistic. | 1 | 14,485 | 1.363636 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23f9v9 | h242yof | 1,623,941,323 | 1,623,951,226 | 29 | 45 | I've posted about my experience before. Basically my advisor screwed me over in grad school which forced me to Master out after 7 years. I want back in at another institution, had the same thing happen, but this time filed a Title IX grievance and fought for a year to graduate with my PhD. Some might consider that a success since I graduated, but I missed out on so much experience and learning because faculty refused to act in mentoring roles. I see people 10 years younger than me graduating with multiple publications while I essentially have none. My advisors didn't connect me to peers and to this day are more detriments than assets when it comes to references. I got the piece of paper, but not all of the other things that were suppose to come with it. No post-docs for me. I'm a 'failed' PhD because I didn't go into research or teaching, which are the career paths the a PhD is suppose to prepare you for. Currently employed at an entry level position for a fraction of the pay I should be earning. But when it comes down to it I am happier. The work is nowhere near challenging to me so I can breeze through the day. It gives me time to think and plan about the future. My position is stable and supportive enough that I could make a career out of it, although I will never have the comfortable pay or professional challenge. I could jump ship and do something else or I could do a little something on the side. I don't know if my story is a good one; in many ways things would have been better if I Mastered out earlier and started in industry from the bottom, but I wouldn't have been satisfied with myself. My advice? So many people in academia act like there's only one path: degree, post-doc, professor or research lead. There's so much more than that. Find your local professional organization and network with them, they represent a more diverse spectrum of careers than the faculty at your institution. Location matters a lot too, you might find more success in moving around. The city I was in 10 years ago had a fraction of the positions compared to where I am now. Get sleep and therapy. | 15 years ago, my spouse entered a top 10 PhD program in his field, because he didn't know what else to do, he thought it sounded fun, and he felt honored to be accepted into such a prestigious program. It took him 10 years to get his PhD. His PhD program was super toxic, too, but I won't get into that right now. In the five years since, we have moved twice, to a new state each time. He has had some interviews here and there for tenure track positions, including a couple of on-campus interviews, but he has never gotten an actual tenure track offer. He has only held lecturer and VAP positions since finishing his PhD. In fact, he's very lucky to be employed at all right now - a school where he knew people needed a VAP last minute and that's how he got his current position. My spouse is currently looking into transitioning from faculty to staff, and has been trying to build his network accordingly. A year ago, he came fairly close to getting a decent staff job at a state school on the East Coast, but the school implemented a hiring freeze due to COVID, which took away that opportunity. My spouse has never had a job outside of higher education and he fears that his PhD would be a liability when applying to industry jobs (because "overqualified"). Until this school year, my spouse and I made the same amount of money, despite the fact that I only have a liberal arts BA. Even now, he doesn't make much more than I do. I'm currently working on another degree in something more employable, so that I can get qualified for a better job with a salary that can support both of us. I get a lot of downvotes around here for discouraging people from going to graduate school, especially PhD programs, but the truth is that grad school isn't always the right decision and the vast majority of PhDs will never get a tenure track job. So many people, including my spouse, think that if they work really hard, get a PhD from the right program, have the right advisor, and get the right number of publications in all the right journals, that they will certainly beat the odds and get a tenure track position, but (while those things are generally helpful) that's not quite how it works. There are literally hundreds of applications per TT position, at least a few dozen of those are everything the department is looking for and more, it's a total crapshoot. Not to mention that the frequent moves (from one post-doc or temporary teaching position to the next) make it difficult to settle down, buy a house, and/or have a family, if that's your goal. TL:DR my spouse entered a PhD program without much understanding of what he was getting into, he got his PhD but it hasn't worked out very well for him career-wise. | 0 | 9,903 | 1.551724 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23sbt3 | h242yof | 1,623,946,744 | 1,623,951,226 | 17 | 45 | I left my humanities PhD program halfway into writing the dissertation. While program was good and I liked my advisor and the department, but I was burned out, struggling to get by on adjunct gigs/TA stipend, and I was having lots of trouble making any progress. Also my roommate had a mental break and committed suicide. So I left -- though looking back I probably should have left sooner. At first I was pretty depressed about giving up and unsure what I could do. I applied to all sorts of jobs that people recommend for transitioning academics -- USAJobs, college admin roles, etc... -- but it went nowhere. Realizing that I needed to expand my skillset, I taught myself how to program and other CS fundamentals. One thing you become really good at in a PhD program is teaching yourself. These days I split my time between teaching CS at university and research & development in the tech industry. | 15 years ago, my spouse entered a top 10 PhD program in his field, because he didn't know what else to do, he thought it sounded fun, and he felt honored to be accepted into such a prestigious program. It took him 10 years to get his PhD. His PhD program was super toxic, too, but I won't get into that right now. In the five years since, we have moved twice, to a new state each time. He has had some interviews here and there for tenure track positions, including a couple of on-campus interviews, but he has never gotten an actual tenure track offer. He has only held lecturer and VAP positions since finishing his PhD. In fact, he's very lucky to be employed at all right now - a school where he knew people needed a VAP last minute and that's how he got his current position. My spouse is currently looking into transitioning from faculty to staff, and has been trying to build his network accordingly. A year ago, he came fairly close to getting a decent staff job at a state school on the East Coast, but the school implemented a hiring freeze due to COVID, which took away that opportunity. My spouse has never had a job outside of higher education and he fears that his PhD would be a liability when applying to industry jobs (because "overqualified"). Until this school year, my spouse and I made the same amount of money, despite the fact that I only have a liberal arts BA. Even now, he doesn't make much more than I do. I'm currently working on another degree in something more employable, so that I can get qualified for a better job with a salary that can support both of us. I get a lot of downvotes around here for discouraging people from going to graduate school, especially PhD programs, but the truth is that grad school isn't always the right decision and the vast majority of PhDs will never get a tenure track job. So many people, including my spouse, think that if they work really hard, get a PhD from the right program, have the right advisor, and get the right number of publications in all the right journals, that they will certainly beat the odds and get a tenure track position, but (while those things are generally helpful) that's not quite how it works. There are literally hundreds of applications per TT position, at least a few dozen of those are everything the department is looking for and more, it's a total crapshoot. Not to mention that the frequent moves (from one post-doc or temporary teaching position to the next) make it difficult to settle down, buy a house, and/or have a family, if that's your goal. TL:DR my spouse entered a PhD program without much understanding of what he was getting into, he got his PhD but it hasn't worked out very well for him career-wise. | 0 | 4,482 | 2.647059 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23t6qc | h242yof | 1,623,947,111 | 1,623,951,226 | 15 | 45 | It's not as serious or as relevant as some of the other stories here, but when I was quite junior I applied to sit on a national committee run by a Government department which regulates and advises on the ethics of a particular type of research. I got an interview. It was in a very fancy government building, high security, the works. The interview was with a government chief scientist and two very senior civil servants. I totally blew the interview. Total disaster. I was just too junior for that role. I get out of this interview and I can't even leave because I have to wait for my security escort so I have to sit with the interviewers until the escort shows up after totally embarrassing myself. Finally, I leave. I figure it was an experience I can learn from and to put it behind me. But, they contact me a few weeks later to ask for a second interview. Somehow I convince myself that maybe that first interview wasn't the disaster I thought it was and go. Turns out the second interview was with the government's chief statistician who couldn't make the first interviews. I bombed just as hard a second time. | 15 years ago, my spouse entered a top 10 PhD program in his field, because he didn't know what else to do, he thought it sounded fun, and he felt honored to be accepted into such a prestigious program. It took him 10 years to get his PhD. His PhD program was super toxic, too, but I won't get into that right now. In the five years since, we have moved twice, to a new state each time. He has had some interviews here and there for tenure track positions, including a couple of on-campus interviews, but he has never gotten an actual tenure track offer. He has only held lecturer and VAP positions since finishing his PhD. In fact, he's very lucky to be employed at all right now - a school where he knew people needed a VAP last minute and that's how he got his current position. My spouse is currently looking into transitioning from faculty to staff, and has been trying to build his network accordingly. A year ago, he came fairly close to getting a decent staff job at a state school on the East Coast, but the school implemented a hiring freeze due to COVID, which took away that opportunity. My spouse has never had a job outside of higher education and he fears that his PhD would be a liability when applying to industry jobs (because "overqualified"). Until this school year, my spouse and I made the same amount of money, despite the fact that I only have a liberal arts BA. Even now, he doesn't make much more than I do. I'm currently working on another degree in something more employable, so that I can get qualified for a better job with a salary that can support both of us. I get a lot of downvotes around here for discouraging people from going to graduate school, especially PhD programs, but the truth is that grad school isn't always the right decision and the vast majority of PhDs will never get a tenure track job. So many people, including my spouse, think that if they work really hard, get a PhD from the right program, have the right advisor, and get the right number of publications in all the right journals, that they will certainly beat the odds and get a tenure track position, but (while those things are generally helpful) that's not quite how it works. There are literally hundreds of applications per TT position, at least a few dozen of those are everything the department is looking for and more, it's a total crapshoot. Not to mention that the frequent moves (from one post-doc or temporary teaching position to the next) make it difficult to settle down, buy a house, and/or have a family, if that's your goal. TL:DR my spouse entered a PhD program without much understanding of what he was getting into, he got his PhD but it hasn't worked out very well for him career-wise. | 0 | 4,115 | 3 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23twg9 | h242yof | 1,623,947,417 | 1,623,951,226 | 8 | 45 | I got my bachelors in math, and I always dreamed of getting my PhD in math and becoming a professor. After 2.5 years in grad school, I dropped out with my masters. I’m lucky I guess because I ended up realizing how unhappy graduate school was making me early on. The grad school I went to was very toxic, and I wish I’d been more careful to ask students about their experiences before I ended up going there. The four other women in the program with me dropped out too; I never got to see any women pass the math qualifying exam while I was in the program. It’s tough, because I wish I had done more to change the way things were done in the department, but I just decided to leave instead. I am soooooooo much happier now though! I have my dream job working in operations research! Please don’t stay in graduate school if it’s ruining your mental health. | 15 years ago, my spouse entered a top 10 PhD program in his field, because he didn't know what else to do, he thought it sounded fun, and he felt honored to be accepted into such a prestigious program. It took him 10 years to get his PhD. His PhD program was super toxic, too, but I won't get into that right now. In the five years since, we have moved twice, to a new state each time. He has had some interviews here and there for tenure track positions, including a couple of on-campus interviews, but he has never gotten an actual tenure track offer. He has only held lecturer and VAP positions since finishing his PhD. In fact, he's very lucky to be employed at all right now - a school where he knew people needed a VAP last minute and that's how he got his current position. My spouse is currently looking into transitioning from faculty to staff, and has been trying to build his network accordingly. A year ago, he came fairly close to getting a decent staff job at a state school on the East Coast, but the school implemented a hiring freeze due to COVID, which took away that opportunity. My spouse has never had a job outside of higher education and he fears that his PhD would be a liability when applying to industry jobs (because "overqualified"). Until this school year, my spouse and I made the same amount of money, despite the fact that I only have a liberal arts BA. Even now, he doesn't make much more than I do. I'm currently working on another degree in something more employable, so that I can get qualified for a better job with a salary that can support both of us. I get a lot of downvotes around here for discouraging people from going to graduate school, especially PhD programs, but the truth is that grad school isn't always the right decision and the vast majority of PhDs will never get a tenure track job. So many people, including my spouse, think that if they work really hard, get a PhD from the right program, have the right advisor, and get the right number of publications in all the right journals, that they will certainly beat the odds and get a tenure track position, but (while those things are generally helpful) that's not quite how it works. There are literally hundreds of applications per TT position, at least a few dozen of those are everything the department is looking for and more, it's a total crapshoot. Not to mention that the frequent moves (from one post-doc or temporary teaching position to the next) make it difficult to settle down, buy a house, and/or have a family, if that's your goal. TL:DR my spouse entered a PhD program without much understanding of what he was getting into, he got his PhD but it hasn't worked out very well for him career-wise. | 0 | 3,809 | 5.625 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23cjvr | h235f2a | 1,623,940,105 | 1,623,936,741 | 40 | 33 | I came from a fairly academic family. Both my sister and myself were ok students, and both got graduate-level degrees. We both spent some time as adjuncts—and I mean, full time adjuncts, not just a couple hours a week. I suspect that neither I nor my sister were 100% committed to academic careers, but this was also *because academia was not committed to us.* Or, to put it differently, the universities believed we could be easily replaced—or believed that we were maybe not even necessary in the first place. And they seemed to go out of their way to remind us of this. We both found better treatment outside of academia. At this point, I look at a lot of grad students (outside explicitly practical ones like engineering and accounting) as victims of an MLM scheme. Incidentally, I currently live in Japan. With Japan’s rapidly declining birth rate and shortage of young people, Japanese universities are fairly brutal in their treatment of adjuncts. | Goals can change over time too so not necessarily giving up. Academia is what I am aiming for but I know it's difficult, especially times like these, so I guess as I learn more I'm reshaping my goals to make them more realistic. | 1 | 3,364 | 1.212121 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23vcb1 | h235f2a | 1,623,948,030 | 1,623,936,741 | 36 | 33 | I've told my story elsewhere on here, but I can contribute one new bit here: The mistake people make is assuming their career path will determine their happiness in life. They push themselves through graduate school on the belief that landing a dream job will somehow "make it all worthwhile," and a title and salary will fill any emotional void in their life. It will not. Work is still work, and most of us are only there because they pay us to be. And you'll still have days where you feel depressed, unfulfilled, ignored, and aimless. Being called "Doctor" or "Professor" (and only in a few settings by a few people) is just part of a job. It's not a magical life booster that will justify the years you spent earning a poverty wage and reading dense books you've long since forgotten. Part of why people who have "given up and moved on" seem happier in their other careers is arguably because they have discovered contentment in life that doesn't come from their workplace. And part of why so many academics are perpetually unfulfilled is because they have cemented their entire self-worth into their career prospects. "No job = I have failed at life." It's nice to have a job you love, but it's a better goal to have a good life all around. | Goals can change over time too so not necessarily giving up. Academia is what I am aiming for but I know it's difficult, especially times like these, so I guess as I learn more I'm reshaping my goals to make them more realistic. | 1 | 11,289 | 1.090909 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23f9v9 | h23vcb1 | 1,623,941,323 | 1,623,948,030 | 29 | 36 | I've posted about my experience before. Basically my advisor screwed me over in grad school which forced me to Master out after 7 years. I want back in at another institution, had the same thing happen, but this time filed a Title IX grievance and fought for a year to graduate with my PhD. Some might consider that a success since I graduated, but I missed out on so much experience and learning because faculty refused to act in mentoring roles. I see people 10 years younger than me graduating with multiple publications while I essentially have none. My advisors didn't connect me to peers and to this day are more detriments than assets when it comes to references. I got the piece of paper, but not all of the other things that were suppose to come with it. No post-docs for me. I'm a 'failed' PhD because I didn't go into research or teaching, which are the career paths the a PhD is suppose to prepare you for. Currently employed at an entry level position for a fraction of the pay I should be earning. But when it comes down to it I am happier. The work is nowhere near challenging to me so I can breeze through the day. It gives me time to think and plan about the future. My position is stable and supportive enough that I could make a career out of it, although I will never have the comfortable pay or professional challenge. I could jump ship and do something else or I could do a little something on the side. I don't know if my story is a good one; in many ways things would have been better if I Mastered out earlier and started in industry from the bottom, but I wouldn't have been satisfied with myself. My advice? So many people in academia act like there's only one path: degree, post-doc, professor or research lead. There's so much more than that. Find your local professional organization and network with them, they represent a more diverse spectrum of careers than the faculty at your institution. Location matters a lot too, you might find more success in moving around. The city I was in 10 years ago had a fraction of the positions compared to where I am now. Get sleep and therapy. | I've told my story elsewhere on here, but I can contribute one new bit here: The mistake people make is assuming their career path will determine their happiness in life. They push themselves through graduate school on the belief that landing a dream job will somehow "make it all worthwhile," and a title and salary will fill any emotional void in their life. It will not. Work is still work, and most of us are only there because they pay us to be. And you'll still have days where you feel depressed, unfulfilled, ignored, and aimless. Being called "Doctor" or "Professor" (and only in a few settings by a few people) is just part of a job. It's not a magical life booster that will justify the years you spent earning a poverty wage and reading dense books you've long since forgotten. Part of why people who have "given up and moved on" seem happier in their other careers is arguably because they have discovered contentment in life that doesn't come from their workplace. And part of why so many academics are perpetually unfulfilled is because they have cemented their entire self-worth into their career prospects. "No job = I have failed at life." It's nice to have a job you love, but it's a better goal to have a good life all around. | 0 | 6,707 | 1.241379 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23sbt3 | h23vcb1 | 1,623,946,744 | 1,623,948,030 | 17 | 36 | I left my humanities PhD program halfway into writing the dissertation. While program was good and I liked my advisor and the department, but I was burned out, struggling to get by on adjunct gigs/TA stipend, and I was having lots of trouble making any progress. Also my roommate had a mental break and committed suicide. So I left -- though looking back I probably should have left sooner. At first I was pretty depressed about giving up and unsure what I could do. I applied to all sorts of jobs that people recommend for transitioning academics -- USAJobs, college admin roles, etc... -- but it went nowhere. Realizing that I needed to expand my skillset, I taught myself how to program and other CS fundamentals. One thing you become really good at in a PhD program is teaching yourself. These days I split my time between teaching CS at university and research & development in the tech industry. | I've told my story elsewhere on here, but I can contribute one new bit here: The mistake people make is assuming their career path will determine their happiness in life. They push themselves through graduate school on the belief that landing a dream job will somehow "make it all worthwhile," and a title and salary will fill any emotional void in their life. It will not. Work is still work, and most of us are only there because they pay us to be. And you'll still have days where you feel depressed, unfulfilled, ignored, and aimless. Being called "Doctor" or "Professor" (and only in a few settings by a few people) is just part of a job. It's not a magical life booster that will justify the years you spent earning a poverty wage and reading dense books you've long since forgotten. Part of why people who have "given up and moved on" seem happier in their other careers is arguably because they have discovered contentment in life that doesn't come from their workplace. And part of why so many academics are perpetually unfulfilled is because they have cemented their entire self-worth into their career prospects. "No job = I have failed at life." It's nice to have a job you love, but it's a better goal to have a good life all around. | 0 | 1,286 | 2.117647 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23vcb1 | h23t6qc | 1,623,948,030 | 1,623,947,111 | 36 | 15 | I've told my story elsewhere on here, but I can contribute one new bit here: The mistake people make is assuming their career path will determine their happiness in life. They push themselves through graduate school on the belief that landing a dream job will somehow "make it all worthwhile," and a title and salary will fill any emotional void in their life. It will not. Work is still work, and most of us are only there because they pay us to be. And you'll still have days where you feel depressed, unfulfilled, ignored, and aimless. Being called "Doctor" or "Professor" (and only in a few settings by a few people) is just part of a job. It's not a magical life booster that will justify the years you spent earning a poverty wage and reading dense books you've long since forgotten. Part of why people who have "given up and moved on" seem happier in their other careers is arguably because they have discovered contentment in life that doesn't come from their workplace. And part of why so many academics are perpetually unfulfilled is because they have cemented their entire self-worth into their career prospects. "No job = I have failed at life." It's nice to have a job you love, but it's a better goal to have a good life all around. | It's not as serious or as relevant as some of the other stories here, but when I was quite junior I applied to sit on a national committee run by a Government department which regulates and advises on the ethics of a particular type of research. I got an interview. It was in a very fancy government building, high security, the works. The interview was with a government chief scientist and two very senior civil servants. I totally blew the interview. Total disaster. I was just too junior for that role. I get out of this interview and I can't even leave because I have to wait for my security escort so I have to sit with the interviewers until the escort shows up after totally embarrassing myself. Finally, I leave. I figure it was an experience I can learn from and to put it behind me. But, they contact me a few weeks later to ask for a second interview. Somehow I convince myself that maybe that first interview wasn't the disaster I thought it was and go. Turns out the second interview was with the government's chief statistician who couldn't make the first interviews. I bombed just as hard a second time. | 1 | 919 | 2.4 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h23vcb1 | h23twg9 | 1,623,948,030 | 1,623,947,417 | 36 | 8 | I've told my story elsewhere on here, but I can contribute one new bit here: The mistake people make is assuming their career path will determine their happiness in life. They push themselves through graduate school on the belief that landing a dream job will somehow "make it all worthwhile," and a title and salary will fill any emotional void in their life. It will not. Work is still work, and most of us are only there because they pay us to be. And you'll still have days where you feel depressed, unfulfilled, ignored, and aimless. Being called "Doctor" or "Professor" (and only in a few settings by a few people) is just part of a job. It's not a magical life booster that will justify the years you spent earning a poverty wage and reading dense books you've long since forgotten. Part of why people who have "given up and moved on" seem happier in their other careers is arguably because they have discovered contentment in life that doesn't come from their workplace. And part of why so many academics are perpetually unfulfilled is because they have cemented their entire self-worth into their career prospects. "No job = I have failed at life." It's nice to have a job you love, but it's a better goal to have a good life all around. | I got my bachelors in math, and I always dreamed of getting my PhD in math and becoming a professor. After 2.5 years in grad school, I dropped out with my masters. I’m lucky I guess because I ended up realizing how unhappy graduate school was making me early on. The grad school I went to was very toxic, and I wish I’d been more careful to ask students about their experiences before I ended up going there. The four other women in the program with me dropped out too; I never got to see any women pass the math qualifying exam while I was in the program. It’s tough, because I wish I had done more to change the way things were done in the department, but I just decided to leave instead. I am soooooooo much happier now though! I have my dream job working in operations research! Please don’t stay in graduate school if it’s ruining your mental health. | 1 | 613 | 4.5 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h24al6f | h23sbt3 | 1,623,954,436 | 1,623,946,744 | 22 | 17 | I've been in academia 25 years and my failure narratives could form their own subreddit. Where to begin? Probably the failure with the biggest net positive impact was in my previous job at a SLAC. It was my second job; left the first one after four years for a lot of different reasons. For the first 7-8 years, the new place was great. I did good work and received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. But then, around the 7-year mark (circa 2008-2009) everything went completely to shit. The institution itself was pretty much the same as before, and I didn't make any radical changes to my work post-tenure. But somehow, something changed between my students and me. I was trying out some newer teaching methods (IBL, flipped classroom) and maybe that was it. Students started to complain and a narrative started to form about me. This made work miserable, and to my discredit I used my blog and social media to hit back. (Big mistake.) It got to the point where, if was scheduled to teach a class with only one section, students were paying extra to take it from the local community college and transfer the credits rather than take it from me. (Not kidding; I learned about this second-hand.) I didn't get a ton of support, despite how much I was struggling. At first my dean pulled me into his office to ask about what was wrong, but as things "progressed", eventually I was threatened with dismissal, despite tenure, if I didn't bring my course evaluations up. My dean told me, literally, that I was a liability to the institution. The attitude was "Fix yourself or you're out of here". From there, I spiraled into depression and anxiety. Ultimately I decided to go on the job market and look for a place where I could just start over, and try to build on successes and avoid mistakes. I applied to four positions, and got hired at one of them, and I've been there 10 years now. I earned tenure, again, four years ago and was promoted to full Professor; and generally speaking I've been very happy here, fully accepted, and had a really successful career (including writing a well-received book about flipped classrooms). I learned a lot from this failure: - It's possible to start over even if you're mid-career. - In fact, it's better to jump into the unknown and try to start over, than it is to languish in a place where you're just depressed and anxious all the time. - "Grow where you're planted" is among the all-time worst career advice. - You can avoid misspending 10 years of your life/career by paying more attention to the relationships you have with other people. - There are some seriously shitty deans out there -- don't be one of them, and don't put up with them. | I left my humanities PhD program halfway into writing the dissertation. While program was good and I liked my advisor and the department, but I was burned out, struggling to get by on adjunct gigs/TA stipend, and I was having lots of trouble making any progress. Also my roommate had a mental break and committed suicide. So I left -- though looking back I probably should have left sooner. At first I was pretty depressed about giving up and unsure what I could do. I applied to all sorts of jobs that people recommend for transitioning academics -- USAJobs, college admin roles, etc... -- but it went nowhere. Realizing that I needed to expand my skillset, I taught myself how to program and other CS fundamentals. One thing you become really good at in a PhD program is teaching yourself. These days I split my time between teaching CS at university and research & development in the tech industry. | 1 | 7,692 | 1.294118 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h24al6f | h23t6qc | 1,623,954,436 | 1,623,947,111 | 22 | 15 | I've been in academia 25 years and my failure narratives could form their own subreddit. Where to begin? Probably the failure with the biggest net positive impact was in my previous job at a SLAC. It was my second job; left the first one after four years for a lot of different reasons. For the first 7-8 years, the new place was great. I did good work and received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. But then, around the 7-year mark (circa 2008-2009) everything went completely to shit. The institution itself was pretty much the same as before, and I didn't make any radical changes to my work post-tenure. But somehow, something changed between my students and me. I was trying out some newer teaching methods (IBL, flipped classroom) and maybe that was it. Students started to complain and a narrative started to form about me. This made work miserable, and to my discredit I used my blog and social media to hit back. (Big mistake.) It got to the point where, if was scheduled to teach a class with only one section, students were paying extra to take it from the local community college and transfer the credits rather than take it from me. (Not kidding; I learned about this second-hand.) I didn't get a ton of support, despite how much I was struggling. At first my dean pulled me into his office to ask about what was wrong, but as things "progressed", eventually I was threatened with dismissal, despite tenure, if I didn't bring my course evaluations up. My dean told me, literally, that I was a liability to the institution. The attitude was "Fix yourself or you're out of here". From there, I spiraled into depression and anxiety. Ultimately I decided to go on the job market and look for a place where I could just start over, and try to build on successes and avoid mistakes. I applied to four positions, and got hired at one of them, and I've been there 10 years now. I earned tenure, again, four years ago and was promoted to full Professor; and generally speaking I've been very happy here, fully accepted, and had a really successful career (including writing a well-received book about flipped classrooms). I learned a lot from this failure: - It's possible to start over even if you're mid-career. - In fact, it's better to jump into the unknown and try to start over, than it is to languish in a place where you're just depressed and anxious all the time. - "Grow where you're planted" is among the all-time worst career advice. - You can avoid misspending 10 years of your life/career by paying more attention to the relationships you have with other people. - There are some seriously shitty deans out there -- don't be one of them, and don't put up with them. | It's not as serious or as relevant as some of the other stories here, but when I was quite junior I applied to sit on a national committee run by a Government department which regulates and advises on the ethics of a particular type of research. I got an interview. It was in a very fancy government building, high security, the works. The interview was with a government chief scientist and two very senior civil servants. I totally blew the interview. Total disaster. I was just too junior for that role. I get out of this interview and I can't even leave because I have to wait for my security escort so I have to sit with the interviewers until the escort shows up after totally embarrassing myself. Finally, I leave. I figure it was an experience I can learn from and to put it behind me. But, they contact me a few weeks later to ask for a second interview. Somehow I convince myself that maybe that first interview wasn't the disaster I thought it was and go. Turns out the second interview was with the government's chief statistician who couldn't make the first interviews. I bombed just as hard a second time. | 1 | 7,325 | 1.466667 |
o1wvcu | askacademia_train | 0.97 | Career failure stories Academia is cut throat and MANY people fail in achieving their goals but don't talk about their failures. Would anyone here be open and discuss their failures in academia and how they gave up and moved on to other paths? I think this could be a great learning experience | h24al6f | h23twg9 | 1,623,954,436 | 1,623,947,417 | 22 | 8 | I've been in academia 25 years and my failure narratives could form their own subreddit. Where to begin? Probably the failure with the biggest net positive impact was in my previous job at a SLAC. It was my second job; left the first one after four years for a lot of different reasons. For the first 7-8 years, the new place was great. I did good work and received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. But then, around the 7-year mark (circa 2008-2009) everything went completely to shit. The institution itself was pretty much the same as before, and I didn't make any radical changes to my work post-tenure. But somehow, something changed between my students and me. I was trying out some newer teaching methods (IBL, flipped classroom) and maybe that was it. Students started to complain and a narrative started to form about me. This made work miserable, and to my discredit I used my blog and social media to hit back. (Big mistake.) It got to the point where, if was scheduled to teach a class with only one section, students were paying extra to take it from the local community college and transfer the credits rather than take it from me. (Not kidding; I learned about this second-hand.) I didn't get a ton of support, despite how much I was struggling. At first my dean pulled me into his office to ask about what was wrong, but as things "progressed", eventually I was threatened with dismissal, despite tenure, if I didn't bring my course evaluations up. My dean told me, literally, that I was a liability to the institution. The attitude was "Fix yourself or you're out of here". From there, I spiraled into depression and anxiety. Ultimately I decided to go on the job market and look for a place where I could just start over, and try to build on successes and avoid mistakes. I applied to four positions, and got hired at one of them, and I've been there 10 years now. I earned tenure, again, four years ago and was promoted to full Professor; and generally speaking I've been very happy here, fully accepted, and had a really successful career (including writing a well-received book about flipped classrooms). I learned a lot from this failure: - It's possible to start over even if you're mid-career. - In fact, it's better to jump into the unknown and try to start over, than it is to languish in a place where you're just depressed and anxious all the time. - "Grow where you're planted" is among the all-time worst career advice. - You can avoid misspending 10 years of your life/career by paying more attention to the relationships you have with other people. - There are some seriously shitty deans out there -- don't be one of them, and don't put up with them. | I got my bachelors in math, and I always dreamed of getting my PhD in math and becoming a professor. After 2.5 years in grad school, I dropped out with my masters. I’m lucky I guess because I ended up realizing how unhappy graduate school was making me early on. The grad school I went to was very toxic, and I wish I’d been more careful to ask students about their experiences before I ended up going there. The four other women in the program with me dropped out too; I never got to see any women pass the math qualifying exam while I was in the program. It’s tough, because I wish I had done more to change the way things were done in the department, but I just decided to leave instead. I am soooooooo much happier now though! I have my dream job working in operations research! Please don’t stay in graduate school if it’s ruining your mental health. | 1 | 7,019 | 2.75 |
hgyovo | askacademia_train | 0.96 | By this time next year I plan to resign from my TT position and relocate back to my hometown. I'm embarking on a new career path in search of newer opportunities that don't place me in a position of severe economic impoverishment and overwork. How do I resign without sabotaging my reputation? How do continue to work throughout the year, showing "productivity" while knowing deep down that I will be resigning by the academic-year's end? When do I submit my letter of resignation, to give the department enough time to adjust? What do I say in my letter of resignation? Truth is, I hate my job. I hate being a professor. I hate working as hard as I do, and still I'm begging federal institutions for grants and money. I hate making exams, and grading papers. I hate my life. I'm planning to leave whether or not I have a job lined up because I'm just that miserable. But I want to do it in a way that doesn't sabotage my reputation. Advice please. | fw6xogh | fw6vuob | 1,593,284,711 | 1,593,283,731 | 187 | 78 | Don't over think it. I was in a similar position, knowing for almost a year that I was going to leave. You can avoid most long term commitments if you just tell people that your plate is too full to take on new projects. You don't owe the department anything beyond professional courtesy - that means do your best to ensure a smooth transition of your responsibilities. But the will be loose ends, and that's just the nature of leaving a job. Regarding your resignation, all you need to do is give them the amount of notice your contract specifies, and your resignation letter just needs to say that you're leaving to pursue other opportunities. It's a formality, not a chance to express your feelings. | If you can, take a sabbatical first! Grass is always greener on the other side but it might not end up being the case. | 1 | 980 | 2.397436 |
hgyovo | askacademia_train | 0.96 | By this time next year I plan to resign from my TT position and relocate back to my hometown. I'm embarking on a new career path in search of newer opportunities that don't place me in a position of severe economic impoverishment and overwork. How do I resign without sabotaging my reputation? How do continue to work throughout the year, showing "productivity" while knowing deep down that I will be resigning by the academic-year's end? When do I submit my letter of resignation, to give the department enough time to adjust? What do I say in my letter of resignation? Truth is, I hate my job. I hate being a professor. I hate working as hard as I do, and still I'm begging federal institutions for grants and money. I hate making exams, and grading papers. I hate my life. I'm planning to leave whether or not I have a job lined up because I'm just that miserable. But I want to do it in a way that doesn't sabotage my reputation. Advice please. | fw719tz | fw6zi4w | 1,593,286,618 | 1,593,285,718 | 63 | 29 | I think if you leave and aren't a jerk about it, you'll be fine. Not your question, but have you worked outside of academia before? I say this as somebody who had a ten year career in a completely different field before getting my PhD and it sucked. I know some non-academics love their jobs, so obviously my experience isn't everybody's, but if there's any way to test the waters a bit before you make the leap, I would encourage it. Anyway, good luck!! | I don't have any advice but I just wanted to say I am sorry you're miserable and I hope you find your way to a job that makes you happier. | 1 | 900 | 2.172414 |
hgyovo | askacademia_train | 0.96 | By this time next year I plan to resign from my TT position and relocate back to my hometown. I'm embarking on a new career path in search of newer opportunities that don't place me in a position of severe economic impoverishment and overwork. How do I resign without sabotaging my reputation? How do continue to work throughout the year, showing "productivity" while knowing deep down that I will be resigning by the academic-year's end? When do I submit my letter of resignation, to give the department enough time to adjust? What do I say in my letter of resignation? Truth is, I hate my job. I hate being a professor. I hate working as hard as I do, and still I'm begging federal institutions for grants and money. I hate making exams, and grading papers. I hate my life. I'm planning to leave whether or not I have a job lined up because I'm just that miserable. But I want to do it in a way that doesn't sabotage my reputation. Advice please. | fw70p4d | fw719tz | 1,593,286,330 | 1,593,286,618 | 27 | 63 | You might want to look into your institution’s leave of absence policy. You might be able to take a year’s leave of absence that way if your new opportunity doesn’t work out, you’d still have a job to go back to. I am a bit risk adverse when it comes to jobs and so I’d feel more comfortable with a safety net. Of course, everyone’s different when it comes to these kinds of things. I wish you the best of luck sorting this out. I know how hard this can be. | I think if you leave and aren't a jerk about it, you'll be fine. Not your question, but have you worked outside of academia before? I say this as somebody who had a ten year career in a completely different field before getting my PhD and it sucked. I know some non-academics love their jobs, so obviously my experience isn't everybody's, but if there's any way to test the waters a bit before you make the leap, I would encourage it. Anyway, good luck!! | 0 | 288 | 2.333333 |
hgyovo | askacademia_train | 0.96 | By this time next year I plan to resign from my TT position and relocate back to my hometown. I'm embarking on a new career path in search of newer opportunities that don't place me in a position of severe economic impoverishment and overwork. How do I resign without sabotaging my reputation? How do continue to work throughout the year, showing "productivity" while knowing deep down that I will be resigning by the academic-year's end? When do I submit my letter of resignation, to give the department enough time to adjust? What do I say in my letter of resignation? Truth is, I hate my job. I hate being a professor. I hate working as hard as I do, and still I'm begging federal institutions for grants and money. I hate making exams, and grading papers. I hate my life. I'm planning to leave whether or not I have a job lined up because I'm just that miserable. But I want to do it in a way that doesn't sabotage my reputation. Advice please. | fw6zsd1 | fw719tz | 1,593,285,874 | 1,593,286,618 | 13 | 63 | You dont owe anyone anything, but it is a small world and you could conceivably need a LOR. In any case, it doesn't really hurt to be considerate. If you are really sure that you want to leave, I would at least tell your chair so that they have some heads up that they will have to replace you. But that is only my 2 cents. If you have the chance to get out and do some consulting or job interview before you pull the plug, even if the things you get are not your long term goals, I would really advise you strongly to see if the other options are actually worse. Also advise at least a perfunctory job search in whatever you think the alternatives are to get a feeling for if they are alternatives for you. But this is in the context that I would not quit a job without having another job under any circumstances . | I think if you leave and aren't a jerk about it, you'll be fine. Not your question, but have you worked outside of academia before? I say this as somebody who had a ten year career in a completely different field before getting my PhD and it sucked. I know some non-academics love their jobs, so obviously my experience isn't everybody's, but if there's any way to test the waters a bit before you make the leap, I would encourage it. Anyway, good luck!! | 0 | 744 | 4.846154 |
hgyovo | askacademia_train | 0.96 | By this time next year I plan to resign from my TT position and relocate back to my hometown. I'm embarking on a new career path in search of newer opportunities that don't place me in a position of severe economic impoverishment and overwork. How do I resign without sabotaging my reputation? How do continue to work throughout the year, showing "productivity" while knowing deep down that I will be resigning by the academic-year's end? When do I submit my letter of resignation, to give the department enough time to adjust? What do I say in my letter of resignation? Truth is, I hate my job. I hate being a professor. I hate working as hard as I do, and still I'm begging federal institutions for grants and money. I hate making exams, and grading papers. I hate my life. I'm planning to leave whether or not I have a job lined up because I'm just that miserable. But I want to do it in a way that doesn't sabotage my reputation. Advice please. | fw7w8og | fw6zi4w | 1,593,303,630 | 1,593,285,718 | 31 | 29 | Chair here. I've had colleagues resign. No hard feelings, but I'd personally *absolutely* prefer to have a private heads-up as far in advance as possible because if someone leaves without warning in late spring I'd have to scramble to cover their classes for fall, or even risk losing the line. It wouldn't be a problem to keep that info confidential, but even better if the dean knew too so we could start conversations about a term hire to cover the classes. Nobody I know has resigned from a tenure-track position *without* telling the chair in advance at my school. It's a courtesy to do so. I've had no problems providing positive references for people who have left of their own accord that way. If someone simply bailed in May and left us hanging, though, I'd consider that unprofessional and would be much less willing to provide more than a basic "yes, she worked here" sort of reference. People leave academia all the time. Two friends of my did so one year after earning tenure. It's not uncommon, but doing it professionally will make it easier for everyone. | I don't have any advice but I just wanted to say I am sorry you're miserable and I hope you find your way to a job that makes you happier. | 1 | 17,912 | 1.068966 |
hgyovo | askacademia_train | 0.96 | By this time next year I plan to resign from my TT position and relocate back to my hometown. I'm embarking on a new career path in search of newer opportunities that don't place me in a position of severe economic impoverishment and overwork. How do I resign without sabotaging my reputation? How do continue to work throughout the year, showing "productivity" while knowing deep down that I will be resigning by the academic-year's end? When do I submit my letter of resignation, to give the department enough time to adjust? What do I say in my letter of resignation? Truth is, I hate my job. I hate being a professor. I hate working as hard as I do, and still I'm begging federal institutions for grants and money. I hate making exams, and grading papers. I hate my life. I'm planning to leave whether or not I have a job lined up because I'm just that miserable. But I want to do it in a way that doesn't sabotage my reputation. Advice please. | fw70p4d | fw7w8og | 1,593,286,330 | 1,593,303,630 | 27 | 31 | You might want to look into your institution’s leave of absence policy. You might be able to take a year’s leave of absence that way if your new opportunity doesn’t work out, you’d still have a job to go back to. I am a bit risk adverse when it comes to jobs and so I’d feel more comfortable with a safety net. Of course, everyone’s different when it comes to these kinds of things. I wish you the best of luck sorting this out. I know how hard this can be. | Chair here. I've had colleagues resign. No hard feelings, but I'd personally *absolutely* prefer to have a private heads-up as far in advance as possible because if someone leaves without warning in late spring I'd have to scramble to cover their classes for fall, or even risk losing the line. It wouldn't be a problem to keep that info confidential, but even better if the dean knew too so we could start conversations about a term hire to cover the classes. Nobody I know has resigned from a tenure-track position *without* telling the chair in advance at my school. It's a courtesy to do so. I've had no problems providing positive references for people who have left of their own accord that way. If someone simply bailed in May and left us hanging, though, I'd consider that unprofessional and would be much less willing to provide more than a basic "yes, she worked here" sort of reference. People leave academia all the time. Two friends of my did so one year after earning tenure. It's not uncommon, but doing it professionally will make it easier for everyone. | 0 | 17,300 | 1.148148 |
hgyovo | askacademia_train | 0.96 | By this time next year I plan to resign from my TT position and relocate back to my hometown. I'm embarking on a new career path in search of newer opportunities that don't place me in a position of severe economic impoverishment and overwork. How do I resign without sabotaging my reputation? How do continue to work throughout the year, showing "productivity" while knowing deep down that I will be resigning by the academic-year's end? When do I submit my letter of resignation, to give the department enough time to adjust? What do I say in my letter of resignation? Truth is, I hate my job. I hate being a professor. I hate working as hard as I do, and still I'm begging federal institutions for grants and money. I hate making exams, and grading papers. I hate my life. I'm planning to leave whether or not I have a job lined up because I'm just that miserable. But I want to do it in a way that doesn't sabotage my reputation. Advice please. | fw7w8og | fw75bnl | 1,593,303,630 | 1,593,288,678 | 31 | 19 | Chair here. I've had colleagues resign. No hard feelings, but I'd personally *absolutely* prefer to have a private heads-up as far in advance as possible because if someone leaves without warning in late spring I'd have to scramble to cover their classes for fall, or even risk losing the line. It wouldn't be a problem to keep that info confidential, but even better if the dean knew too so we could start conversations about a term hire to cover the classes. Nobody I know has resigned from a tenure-track position *without* telling the chair in advance at my school. It's a courtesy to do so. I've had no problems providing positive references for people who have left of their own accord that way. If someone simply bailed in May and left us hanging, though, I'd consider that unprofessional and would be much less willing to provide more than a basic "yes, she worked here" sort of reference. People leave academia all the time. Two friends of my did so one year after earning tenure. It's not uncommon, but doing it professionally will make it easier for everyone. | "Relocating back to my hometown" is sufficient to avoid ill will. For timing, if this were my school, you would want to tell your chair as soon as you feel your decision is final. There's always negotiating going on between deans, chairs, and colleagues that you're not privy to, and a TT line is a big card, especially during a recession. But in informing yourself about timing, see if you can dig up the posting date of your position and other faculty postings from the past few years. At my school, I'd mentally backdate the posting date by two months; that's the lead time a chair needed to get approvals, have a couple faculty meetings with the job on the agenda, etc. before they were ready to post the job. For us that meant jobs were posted in mid-fall, job talks in December or early January. I'll also mention that anecdotally we get more and better-qualified non-white non-binary candidates when there's more lead time. When there's a time crunch to fill a slot, the listing is seen mostly by people faculty already know, which may be a less diverse pool that your dept would like to see. | 1 | 14,952 | 1.631579 |
hgyovo | askacademia_train | 0.96 | By this time next year I plan to resign from my TT position and relocate back to my hometown. I'm embarking on a new career path in search of newer opportunities that don't place me in a position of severe economic impoverishment and overwork. How do I resign without sabotaging my reputation? How do continue to work throughout the year, showing "productivity" while knowing deep down that I will be resigning by the academic-year's end? When do I submit my letter of resignation, to give the department enough time to adjust? What do I say in my letter of resignation? Truth is, I hate my job. I hate being a professor. I hate working as hard as I do, and still I'm begging federal institutions for grants and money. I hate making exams, and grading papers. I hate my life. I'm planning to leave whether or not I have a job lined up because I'm just that miserable. But I want to do it in a way that doesn't sabotage my reputation. Advice please. | fw7w8og | fw6zsd1 | 1,593,303,630 | 1,593,285,874 | 31 | 13 | Chair here. I've had colleagues resign. No hard feelings, but I'd personally *absolutely* prefer to have a private heads-up as far in advance as possible because if someone leaves without warning in late spring I'd have to scramble to cover their classes for fall, or even risk losing the line. It wouldn't be a problem to keep that info confidential, but even better if the dean knew too so we could start conversations about a term hire to cover the classes. Nobody I know has resigned from a tenure-track position *without* telling the chair in advance at my school. It's a courtesy to do so. I've had no problems providing positive references for people who have left of their own accord that way. If someone simply bailed in May and left us hanging, though, I'd consider that unprofessional and would be much less willing to provide more than a basic "yes, she worked here" sort of reference. People leave academia all the time. Two friends of my did so one year after earning tenure. It's not uncommon, but doing it professionally will make it easier for everyone. | You dont owe anyone anything, but it is a small world and you could conceivably need a LOR. In any case, it doesn't really hurt to be considerate. If you are really sure that you want to leave, I would at least tell your chair so that they have some heads up that they will have to replace you. But that is only my 2 cents. If you have the chance to get out and do some consulting or job interview before you pull the plug, even if the things you get are not your long term goals, I would really advise you strongly to see if the other options are actually worse. Also advise at least a perfunctory job search in whatever you think the alternatives are to get a feeling for if they are alternatives for you. But this is in the context that I would not quit a job without having another job under any circumstances . | 1 | 17,756 | 2.384615 |
hgyovo | askacademia_train | 0.96 | By this time next year I plan to resign from my TT position and relocate back to my hometown. I'm embarking on a new career path in search of newer opportunities that don't place me in a position of severe economic impoverishment and overwork. How do I resign without sabotaging my reputation? How do continue to work throughout the year, showing "productivity" while knowing deep down that I will be resigning by the academic-year's end? When do I submit my letter of resignation, to give the department enough time to adjust? What do I say in my letter of resignation? Truth is, I hate my job. I hate being a professor. I hate working as hard as I do, and still I'm begging federal institutions for grants and money. I hate making exams, and grading papers. I hate my life. I'm planning to leave whether or not I have a job lined up because I'm just that miserable. But I want to do it in a way that doesn't sabotage my reputation. Advice please. | fw6zsd1 | fw70p4d | 1,593,285,874 | 1,593,286,330 | 13 | 27 | You dont owe anyone anything, but it is a small world and you could conceivably need a LOR. In any case, it doesn't really hurt to be considerate. If you are really sure that you want to leave, I would at least tell your chair so that they have some heads up that they will have to replace you. But that is only my 2 cents. If you have the chance to get out and do some consulting or job interview before you pull the plug, even if the things you get are not your long term goals, I would really advise you strongly to see if the other options are actually worse. Also advise at least a perfunctory job search in whatever you think the alternatives are to get a feeling for if they are alternatives for you. But this is in the context that I would not quit a job without having another job under any circumstances . | You might want to look into your institution’s leave of absence policy. You might be able to take a year’s leave of absence that way if your new opportunity doesn’t work out, you’d still have a job to go back to. I am a bit risk adverse when it comes to jobs and so I’d feel more comfortable with a safety net. Of course, everyone’s different when it comes to these kinds of things. I wish you the best of luck sorting this out. I know how hard this can be. | 0 | 456 | 2.076923 |
hgyovo | askacademia_train | 0.96 | By this time next year I plan to resign from my TT position and relocate back to my hometown. I'm embarking on a new career path in search of newer opportunities that don't place me in a position of severe economic impoverishment and overwork. How do I resign without sabotaging my reputation? How do continue to work throughout the year, showing "productivity" while knowing deep down that I will be resigning by the academic-year's end? When do I submit my letter of resignation, to give the department enough time to adjust? What do I say in my letter of resignation? Truth is, I hate my job. I hate being a professor. I hate working as hard as I do, and still I'm begging federal institutions for grants and money. I hate making exams, and grading papers. I hate my life. I'm planning to leave whether or not I have a job lined up because I'm just that miserable. But I want to do it in a way that doesn't sabotage my reputation. Advice please. | fw6zsd1 | fw75bnl | 1,593,285,874 | 1,593,288,678 | 13 | 19 | You dont owe anyone anything, but it is a small world and you could conceivably need a LOR. In any case, it doesn't really hurt to be considerate. If you are really sure that you want to leave, I would at least tell your chair so that they have some heads up that they will have to replace you. But that is only my 2 cents. If you have the chance to get out and do some consulting or job interview before you pull the plug, even if the things you get are not your long term goals, I would really advise you strongly to see if the other options are actually worse. Also advise at least a perfunctory job search in whatever you think the alternatives are to get a feeling for if they are alternatives for you. But this is in the context that I would not quit a job without having another job under any circumstances . | "Relocating back to my hometown" is sufficient to avoid ill will. For timing, if this were my school, you would want to tell your chair as soon as you feel your decision is final. There's always negotiating going on between deans, chairs, and colleagues that you're not privy to, and a TT line is a big card, especially during a recession. But in informing yourself about timing, see if you can dig up the posting date of your position and other faculty postings from the past few years. At my school, I'd mentally backdate the posting date by two months; that's the lead time a chair needed to get approvals, have a couple faculty meetings with the job on the agenda, etc. before they were ready to post the job. For us that meant jobs were posted in mid-fall, job talks in December or early January. I'll also mention that anecdotally we get more and better-qualified non-white non-binary candidates when there's more lead time. When there's a time crunch to fill a slot, the listing is seen mostly by people faculty already know, which may be a less diverse pool that your dept would like to see. | 0 | 2,804 | 1.461538 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhed6c1 | hhdpzts | 1,634,757,622 | 1,634,748,393 | 221 | 142 | Youre figuring this out in first year? Good for you, quit. Quit right away. The sunk cost fallacy (which is less of a fallacy because you do only get your PhD at the end so you kinda get stuck gutting out out) gets worse with every passing year. Run now. | As a Physics PhD student finishing my PhD in 3 months, my opinion is that if you don't enjoy your field and your research, and i mean truly and deeply enjoy, then you will have a seriously bad and depressing time while doing your PhD. I would say that it is not worth it. Also consider that PhD stipend is not very high and covers only your basic needs. You won't be able to save anything. Based on what you wrote, i strongly advise you to NOT do the PhD. PhD is generally a good option for people who are passionate about their research enough to sacrifice financial stability and almost all social life for 3+ years. You mentioned that you'd be doing the PhD at least partly to show that you're smart. In my opinion, that would only show the oposite. It is not smart at all to sacrifice 3 years worth of savings, time with friends, relationships, etc., just to show the world that you're smart. I'd rather show the world that I'm the dumbest person alive and be relaxed, save money for a house and be happy spending time with my friends. | 1 | 9,229 | 1.556338 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhed6c1 | hhe59s0 | 1,634,757,622 | 1,634,754,462 | 221 | 25 | Youre figuring this out in first year? Good for you, quit. Quit right away. The sunk cost fallacy (which is less of a fallacy because you do only get your PhD at the end so you kinda get stuck gutting out out) gets worse with every passing year. Run now. | I'm so glad that you are addressing your mental health, above all else. Don't be miserable for something you hate when you can be stressed (but not miserable) for something you love! Also, you are so young, you have lots of years to change your mind again and again. Love to you :) | 1 | 3,160 | 8.84 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhealcx | hhed6c1 | 1,634,756,594 | 1,634,757,622 | 12 | 221 | >But I don’t know what to do from here. I don't know what you want to do as a career but based the skills you've learned as a physics PhD students could be very valuable in different fields because you guys are part time data scientists, part time CS / electrical engineers, part time mathematicians, and part time experimentalists. The combination of skill sets that you have might land you a job in other industries. Good luck. | Youre figuring this out in first year? Good for you, quit. Quit right away. The sunk cost fallacy (which is less of a fallacy because you do only get your PhD at the end so you kinda get stuck gutting out out) gets worse with every passing year. Run now. | 0 | 1,028 | 18.416667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhed6c1 | hhdqhiy | 1,634,757,622 | 1,634,748,586 | 221 | 5 | Youre figuring this out in first year? Good for you, quit. Quit right away. The sunk cost fallacy (which is less of a fallacy because you do only get your PhD at the end so you kinda get stuck gutting out out) gets worse with every passing year. Run now. | Sounds like its time for a deep think. Change can be good but determining where you want to go from here can be a challenge. If the coursework etc is adding to your health dilemmas, Personally I don’t think it’s worth the hit to your mental health. | 1 | 9,036 | 44.2 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhed6c1 | hheb9cg | 1,634,757,622 | 1,634,756,864 | 221 | 6 | Youre figuring this out in first year? Good for you, quit. Quit right away. The sunk cost fallacy (which is less of a fallacy because you do only get your PhD at the end so you kinda get stuck gutting out out) gets worse with every passing year. Run now. | Sometimes it takes actually diving into something to make us realize what is and isn't for us. There's a big fucking difference between THINKING you want something and actually doing that thing. I just moved to another country and uprooted my life, just to have pretty much the exact same thought process you're having. I dropped out and am heading back to the states in a couple days. I'm not saying that's what you'll end up doing, or even recommending it (I just don't know enough about your situation), but really think about what makes you happy and what YOU want, not what other's expect out of you. Life is too short for anything else. And if you don't know what you want, or what makes you happy yet (that's totally normal), then perhaps a break for diving into a PhD would be a healthy choice as well. Seems to me you've made up your mind to give it a break though, and you're looking for some validation. | 1 | 758 | 36.833333 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhe59s0 | hhdqhiy | 1,634,754,462 | 1,634,748,586 | 25 | 5 | I'm so glad that you are addressing your mental health, above all else. Don't be miserable for something you hate when you can be stressed (but not miserable) for something you love! Also, you are so young, you have lots of years to change your mind again and again. Love to you :) | Sounds like its time for a deep think. Change can be good but determining where you want to go from here can be a challenge. If the coursework etc is adding to your health dilemmas, Personally I don’t think it’s worth the hit to your mental health. | 1 | 5,876 | 5 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhealcx | hhedoh2 | 1,634,756,594 | 1,634,757,812 | 12 | 21 | >But I don’t know what to do from here. I don't know what you want to do as a career but based the skills you've learned as a physics PhD students could be very valuable in different fields because you guys are part time data scientists, part time CS / electrical engineers, part time mathematicians, and part time experimentalists. The combination of skill sets that you have might land you a job in other industries. Good luck. | I'm in the process of dropping out of my PhD, best advice I can give is be transparent with your adviser. I pushed off talked to mine because I was afraid of how they would react, but they were super helpful and supportive. It's unlikely you are the first student they've had quit and you definitely won't be the last. Also you should consider weather you need this position to pay your bills or not. If you do then you should start looking for a job, even if its just a temporary one. | 0 | 1,218 | 1.75 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhedoh2 | hhedjf8 | 1,634,757,812 | 1,634,757,758 | 21 | 10 | I'm in the process of dropping out of my PhD, best advice I can give is be transparent with your adviser. I pushed off talked to mine because I was afraid of how they would react, but they were super helpful and supportive. It's unlikely you are the first student they've had quit and you definitely won't be the last. Also you should consider weather you need this position to pay your bills or not. If you do then you should start looking for a job, even if its just a temporary one. | I dropped out of my PhD program with a Master's, and it was the best thing for me to do. In my field, a Master's is no better than a B.S., but I just wasn't passionate about my PhD work. I couldn't brute-force my way through the degree, and it just kept getting worse. Unless you really want a PhD, I would try looking for something else to do. Teaching in another field where you need the passion for it. You can get paid well in some places, but it really depends on where you want to live. Really think about what you want to do, and look into getting licenses if you need them. There are a lot of mathematics- heavy fields in businesses, which may not be physics, but your degree probably prepared you for them. But some, like becoming an actuary, take additional classes and licensing. | 1 | 54 | 2.1 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhedoh2 | hhdqhiy | 1,634,757,812 | 1,634,748,586 | 21 | 5 | I'm in the process of dropping out of my PhD, best advice I can give is be transparent with your adviser. I pushed off talked to mine because I was afraid of how they would react, but they were super helpful and supportive. It's unlikely you are the first student they've had quit and you definitely won't be the last. Also you should consider weather you need this position to pay your bills or not. If you do then you should start looking for a job, even if its just a temporary one. | Sounds like its time for a deep think. Change can be good but determining where you want to go from here can be a challenge. If the coursework etc is adding to your health dilemmas, Personally I don’t think it’s worth the hit to your mental health. | 1 | 9,226 | 4.2 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hheb9cg | hhedoh2 | 1,634,756,864 | 1,634,757,812 | 6 | 21 | Sometimes it takes actually diving into something to make us realize what is and isn't for us. There's a big fucking difference between THINKING you want something and actually doing that thing. I just moved to another country and uprooted my life, just to have pretty much the exact same thought process you're having. I dropped out and am heading back to the states in a couple days. I'm not saying that's what you'll end up doing, or even recommending it (I just don't know enough about your situation), but really think about what makes you happy and what YOU want, not what other's expect out of you. Life is too short for anything else. And if you don't know what you want, or what makes you happy yet (that's totally normal), then perhaps a break for diving into a PhD would be a healthy choice as well. Seems to me you've made up your mind to give it a break though, and you're looking for some validation. | I'm in the process of dropping out of my PhD, best advice I can give is be transparent with your adviser. I pushed off talked to mine because I was afraid of how they would react, but they were super helpful and supportive. It's unlikely you are the first student they've had quit and you definitely won't be the last. Also you should consider weather you need this position to pay your bills or not. If you do then you should start looking for a job, even if its just a temporary one. | 0 | 948 | 3.5 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhealcx | hhefh3b | 1,634,756,594 | 1,634,758,509 | 12 | 14 | >But I don’t know what to do from here. I don't know what you want to do as a career but based the skills you've learned as a physics PhD students could be very valuable in different fields because you guys are part time data scientists, part time CS / electrical engineers, part time mathematicians, and part time experimentalists. The combination of skill sets that you have might land you a job in other industries. Good luck. | . | 0 | 1,915 | 1.166667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhedjf8 | hhefh3b | 1,634,757,758 | 1,634,758,509 | 10 | 14 | I dropped out of my PhD program with a Master's, and it was the best thing for me to do. In my field, a Master's is no better than a B.S., but I just wasn't passionate about my PhD work. I couldn't brute-force my way through the degree, and it just kept getting worse. Unless you really want a PhD, I would try looking for something else to do. Teaching in another field where you need the passion for it. You can get paid well in some places, but it really depends on where you want to live. Really think about what you want to do, and look into getting licenses if you need them. There are a lot of mathematics- heavy fields in businesses, which may not be physics, but your degree probably prepared you for them. But some, like becoming an actuary, take additional classes and licensing. | . | 0 | 751 | 1.4 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhdqhiy | hhefh3b | 1,634,748,586 | 1,634,758,509 | 5 | 14 | Sounds like its time for a deep think. Change can be good but determining where you want to go from here can be a challenge. If the coursework etc is adding to your health dilemmas, Personally I don’t think it’s worth the hit to your mental health. | . | 0 | 9,923 | 2.8 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hheee58 | hhefh3b | 1,634,758,099 | 1,634,758,509 | 6 | 14 | I was in the same boat. I struggle in my first year but somehow pass and made it to second year. I was depressed and stressed out in the beginning of my second year that I took academic leave to take a break. I realized I was not happy with my project and I lost interest and didn't want to be in a PhD for 4+ years in something I didn't love. I got a low paying lab tech job but after a year I used my work experience to land a job in my desired field. So now I'm working my way up but Im happier now than I was in a school. I would list the reasons why you want to leave. While it is harder to find a job in stem with just a BS, you might be able to find one depending on your location. If you're not 100% sure, then maybe ask for a semester off to have a break and reassess what you want. | . | 0 | 410 | 2.333333 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hheb9cg | hhefh3b | 1,634,756,864 | 1,634,758,509 | 6 | 14 | Sometimes it takes actually diving into something to make us realize what is and isn't for us. There's a big fucking difference between THINKING you want something and actually doing that thing. I just moved to another country and uprooted my life, just to have pretty much the exact same thought process you're having. I dropped out and am heading back to the states in a couple days. I'm not saying that's what you'll end up doing, or even recommending it (I just don't know enough about your situation), but really think about what makes you happy and what YOU want, not what other's expect out of you. Life is too short for anything else. And if you don't know what you want, or what makes you happy yet (that's totally normal), then perhaps a break for diving into a PhD would be a healthy choice as well. Seems to me you've made up your mind to give it a break though, and you're looking for some validation. | . | 0 | 1,645 | 2.333333 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhdqhiy | hhealcx | 1,634,748,586 | 1,634,756,594 | 5 | 12 | Sounds like its time for a deep think. Change can be good but determining where you want to go from here can be a challenge. If the coursework etc is adding to your health dilemmas, Personally I don’t think it’s worth the hit to your mental health. | >But I don’t know what to do from here. I don't know what you want to do as a career but based the skills you've learned as a physics PhD students could be very valuable in different fields because you guys are part time data scientists, part time CS / electrical engineers, part time mathematicians, and part time experimentalists. The combination of skill sets that you have might land you a job in other industries. Good luck. | 0 | 8,008 | 2.4 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhdqhiy | hhedjf8 | 1,634,748,586 | 1,634,757,758 | 5 | 10 | Sounds like its time for a deep think. Change can be good but determining where you want to go from here can be a challenge. If the coursework etc is adding to your health dilemmas, Personally I don’t think it’s worth the hit to your mental health. | I dropped out of my PhD program with a Master's, and it was the best thing for me to do. In my field, a Master's is no better than a B.S., but I just wasn't passionate about my PhD work. I couldn't brute-force my way through the degree, and it just kept getting worse. Unless you really want a PhD, I would try looking for something else to do. Teaching in another field where you need the passion for it. You can get paid well in some places, but it really depends on where you want to live. Really think about what you want to do, and look into getting licenses if you need them. There are a lot of mathematics- heavy fields in businesses, which may not be physics, but your degree probably prepared you for them. But some, like becoming an actuary, take additional classes and licensing. | 0 | 9,172 | 2 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hheb9cg | hhedjf8 | 1,634,756,864 | 1,634,757,758 | 6 | 10 | Sometimes it takes actually diving into something to make us realize what is and isn't for us. There's a big fucking difference between THINKING you want something and actually doing that thing. I just moved to another country and uprooted my life, just to have pretty much the exact same thought process you're having. I dropped out and am heading back to the states in a couple days. I'm not saying that's what you'll end up doing, or even recommending it (I just don't know enough about your situation), but really think about what makes you happy and what YOU want, not what other's expect out of you. Life is too short for anything else. And if you don't know what you want, or what makes you happy yet (that's totally normal), then perhaps a break for diving into a PhD would be a healthy choice as well. Seems to me you've made up your mind to give it a break though, and you're looking for some validation. | I dropped out of my PhD program with a Master's, and it was the best thing for me to do. In my field, a Master's is no better than a B.S., but I just wasn't passionate about my PhD work. I couldn't brute-force my way through the degree, and it just kept getting worse. Unless you really want a PhD, I would try looking for something else to do. Teaching in another field where you need the passion for it. You can get paid well in some places, but it really depends on where you want to live. Really think about what you want to do, and look into getting licenses if you need them. There are a lot of mathematics- heavy fields in businesses, which may not be physics, but your degree probably prepared you for them. But some, like becoming an actuary, take additional classes and licensing. | 0 | 894 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hheee58 | hhdqhiy | 1,634,758,099 | 1,634,748,586 | 6 | 5 | I was in the same boat. I struggle in my first year but somehow pass and made it to second year. I was depressed and stressed out in the beginning of my second year that I took academic leave to take a break. I realized I was not happy with my project and I lost interest and didn't want to be in a PhD for 4+ years in something I didn't love. I got a low paying lab tech job but after a year I used my work experience to land a job in my desired field. So now I'm working my way up but Im happier now than I was in a school. I would list the reasons why you want to leave. While it is harder to find a job in stem with just a BS, you might be able to find one depending on your location. If you're not 100% sure, then maybe ask for a semester off to have a break and reassess what you want. | Sounds like its time for a deep think. Change can be good but determining where you want to go from here can be a challenge. If the coursework etc is adding to your health dilemmas, Personally I don’t think it’s worth the hit to your mental health. | 1 | 9,513 | 1.2 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hheb9cg | hhdqhiy | 1,634,756,864 | 1,634,748,586 | 6 | 5 | Sometimes it takes actually diving into something to make us realize what is and isn't for us. There's a big fucking difference between THINKING you want something and actually doing that thing. I just moved to another country and uprooted my life, just to have pretty much the exact same thought process you're having. I dropped out and am heading back to the states in a couple days. I'm not saying that's what you'll end up doing, or even recommending it (I just don't know enough about your situation), but really think about what makes you happy and what YOU want, not what other's expect out of you. Life is too short for anything else. And if you don't know what you want, or what makes you happy yet (that's totally normal), then perhaps a break for diving into a PhD would be a healthy choice as well. Seems to me you've made up your mind to give it a break though, and you're looking for some validation. | Sounds like its time for a deep think. Change can be good but determining where you want to go from here can be a challenge. If the coursework etc is adding to your health dilemmas, Personally I don’t think it’s worth the hit to your mental health. | 1 | 8,278 | 1.2 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hheh3y2 | hhfyceq | 1,634,759,150 | 1,634,782,455 | 4 | 5 | Life is too short to spend it doing things you dislike. Start actively applying to teaching jobs. Wish you the best. | I wish I'd never gotten mine, in ruined every aspect of my life. Do you have someone trusted in the department or school you can talk to about this? Not just other students, but faculty or staff, like a career counselor. It seems like you really don't want to be in a PhD, but not knowing what you want to do shouldn't keep you there. Try finding a list of jobs you might be interested in and go from there. | 0 | 23,305 | 1.25 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhg9kzl | hheh3y2 | 1,634,788,108 | 1,634,759,150 | 5 | 4 | Don't do it if it makes you miserable. You are 22! That's super young, I started my bachelor's degree at 22 :) so.... all your options are open. You survived as an undergraduate in Physics, that is super impressive, as it is one of the hardest fields to study. No wonder you are on the edge. It is HARD. One thing that you can do is switch fields, to something that makes you less anxious, but is of interest to you. Math? Physical Chemistry or Chemical Physics? (You'll be a star there with your good Physics foundation). Computer Science? I love teaching too, but I wouldn't want to teach high school children or primary school children, since there are disciplinary issues to deal with and the money is not great (and you have to deal with anoying parents). I do enjoy teaching in the academy, college and university, as there is so much more freedom and the issues I mentioned above are non issues there. You might want to try and steer towards that. Best of luck | Life is too short to spend it doing things you dislike. Start actively applying to teaching jobs. Wish you the best. | 1 | 28,958 | 1.25 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhgysj3 | hheh3y2 | 1,634,807,664 | 1,634,759,150 | 5 | 4 | Postdoc here. I also started my phd as a 22f, with a large move to another far away city. My post will probably be buried, but I want to just add another opinion. Everyone in this sub seems very anti-academia, which I totally get, but it’s not very nuanced. Sure mental health can be affected in grad school but it can be at other high powered jobs too. At least in academia you have time flexibility. Want to roll into the lab at 11am? No problem. You can’t do that at a 9-5. Anyway, my advice is talk to your supervisor. It sounds like you have a nice one. Be honest with them, and hopefully they can figure out a way to make parts of the experience more enjoyable. Maybe a different research project, or any change to make things a bit better. Classes suck, that’s true, but that’s just the first 2 years. I’m not saying that you need to stick to it and suffer but girl once you have a PhD no one can take that away from you. That is yours and yours forever. I think dropping out within a few weeks is a bit soon. Feel it out for a few more months, you owe that to yourself. And hot tip…you know how everyone else seems to have their shit together and is smart and doing well? Yea well they’re not. Don’t let others make you feel like an imposter. You deserve to be there and you’re just as smart and capable as the rest of them. | Life is too short to spend it doing things you dislike. Start actively applying to teaching jobs. Wish you the best. | 1 | 48,514 | 1.25 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhfyceq | hhetne5 | 1,634,782,455 | 1,634,764,099 | 5 | 4 | I wish I'd never gotten mine, in ruined every aspect of my life. Do you have someone trusted in the department or school you can talk to about this? Not just other students, but faculty or staff, like a career counselor. It seems like you really don't want to be in a PhD, but not knowing what you want to do shouldn't keep you there. Try finding a list of jobs you might be interested in and go from there. | I cried a lot during the first 1-1.5 years of my PhD program. Especially when my college friends would post their vacations to Portugal while I was stuck in front of my work station on Friday nights and Saturdays. It’s a tough road. I really struggled with the work and with loneliness. I stuck it out because I didn’t have any better options and graduated. Someone who started with me in a neighboring department quit a year before graduation. Outcomes vary so much, and no one can predict which will be the case for you. As for teaching, just make sure you’re not idealizing it under Grass is Greener Syndrome. | 1 | 18,356 | 1.25 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhetne5 | hhg9kzl | 1,634,764,099 | 1,634,788,108 | 4 | 5 | I cried a lot during the first 1-1.5 years of my PhD program. Especially when my college friends would post their vacations to Portugal while I was stuck in front of my work station on Friday nights and Saturdays. It’s a tough road. I really struggled with the work and with loneliness. I stuck it out because I didn’t have any better options and graduated. Someone who started with me in a neighboring department quit a year before graduation. Outcomes vary so much, and no one can predict which will be the case for you. As for teaching, just make sure you’re not idealizing it under Grass is Greener Syndrome. | Don't do it if it makes you miserable. You are 22! That's super young, I started my bachelor's degree at 22 :) so.... all your options are open. You survived as an undergraduate in Physics, that is super impressive, as it is one of the hardest fields to study. No wonder you are on the edge. It is HARD. One thing that you can do is switch fields, to something that makes you less anxious, but is of interest to you. Math? Physical Chemistry or Chemical Physics? (You'll be a star there with your good Physics foundation). Computer Science? I love teaching too, but I wouldn't want to teach high school children or primary school children, since there are disciplinary issues to deal with and the money is not great (and you have to deal with anoying parents). I do enjoy teaching in the academy, college and university, as there is so much more freedom and the issues I mentioned above are non issues there. You might want to try and steer towards that. Best of luck | 0 | 24,009 | 1.25 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhgysj3 | hhetne5 | 1,634,807,664 | 1,634,764,099 | 5 | 4 | Postdoc here. I also started my phd as a 22f, with a large move to another far away city. My post will probably be buried, but I want to just add another opinion. Everyone in this sub seems very anti-academia, which I totally get, but it’s not very nuanced. Sure mental health can be affected in grad school but it can be at other high powered jobs too. At least in academia you have time flexibility. Want to roll into the lab at 11am? No problem. You can’t do that at a 9-5. Anyway, my advice is talk to your supervisor. It sounds like you have a nice one. Be honest with them, and hopefully they can figure out a way to make parts of the experience more enjoyable. Maybe a different research project, or any change to make things a bit better. Classes suck, that’s true, but that’s just the first 2 years. I’m not saying that you need to stick to it and suffer but girl once you have a PhD no one can take that away from you. That is yours and yours forever. I think dropping out within a few weeks is a bit soon. Feel it out for a few more months, you owe that to yourself. And hot tip…you know how everyone else seems to have their shit together and is smart and doing well? Yea well they’re not. Don’t let others make you feel like an imposter. You deserve to be there and you’re just as smart and capable as the rest of them. | I cried a lot during the first 1-1.5 years of my PhD program. Especially when my college friends would post their vacations to Portugal while I was stuck in front of my work station on Friday nights and Saturdays. It’s a tough road. I really struggled with the work and with loneliness. I stuck it out because I didn’t have any better options and graduated. Someone who started with me in a neighboring department quit a year before graduation. Outcomes vary so much, and no one can predict which will be the case for you. As for teaching, just make sure you’re not idealizing it under Grass is Greener Syndrome. | 1 | 43,565 | 1.25 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhetne5 | hhels3b | 1,634,764,099 | 1,634,760,975 | 4 | 3 | I cried a lot during the first 1-1.5 years of my PhD program. Especially when my college friends would post their vacations to Portugal while I was stuck in front of my work station on Friday nights and Saturdays. It’s a tough road. I really struggled with the work and with loneliness. I stuck it out because I didn’t have any better options and graduated. Someone who started with me in a neighboring department quit a year before graduation. Outcomes vary so much, and no one can predict which will be the case for you. As for teaching, just make sure you’re not idealizing it under Grass is Greener Syndrome. | I was in a similar position when I started my Experimental Physics PhD. I hated it. I knew the moment I started it wasn’t right, and I remember the instant I decided to quit was when I realised my job for the next three months was to sit and stare at an oscilliscope. I just didn’t care enough. I quit, did some temporary work for a few months and found a job doing government research as a civil servant. I loved it and eventually got my PhD in the field I was working in. Everyone is different and only you can decide what to do, but as others have said you really have to love what you’re doing to get through a PhD. Talk to your supervisor, and the wellbeing team at the uni. Maybe you can take a break and resume once you feel more up to it. But be honest - if it’s not for you it’s not for you. If that is the case it’s better for everyone to admit it. | 1 | 3,124 | 1.333333 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hheod7w | hhetne5 | 1,634,762,009 | 1,634,764,099 | 3 | 4 | My kids favorite math teacher was a former professor that started teaching on outschool dot com. I homeschooled but would get them into courses and programs with people that were smarter than me and taught neat stuff. After they finished the four classes she offered, I retained her for 1 on 1 sessions to teach other math concepts that she could do a better job of. Their favorite finance and accounting teacher was a computer science grad student. This is all to say that there are a lot of options for teaching that don't have to be traditional and can be very rewarding, if you want to try it out. | I cried a lot during the first 1-1.5 years of my PhD program. Especially when my college friends would post their vacations to Portugal while I was stuck in front of my work station on Friday nights and Saturdays. It’s a tough road. I really struggled with the work and with loneliness. I stuck it out because I didn’t have any better options and graduated. Someone who started with me in a neighboring department quit a year before graduation. Outcomes vary so much, and no one can predict which will be the case for you. As for teaching, just make sure you’re not idealizing it under Grass is Greener Syndrome. | 0 | 2,090 | 1.333333 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hheozub | hhetne5 | 1,634,762,254 | 1,634,764,099 | 3 | 4 | well one thing is clear - you must quit your PhD and take it from there. Do something you truly like to do (if your mom hated being a teacher then .. why do it?). Life is short make it worthwhile. | I cried a lot during the first 1-1.5 years of my PhD program. Especially when my college friends would post their vacations to Portugal while I was stuck in front of my work station on Friday nights and Saturdays. It’s a tough road. I really struggled with the work and with loneliness. I stuck it out because I didn’t have any better options and graduated. Someone who started with me in a neighboring department quit a year before graduation. Outcomes vary so much, and no one can predict which will be the case for you. As for teaching, just make sure you’re not idealizing it under Grass is Greener Syndrome. | 0 | 1,845 | 1.333333 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhels3b | hhfyceq | 1,634,760,975 | 1,634,782,455 | 3 | 5 | I was in a similar position when I started my Experimental Physics PhD. I hated it. I knew the moment I started it wasn’t right, and I remember the instant I decided to quit was when I realised my job for the next three months was to sit and stare at an oscilliscope. I just didn’t care enough. I quit, did some temporary work for a few months and found a job doing government research as a civil servant. I loved it and eventually got my PhD in the field I was working in. Everyone is different and only you can decide what to do, but as others have said you really have to love what you’re doing to get through a PhD. Talk to your supervisor, and the wellbeing team at the uni. Maybe you can take a break and resume once you feel more up to it. But be honest - if it’s not for you it’s not for you. If that is the case it’s better for everyone to admit it. | I wish I'd never gotten mine, in ruined every aspect of my life. Do you have someone trusted in the department or school you can talk to about this? Not just other students, but faculty or staff, like a career counselor. It seems like you really don't want to be in a PhD, but not knowing what you want to do shouldn't keep you there. Try finding a list of jobs you might be interested in and go from there. | 0 | 21,480 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hheod7w | hhfyceq | 1,634,762,009 | 1,634,782,455 | 3 | 5 | My kids favorite math teacher was a former professor that started teaching on outschool dot com. I homeschooled but would get them into courses and programs with people that were smarter than me and taught neat stuff. After they finished the four classes she offered, I retained her for 1 on 1 sessions to teach other math concepts that she could do a better job of. Their favorite finance and accounting teacher was a computer science grad student. This is all to say that there are a lot of options for teaching that don't have to be traditional and can be very rewarding, if you want to try it out. | I wish I'd never gotten mine, in ruined every aspect of my life. Do you have someone trusted in the department or school you can talk to about this? Not just other students, but faculty or staff, like a career counselor. It seems like you really don't want to be in a PhD, but not knowing what you want to do shouldn't keep you there. Try finding a list of jobs you might be interested in and go from there. | 0 | 20,446 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhfyceq | hheozub | 1,634,782,455 | 1,634,762,254 | 5 | 3 | I wish I'd never gotten mine, in ruined every aspect of my life. Do you have someone trusted in the department or school you can talk to about this? Not just other students, but faculty or staff, like a career counselor. It seems like you really don't want to be in a PhD, but not knowing what you want to do shouldn't keep you there. Try finding a list of jobs you might be interested in and go from there. | well one thing is clear - you must quit your PhD and take it from there. Do something you truly like to do (if your mom hated being a teacher then .. why do it?). Life is short make it worthwhile. | 1 | 20,201 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhfyceq | hhf846g | 1,634,782,455 | 1,634,770,354 | 5 | 3 | I wish I'd never gotten mine, in ruined every aspect of my life. Do you have someone trusted in the department or school you can talk to about this? Not just other students, but faculty or staff, like a career counselor. It seems like you really don't want to be in a PhD, but not knowing what you want to do shouldn't keep you there. Try finding a list of jobs you might be interested in and go from there. | If you are feeling like this and you think you may want to teach then explore your options. There are a range of options open to you, from a PGCE to something like TeachFirst. Have a look and see what you think would suit you best. BUT! Be prepared. Contact a local school and arrange to go in and observe some classes.talk to students. Talk to teachers and school leaders. See if this is what you want. If you apply for a PGCE you will have to have spent some time in schools, anyway. If you want some advice then please let me know. I’m happy to help. Good luck! | 1 | 12,101 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhfyceq | hhfetiw | 1,634,782,455 | 1,634,773,463 | 5 | 3 | I wish I'd never gotten mine, in ruined every aspect of my life. Do you have someone trusted in the department or school you can talk to about this? Not just other students, but faculty or staff, like a career counselor. It seems like you really don't want to be in a PhD, but not knowing what you want to do shouldn't keep you there. Try finding a list of jobs you might be interested in and go from there. | Sounds like you should go get a master's degree and teach at the community college level. I really needed someone like you at my community college teaching math. Honestly if you want to teach below that - just go grab a teaching credential or try substitute teaching at your school district. Move back home and live off your parents for a bit. be honest with them. You are smart but school just is not for you at this time. Maybe in the future research will become important to you | 1 | 8,992 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhels3b | hhg9kzl | 1,634,760,975 | 1,634,788,108 | 3 | 5 | I was in a similar position when I started my Experimental Physics PhD. I hated it. I knew the moment I started it wasn’t right, and I remember the instant I decided to quit was when I realised my job for the next three months was to sit and stare at an oscilliscope. I just didn’t care enough. I quit, did some temporary work for a few months and found a job doing government research as a civil servant. I loved it and eventually got my PhD in the field I was working in. Everyone is different and only you can decide what to do, but as others have said you really have to love what you’re doing to get through a PhD. Talk to your supervisor, and the wellbeing team at the uni. Maybe you can take a break and resume once you feel more up to it. But be honest - if it’s not for you it’s not for you. If that is the case it’s better for everyone to admit it. | Don't do it if it makes you miserable. You are 22! That's super young, I started my bachelor's degree at 22 :) so.... all your options are open. You survived as an undergraduate in Physics, that is super impressive, as it is one of the hardest fields to study. No wonder you are on the edge. It is HARD. One thing that you can do is switch fields, to something that makes you less anxious, but is of interest to you. Math? Physical Chemistry or Chemical Physics? (You'll be a star there with your good Physics foundation). Computer Science? I love teaching too, but I wouldn't want to teach high school children or primary school children, since there are disciplinary issues to deal with and the money is not great (and you have to deal with anoying parents). I do enjoy teaching in the academy, college and university, as there is so much more freedom and the issues I mentioned above are non issues there. You might want to try and steer towards that. Best of luck | 0 | 27,133 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhg9kzl | hheod7w | 1,634,788,108 | 1,634,762,009 | 5 | 3 | Don't do it if it makes you miserable. You are 22! That's super young, I started my bachelor's degree at 22 :) so.... all your options are open. You survived as an undergraduate in Physics, that is super impressive, as it is one of the hardest fields to study. No wonder you are on the edge. It is HARD. One thing that you can do is switch fields, to something that makes you less anxious, but is of interest to you. Math? Physical Chemistry or Chemical Physics? (You'll be a star there with your good Physics foundation). Computer Science? I love teaching too, but I wouldn't want to teach high school children or primary school children, since there are disciplinary issues to deal with and the money is not great (and you have to deal with anoying parents). I do enjoy teaching in the academy, college and university, as there is so much more freedom and the issues I mentioned above are non issues there. You might want to try and steer towards that. Best of luck | My kids favorite math teacher was a former professor that started teaching on outschool dot com. I homeschooled but would get them into courses and programs with people that were smarter than me and taught neat stuff. After they finished the four classes she offered, I retained her for 1 on 1 sessions to teach other math concepts that she could do a better job of. Their favorite finance and accounting teacher was a computer science grad student. This is all to say that there are a lot of options for teaching that don't have to be traditional and can be very rewarding, if you want to try it out. | 1 | 26,099 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hheozub | hhg9kzl | 1,634,762,254 | 1,634,788,108 | 3 | 5 | well one thing is clear - you must quit your PhD and take it from there. Do something you truly like to do (if your mom hated being a teacher then .. why do it?). Life is short make it worthwhile. | Don't do it if it makes you miserable. You are 22! That's super young, I started my bachelor's degree at 22 :) so.... all your options are open. You survived as an undergraduate in Physics, that is super impressive, as it is one of the hardest fields to study. No wonder you are on the edge. It is HARD. One thing that you can do is switch fields, to something that makes you less anxious, but is of interest to you. Math? Physical Chemistry or Chemical Physics? (You'll be a star there with your good Physics foundation). Computer Science? I love teaching too, but I wouldn't want to teach high school children or primary school children, since there are disciplinary issues to deal with and the money is not great (and you have to deal with anoying parents). I do enjoy teaching in the academy, college and university, as there is so much more freedom and the issues I mentioned above are non issues there. You might want to try and steer towards that. Best of luck | 0 | 25,854 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhg9kzl | hhf846g | 1,634,788,108 | 1,634,770,354 | 5 | 3 | Don't do it if it makes you miserable. You are 22! That's super young, I started my bachelor's degree at 22 :) so.... all your options are open. You survived as an undergraduate in Physics, that is super impressive, as it is one of the hardest fields to study. No wonder you are on the edge. It is HARD. One thing that you can do is switch fields, to something that makes you less anxious, but is of interest to you. Math? Physical Chemistry or Chemical Physics? (You'll be a star there with your good Physics foundation). Computer Science? I love teaching too, but I wouldn't want to teach high school children or primary school children, since there are disciplinary issues to deal with and the money is not great (and you have to deal with anoying parents). I do enjoy teaching in the academy, college and university, as there is so much more freedom and the issues I mentioned above are non issues there. You might want to try and steer towards that. Best of luck | If you are feeling like this and you think you may want to teach then explore your options. There are a range of options open to you, from a PGCE to something like TeachFirst. Have a look and see what you think would suit you best. BUT! Be prepared. Contact a local school and arrange to go in and observe some classes.talk to students. Talk to teachers and school leaders. See if this is what you want. If you apply for a PGCE you will have to have spent some time in schools, anyway. If you want some advice then please let me know. I’m happy to help. Good luck! | 1 | 17,754 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhg9kzl | hhfetiw | 1,634,788,108 | 1,634,773,463 | 5 | 3 | Don't do it if it makes you miserable. You are 22! That's super young, I started my bachelor's degree at 22 :) so.... all your options are open. You survived as an undergraduate in Physics, that is super impressive, as it is one of the hardest fields to study. No wonder you are on the edge. It is HARD. One thing that you can do is switch fields, to something that makes you less anxious, but is of interest to you. Math? Physical Chemistry or Chemical Physics? (You'll be a star there with your good Physics foundation). Computer Science? I love teaching too, but I wouldn't want to teach high school children or primary school children, since there are disciplinary issues to deal with and the money is not great (and you have to deal with anoying parents). I do enjoy teaching in the academy, college and university, as there is so much more freedom and the issues I mentioned above are non issues there. You might want to try and steer towards that. Best of luck | Sounds like you should go get a master's degree and teach at the community college level. I really needed someone like you at my community college teaching math. Honestly if you want to teach below that - just go grab a teaching credential or try substitute teaching at your school district. Move back home and live off your parents for a bit. be honest with them. You are smart but school just is not for you at this time. Maybe in the future research will become important to you | 1 | 14,645 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhg4z38 | hhg9kzl | 1,634,785,681 | 1,634,788,108 | 3 | 5 | Get out. Find something that lets you have a work life balance. This is a perfect time to get out. | Don't do it if it makes you miserable. You are 22! That's super young, I started my bachelor's degree at 22 :) so.... all your options are open. You survived as an undergraduate in Physics, that is super impressive, as it is one of the hardest fields to study. No wonder you are on the edge. It is HARD. One thing that you can do is switch fields, to something that makes you less anxious, but is of interest to you. Math? Physical Chemistry or Chemical Physics? (You'll be a star there with your good Physics foundation). Computer Science? I love teaching too, but I wouldn't want to teach high school children or primary school children, since there are disciplinary issues to deal with and the money is not great (and you have to deal with anoying parents). I do enjoy teaching in the academy, college and university, as there is so much more freedom and the issues I mentioned above are non issues there. You might want to try and steer towards that. Best of luck | 0 | 2,427 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhgysj3 | hhels3b | 1,634,807,664 | 1,634,760,975 | 5 | 3 | Postdoc here. I also started my phd as a 22f, with a large move to another far away city. My post will probably be buried, but I want to just add another opinion. Everyone in this sub seems very anti-academia, which I totally get, but it’s not very nuanced. Sure mental health can be affected in grad school but it can be at other high powered jobs too. At least in academia you have time flexibility. Want to roll into the lab at 11am? No problem. You can’t do that at a 9-5. Anyway, my advice is talk to your supervisor. It sounds like you have a nice one. Be honest with them, and hopefully they can figure out a way to make parts of the experience more enjoyable. Maybe a different research project, or any change to make things a bit better. Classes suck, that’s true, but that’s just the first 2 years. I’m not saying that you need to stick to it and suffer but girl once you have a PhD no one can take that away from you. That is yours and yours forever. I think dropping out within a few weeks is a bit soon. Feel it out for a few more months, you owe that to yourself. And hot tip…you know how everyone else seems to have their shit together and is smart and doing well? Yea well they’re not. Don’t let others make you feel like an imposter. You deserve to be there and you’re just as smart and capable as the rest of them. | I was in a similar position when I started my Experimental Physics PhD. I hated it. I knew the moment I started it wasn’t right, and I remember the instant I decided to quit was when I realised my job for the next three months was to sit and stare at an oscilliscope. I just didn’t care enough. I quit, did some temporary work for a few months and found a job doing government research as a civil servant. I loved it and eventually got my PhD in the field I was working in. Everyone is different and only you can decide what to do, but as others have said you really have to love what you’re doing to get through a PhD. Talk to your supervisor, and the wellbeing team at the uni. Maybe you can take a break and resume once you feel more up to it. But be honest - if it’s not for you it’s not for you. If that is the case it’s better for everyone to admit it. | 1 | 46,689 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhgysj3 | hheod7w | 1,634,807,664 | 1,634,762,009 | 5 | 3 | Postdoc here. I also started my phd as a 22f, with a large move to another far away city. My post will probably be buried, but I want to just add another opinion. Everyone in this sub seems very anti-academia, which I totally get, but it’s not very nuanced. Sure mental health can be affected in grad school but it can be at other high powered jobs too. At least in academia you have time flexibility. Want to roll into the lab at 11am? No problem. You can’t do that at a 9-5. Anyway, my advice is talk to your supervisor. It sounds like you have a nice one. Be honest with them, and hopefully they can figure out a way to make parts of the experience more enjoyable. Maybe a different research project, or any change to make things a bit better. Classes suck, that’s true, but that’s just the first 2 years. I’m not saying that you need to stick to it and suffer but girl once you have a PhD no one can take that away from you. That is yours and yours forever. I think dropping out within a few weeks is a bit soon. Feel it out for a few more months, you owe that to yourself. And hot tip…you know how everyone else seems to have their shit together and is smart and doing well? Yea well they’re not. Don’t let others make you feel like an imposter. You deserve to be there and you’re just as smart and capable as the rest of them. | My kids favorite math teacher was a former professor that started teaching on outschool dot com. I homeschooled but would get them into courses and programs with people that were smarter than me and taught neat stuff. After they finished the four classes she offered, I retained her for 1 on 1 sessions to teach other math concepts that she could do a better job of. Their favorite finance and accounting teacher was a computer science grad student. This is all to say that there are a lot of options for teaching that don't have to be traditional and can be very rewarding, if you want to try it out. | 1 | 45,655 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhgysj3 | hheozub | 1,634,807,664 | 1,634,762,254 | 5 | 3 | Postdoc here. I also started my phd as a 22f, with a large move to another far away city. My post will probably be buried, but I want to just add another opinion. Everyone in this sub seems very anti-academia, which I totally get, but it’s not very nuanced. Sure mental health can be affected in grad school but it can be at other high powered jobs too. At least in academia you have time flexibility. Want to roll into the lab at 11am? No problem. You can’t do that at a 9-5. Anyway, my advice is talk to your supervisor. It sounds like you have a nice one. Be honest with them, and hopefully they can figure out a way to make parts of the experience more enjoyable. Maybe a different research project, or any change to make things a bit better. Classes suck, that’s true, but that’s just the first 2 years. I’m not saying that you need to stick to it and suffer but girl once you have a PhD no one can take that away from you. That is yours and yours forever. I think dropping out within a few weeks is a bit soon. Feel it out for a few more months, you owe that to yourself. And hot tip…you know how everyone else seems to have their shit together and is smart and doing well? Yea well they’re not. Don’t let others make you feel like an imposter. You deserve to be there and you’re just as smart and capable as the rest of them. | well one thing is clear - you must quit your PhD and take it from there. Do something you truly like to do (if your mom hated being a teacher then .. why do it?). Life is short make it worthwhile. | 1 | 45,410 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhf846g | hhgysj3 | 1,634,770,354 | 1,634,807,664 | 3 | 5 | If you are feeling like this and you think you may want to teach then explore your options. There are a range of options open to you, from a PGCE to something like TeachFirst. Have a look and see what you think would suit you best. BUT! Be prepared. Contact a local school and arrange to go in and observe some classes.talk to students. Talk to teachers and school leaders. See if this is what you want. If you apply for a PGCE you will have to have spent some time in schools, anyway. If you want some advice then please let me know. I’m happy to help. Good luck! | Postdoc here. I also started my phd as a 22f, with a large move to another far away city. My post will probably be buried, but I want to just add another opinion. Everyone in this sub seems very anti-academia, which I totally get, but it’s not very nuanced. Sure mental health can be affected in grad school but it can be at other high powered jobs too. At least in academia you have time flexibility. Want to roll into the lab at 11am? No problem. You can’t do that at a 9-5. Anyway, my advice is talk to your supervisor. It sounds like you have a nice one. Be honest with them, and hopefully they can figure out a way to make parts of the experience more enjoyable. Maybe a different research project, or any change to make things a bit better. Classes suck, that’s true, but that’s just the first 2 years. I’m not saying that you need to stick to it and suffer but girl once you have a PhD no one can take that away from you. That is yours and yours forever. I think dropping out within a few weeks is a bit soon. Feel it out for a few more months, you owe that to yourself. And hot tip…you know how everyone else seems to have their shit together and is smart and doing well? Yea well they’re not. Don’t let others make you feel like an imposter. You deserve to be there and you’re just as smart and capable as the rest of them. | 0 | 37,310 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhfetiw | hhgysj3 | 1,634,773,463 | 1,634,807,664 | 3 | 5 | Sounds like you should go get a master's degree and teach at the community college level. I really needed someone like you at my community college teaching math. Honestly if you want to teach below that - just go grab a teaching credential or try substitute teaching at your school district. Move back home and live off your parents for a bit. be honest with them. You are smart but school just is not for you at this time. Maybe in the future research will become important to you | Postdoc here. I also started my phd as a 22f, with a large move to another far away city. My post will probably be buried, but I want to just add another opinion. Everyone in this sub seems very anti-academia, which I totally get, but it’s not very nuanced. Sure mental health can be affected in grad school but it can be at other high powered jobs too. At least in academia you have time flexibility. Want to roll into the lab at 11am? No problem. You can’t do that at a 9-5. Anyway, my advice is talk to your supervisor. It sounds like you have a nice one. Be honest with them, and hopefully they can figure out a way to make parts of the experience more enjoyable. Maybe a different research project, or any change to make things a bit better. Classes suck, that’s true, but that’s just the first 2 years. I’m not saying that you need to stick to it and suffer but girl once you have a PhD no one can take that away from you. That is yours and yours forever. I think dropping out within a few weeks is a bit soon. Feel it out for a few more months, you owe that to yourself. And hot tip…you know how everyone else seems to have their shit together and is smart and doing well? Yea well they’re not. Don’t let others make you feel like an imposter. You deserve to be there and you’re just as smart and capable as the rest of them. | 0 | 34,201 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhgysj3 | hhg4z38 | 1,634,807,664 | 1,634,785,681 | 5 | 3 | Postdoc here. I also started my phd as a 22f, with a large move to another far away city. My post will probably be buried, but I want to just add another opinion. Everyone in this sub seems very anti-academia, which I totally get, but it’s not very nuanced. Sure mental health can be affected in grad school but it can be at other high powered jobs too. At least in academia you have time flexibility. Want to roll into the lab at 11am? No problem. You can’t do that at a 9-5. Anyway, my advice is talk to your supervisor. It sounds like you have a nice one. Be honest with them, and hopefully they can figure out a way to make parts of the experience more enjoyable. Maybe a different research project, or any change to make things a bit better. Classes suck, that’s true, but that’s just the first 2 years. I’m not saying that you need to stick to it and suffer but girl once you have a PhD no one can take that away from you. That is yours and yours forever. I think dropping out within a few weeks is a bit soon. Feel it out for a few more months, you owe that to yourself. And hot tip…you know how everyone else seems to have their shit together and is smart and doing well? Yea well they’re not. Don’t let others make you feel like an imposter. You deserve to be there and you’re just as smart and capable as the rest of them. | Get out. Find something that lets you have a work life balance. This is a perfect time to get out. | 1 | 21,983 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhggal1 | hhgysj3 | 1,634,792,211 | 1,634,807,664 | 3 | 5 | Go work and try other things, you're only 22. PhDs and academia will still be there years down the road if things lead you back to that. A key part of knowing what you want to do, is knowing what you don't want to do - so go have a bunch of new experiences and see where they lead you. | Postdoc here. I also started my phd as a 22f, with a large move to another far away city. My post will probably be buried, but I want to just add another opinion. Everyone in this sub seems very anti-academia, which I totally get, but it’s not very nuanced. Sure mental health can be affected in grad school but it can be at other high powered jobs too. At least in academia you have time flexibility. Want to roll into the lab at 11am? No problem. You can’t do that at a 9-5. Anyway, my advice is talk to your supervisor. It sounds like you have a nice one. Be honest with them, and hopefully they can figure out a way to make parts of the experience more enjoyable. Maybe a different research project, or any change to make things a bit better. Classes suck, that’s true, but that’s just the first 2 years. I’m not saying that you need to stick to it and suffer but girl once you have a PhD no one can take that away from you. That is yours and yours forever. I think dropping out within a few weeks is a bit soon. Feel it out for a few more months, you owe that to yourself. And hot tip…you know how everyone else seems to have their shit together and is smart and doing well? Yea well they’re not. Don’t let others make you feel like an imposter. You deserve to be there and you’re just as smart and capable as the rest of them. | 0 | 15,453 | 1.666667 |
qc4o2t | askacademia_train | 0.98 | I don’t think I want to get my PhD anymore, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m (22F) a first year PhD student in physics, and I kind of absolutely hate it. I know at least some of the problem is my mental health, adjusting to having moved across the country, and a bunch of non-school external stressors that I have been dealing with… I’m in therapy and I take meds. But I wake up and dread my classes. I dread my research. I feel like a disappointment to my advisor who is so nice and puts so much faith in me. I’m skipping class and sleeping and I’m still so exhausted. I don’t think this is what I want to do, and academica was never something I planned on doing after my doctorate anyway. I think I just want it so everyone knows I’m smart. And it’s always been my plan. But I don’t know what to do from here. I kind of want to teach. My mom was a teacher and she hated it, but I think I would enjoy teaching math, and it seems like that’s at least somewhat in demand. I don’t know what to do. Any advice from teachers, grad students, physicists, or anyone would be useful. Thank you. | hhgn9l4 | hhgysj3 | 1,634,797,320 | 1,634,807,664 | 3 | 5 | No shame in leaving, but it might be worth seeing if this is just burnout first. Talk to your advisor ASAP. | Postdoc here. I also started my phd as a 22f, with a large move to another far away city. My post will probably be buried, but I want to just add another opinion. Everyone in this sub seems very anti-academia, which I totally get, but it’s not very nuanced. Sure mental health can be affected in grad school but it can be at other high powered jobs too. At least in academia you have time flexibility. Want to roll into the lab at 11am? No problem. You can’t do that at a 9-5. Anyway, my advice is talk to your supervisor. It sounds like you have a nice one. Be honest with them, and hopefully they can figure out a way to make parts of the experience more enjoyable. Maybe a different research project, or any change to make things a bit better. Classes suck, that’s true, but that’s just the first 2 years. I’m not saying that you need to stick to it and suffer but girl once you have a PhD no one can take that away from you. That is yours and yours forever. I think dropping out within a few weeks is a bit soon. Feel it out for a few more months, you owe that to yourself. And hot tip…you know how everyone else seems to have their shit together and is smart and doing well? Yea well they’re not. Don’t let others make you feel like an imposter. You deserve to be there and you’re just as smart and capable as the rest of them. | 0 | 10,344 | 1.666667 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2kzfk7 | h2kyxu4 | 1,624,310,790 | 1,624,310,561 | 58 | 35 | It gets better when your research is really your own. Then you read papers because you want to know this new thing in your field. Like others said, scientific writing by nature should be concise and by extension bland. A well written article should still flow and make sense, however. The literary flourish, for those who have it, should be saved for reviews and such. | Academic papers are interesting when their content is useful or brings insight. If you don't have a specific problem and your conceptual challenges don't lie at the edge of human knowledge (i.e., you're still digesting textbook knowledge), it's natural for your eyes to glaze over when reading tons of papers. (And the writing quality and results of the average paper aren't that impressive.) As you gain experience—especially if you tie yourself to one or several lines of research in grad school—you'll tend to find certain papers much more interesting, because they'll contain content that you're deeply connected to. For now, it might be useful to write down a question or two before skimming a group of papers. If one of them answers a question well, read it carefully and note it; you may end up citing it someday. This will probably increase your engagement. | 1 | 229 | 1.657143 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2kzfk7 | h2kyvbc | 1,624,310,790 | 1,624,310,529 | 58 | 13 | It gets better when your research is really your own. Then you read papers because you want to know this new thing in your field. Like others said, scientific writing by nature should be concise and by extension bland. A well written article should still flow and make sense, however. The literary flourish, for those who have it, should be saved for reviews and such. | I reckon I was well into my PhD before I started enjoying it. One of the final exams in my bachelor's was being given a random paper and critically assessing it and I found it torturous. I remember doing a journal club in my first year of PhD where I presented a paper and again, found it a real slog just to get through the thing, just like you describe. I think the switch flipped at some point when I started to become really familiar with the common research methods of my field and the way experiments are designed within it. At some point, as that kind of information moves from stuff you have to be consciously aware of to a kind of background knowledge in your brain, assessing papers becomes a breeze. You can very quickly pick up what they wanted to do, what they did to address it and their general results with a quick skim. Once that becomes second nature, the whole process of critically digesting a paper becomes a hell of a lot quicker, and once you start to get a real feel for how people are doing and reporting their research it can even become enjoyable. I think getting to that stage is partly down to experience - for me, it was hugely important to be surrounded by people doing research, observing them and the way the process worked. At some point, what I was seeing in the lab clicked with what I was reading in papers (and trying to implement in my work!) But equally you can train yourself to get to know the truly important bits of papers. Try to pay close attention to the way experiments are designed and carried out - how the question is identified, what methods have been selected, and what information those methods can give. Take some papers in your area of research and try to practice breaking the papers down into these basic facts as quickly as possible - what was their research question? what methods did they use? what information did this give? and does their conclusion really match the information their methods were able to provide? Write a one sentence answer to these questions for a paper a day, or something like that. The first one will be a chore and take time. But once you get used to identifying these crucial bits of information, stripping away everything else, you'll eventually be able to digest and critically assess a paper relatively quickly. And as soon as that part of it becomes less of a chore, you might even start to enjoy it! | 1 | 261 | 4.461538 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2kyxu4 | h2kyvbc | 1,624,310,561 | 1,624,310,529 | 35 | 13 | Academic papers are interesting when their content is useful or brings insight. If you don't have a specific problem and your conceptual challenges don't lie at the edge of human knowledge (i.e., you're still digesting textbook knowledge), it's natural for your eyes to glaze over when reading tons of papers. (And the writing quality and results of the average paper aren't that impressive.) As you gain experience—especially if you tie yourself to one or several lines of research in grad school—you'll tend to find certain papers much more interesting, because they'll contain content that you're deeply connected to. For now, it might be useful to write down a question or two before skimming a group of papers. If one of them answers a question well, read it carefully and note it; you may end up citing it someday. This will probably increase your engagement. | I reckon I was well into my PhD before I started enjoying it. One of the final exams in my bachelor's was being given a random paper and critically assessing it and I found it torturous. I remember doing a journal club in my first year of PhD where I presented a paper and again, found it a real slog just to get through the thing, just like you describe. I think the switch flipped at some point when I started to become really familiar with the common research methods of my field and the way experiments are designed within it. At some point, as that kind of information moves from stuff you have to be consciously aware of to a kind of background knowledge in your brain, assessing papers becomes a breeze. You can very quickly pick up what they wanted to do, what they did to address it and their general results with a quick skim. Once that becomes second nature, the whole process of critically digesting a paper becomes a hell of a lot quicker, and once you start to get a real feel for how people are doing and reporting their research it can even become enjoyable. I think getting to that stage is partly down to experience - for me, it was hugely important to be surrounded by people doing research, observing them and the way the process worked. At some point, what I was seeing in the lab clicked with what I was reading in papers (and trying to implement in my work!) But equally you can train yourself to get to know the truly important bits of papers. Try to pay close attention to the way experiments are designed and carried out - how the question is identified, what methods have been selected, and what information those methods can give. Take some papers in your area of research and try to practice breaking the papers down into these basic facts as quickly as possible - what was their research question? what methods did they use? what information did this give? and does their conclusion really match the information their methods were able to provide? Write a one sentence answer to these questions for a paper a day, or something like that. The first one will be a chore and take time. But once you get used to identifying these crucial bits of information, stripping away everything else, you'll eventually be able to digest and critically assess a paper relatively quickly. And as soon as that part of it becomes less of a chore, you might even start to enjoy it! | 1 | 32 | 2.692308 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2lgoil | h2kyvbc | 1,624,319,596 | 1,624,310,529 | 20 | 13 | I don’t. This is a job. Not every part of it needs to be enjoyable. I need to read papers to do my job well, so I read papers whether I like it or not. | I reckon I was well into my PhD before I started enjoying it. One of the final exams in my bachelor's was being given a random paper and critically assessing it and I found it torturous. I remember doing a journal club in my first year of PhD where I presented a paper and again, found it a real slog just to get through the thing, just like you describe. I think the switch flipped at some point when I started to become really familiar with the common research methods of my field and the way experiments are designed within it. At some point, as that kind of information moves from stuff you have to be consciously aware of to a kind of background knowledge in your brain, assessing papers becomes a breeze. You can very quickly pick up what they wanted to do, what they did to address it and their general results with a quick skim. Once that becomes second nature, the whole process of critically digesting a paper becomes a hell of a lot quicker, and once you start to get a real feel for how people are doing and reporting their research it can even become enjoyable. I think getting to that stage is partly down to experience - for me, it was hugely important to be surrounded by people doing research, observing them and the way the process worked. At some point, what I was seeing in the lab clicked with what I was reading in papers (and trying to implement in my work!) But equally you can train yourself to get to know the truly important bits of papers. Try to pay close attention to the way experiments are designed and carried out - how the question is identified, what methods have been selected, and what information those methods can give. Take some papers in your area of research and try to practice breaking the papers down into these basic facts as quickly as possible - what was their research question? what methods did they use? what information did this give? and does their conclusion really match the information their methods were able to provide? Write a one sentence answer to these questions for a paper a day, or something like that. The first one will be a chore and take time. But once you get used to identifying these crucial bits of information, stripping away everything else, you'll eventually be able to digest and critically assess a paper relatively quickly. And as soon as that part of it becomes less of a chore, you might even start to enjoy it! | 1 | 9,067 | 1.538462 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2lv61v | h2kyvbc | 1,624,327,490 | 1,624,310,529 | 19 | 13 | As a research scientist, I bloody hate reading papers, even my own. I just force myself and hate every second. | I reckon I was well into my PhD before I started enjoying it. One of the final exams in my bachelor's was being given a random paper and critically assessing it and I found it torturous. I remember doing a journal club in my first year of PhD where I presented a paper and again, found it a real slog just to get through the thing, just like you describe. I think the switch flipped at some point when I started to become really familiar with the common research methods of my field and the way experiments are designed within it. At some point, as that kind of information moves from stuff you have to be consciously aware of to a kind of background knowledge in your brain, assessing papers becomes a breeze. You can very quickly pick up what they wanted to do, what they did to address it and their general results with a quick skim. Once that becomes second nature, the whole process of critically digesting a paper becomes a hell of a lot quicker, and once you start to get a real feel for how people are doing and reporting their research it can even become enjoyable. I think getting to that stage is partly down to experience - for me, it was hugely important to be surrounded by people doing research, observing them and the way the process worked. At some point, what I was seeing in the lab clicked with what I was reading in papers (and trying to implement in my work!) But equally you can train yourself to get to know the truly important bits of papers. Try to pay close attention to the way experiments are designed and carried out - how the question is identified, what methods have been selected, and what information those methods can give. Take some papers in your area of research and try to practice breaking the papers down into these basic facts as quickly as possible - what was their research question? what methods did they use? what information did this give? and does their conclusion really match the information their methods were able to provide? Write a one sentence answer to these questions for a paper a day, or something like that. The first one will be a chore and take time. But once you get used to identifying these crucial bits of information, stripping away everything else, you'll eventually be able to digest and critically assess a paper relatively quickly. And as soon as that part of it becomes less of a chore, you might even start to enjoy it! | 1 | 16,961 | 1.461538 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2lu2qy | h2lv61v | 1,624,326,888 | 1,624,327,490 | 3 | 19 | The more you read, the more you learn about the field as a whole and the easier it gets to read and understand new contributions with less effort. At that point reading new literature become more fun because it doesn’t always seem like a heavy mental lift, you’re just adding a pebble to the beach. | As a research scientist, I bloody hate reading papers, even my own. I just force myself and hate every second. | 0 | 602 | 6.333333 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2luof7 | h2lv61v | 1,624,327,217 | 1,624,327,490 | 2 | 19 | Happens over time. I'm able to sort of skim my eyes over bits like historical precedent and significance statements. Typically I read the abstract them go to the methods. If the methods are crap I don't need to continue. If they are good I read the results, scan the intro, then read the conclusion. | As a research scientist, I bloody hate reading papers, even my own. I just force myself and hate every second. | 0 | 273 | 9.5 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2kyvbc | h2m1g6y | 1,624,310,529 | 1,624,331,066 | 13 | 17 | I reckon I was well into my PhD before I started enjoying it. One of the final exams in my bachelor's was being given a random paper and critically assessing it and I found it torturous. I remember doing a journal club in my first year of PhD where I presented a paper and again, found it a real slog just to get through the thing, just like you describe. I think the switch flipped at some point when I started to become really familiar with the common research methods of my field and the way experiments are designed within it. At some point, as that kind of information moves from stuff you have to be consciously aware of to a kind of background knowledge in your brain, assessing papers becomes a breeze. You can very quickly pick up what they wanted to do, what they did to address it and their general results with a quick skim. Once that becomes second nature, the whole process of critically digesting a paper becomes a hell of a lot quicker, and once you start to get a real feel for how people are doing and reporting their research it can even become enjoyable. I think getting to that stage is partly down to experience - for me, it was hugely important to be surrounded by people doing research, observing them and the way the process worked. At some point, what I was seeing in the lab clicked with what I was reading in papers (and trying to implement in my work!) But equally you can train yourself to get to know the truly important bits of papers. Try to pay close attention to the way experiments are designed and carried out - how the question is identified, what methods have been selected, and what information those methods can give. Take some papers in your area of research and try to practice breaking the papers down into these basic facts as quickly as possible - what was their research question? what methods did they use? what information did this give? and does their conclusion really match the information their methods were able to provide? Write a one sentence answer to these questions for a paper a day, or something like that. The first one will be a chore and take time. But once you get used to identifying these crucial bits of information, stripping away everything else, you'll eventually be able to digest and critically assess a paper relatively quickly. And as soon as that part of it becomes less of a chore, you might even start to enjoy it! | Usually when I talk about how "good" a paper is, I don't necessarily mean it's a riveting read the way a novel would be, but that the results are interesting or exciting. I definitely agree with people saying you should read it non-linearly. It's a different way of writing and should be a different way of reading. Usually I read the abstract and conclusion then look at the figures. Sometimes the intro if I'm not as familiar with the background. I'll then read the body carefully if it's a study I may want to replicate. | 0 | 20,537 | 1.307692 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2m1g6y | h2lu2qy | 1,624,331,066 | 1,624,326,888 | 17 | 3 | Usually when I talk about how "good" a paper is, I don't necessarily mean it's a riveting read the way a novel would be, but that the results are interesting or exciting. I definitely agree with people saying you should read it non-linearly. It's a different way of writing and should be a different way of reading. Usually I read the abstract and conclusion then look at the figures. Sometimes the intro if I'm not as familiar with the background. I'll then read the body carefully if it's a study I may want to replicate. | The more you read, the more you learn about the field as a whole and the easier it gets to read and understand new contributions with less effort. At that point reading new literature become more fun because it doesn’t always seem like a heavy mental lift, you’re just adding a pebble to the beach. | 1 | 4,178 | 5.666667 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2m1g6y | h2luof7 | 1,624,331,066 | 1,624,327,217 | 17 | 2 | Usually when I talk about how "good" a paper is, I don't necessarily mean it's a riveting read the way a novel would be, but that the results are interesting or exciting. I definitely agree with people saying you should read it non-linearly. It's a different way of writing and should be a different way of reading. Usually I read the abstract and conclusion then look at the figures. Sometimes the intro if I'm not as familiar with the background. I'll then read the body carefully if it's a study I may want to replicate. | Happens over time. I'm able to sort of skim my eyes over bits like historical precedent and significance statements. Typically I read the abstract them go to the methods. If the methods are crap I don't need to continue. If they are good I read the results, scan the intro, then read the conclusion. | 1 | 3,849 | 8.5 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2lxrkn | h2m1g6y | 1,624,328,950 | 1,624,331,066 | 2 | 17 | you don't have a question or problem in mind. usually when we look at a paper, we want to find for example the concentration of a reagent that they used, or how did they cure the disease in the animal, what type of animal was it and how long did they live extra etc. As soon as I get the answer to that question I just move on, its just a quick glance 3-5mins. You don't have to read the whole thing, I know ur feeling to try to push thru the introduction and methods of the paper, usually I don't read the introduction, since its all fluff, I only read intro if its the first time in a brand new topic. Don't feel the need to read everything, just find what you need and move on, this will make it way easier. | Usually when I talk about how "good" a paper is, I don't necessarily mean it's a riveting read the way a novel would be, but that the results are interesting or exciting. I definitely agree with people saying you should read it non-linearly. It's a different way of writing and should be a different way of reading. Usually I read the abstract and conclusion then look at the figures. Sometimes the intro if I'm not as familiar with the background. I'll then read the body carefully if it's a study I may want to replicate. | 0 | 2,116 | 8.5 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2ma7vc | h2lu2qy | 1,624,336,664 | 1,624,326,888 | 5 | 3 | Going on a bit of a tangent, but take this experience as a good lesson on what to avoid when you are writing a paper. In my field (astrophysics), I have found older papers to be more pedagogical and fun to read as a result because the authors clearly thought about how the end-user might read their paper rather than as a way to just dump their results. I take all the dry and badly-written papers as a good reminder that I should try to be a better writer and make my papers more reader-friendly. | The more you read, the more you learn about the field as a whole and the easier it gets to read and understand new contributions with less effort. At that point reading new literature become more fun because it doesn’t always seem like a heavy mental lift, you’re just adding a pebble to the beach. | 1 | 9,776 | 1.666667 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2ma7vc | h2m50mm | 1,624,336,664 | 1,624,333,227 | 5 | 3 | Going on a bit of a tangent, but take this experience as a good lesson on what to avoid when you are writing a paper. In my field (astrophysics), I have found older papers to be more pedagogical and fun to read as a result because the authors clearly thought about how the end-user might read their paper rather than as a way to just dump their results. I take all the dry and badly-written papers as a good reminder that I should try to be a better writer and make my papers more reader-friendly. | Reading papers is more interesting when you have something you’re looking for or an idea you’d like to back up or debunk. Typically this happens when you are well within a field and you are synthesizing new research questions or backing up your own findings. I recommend asking yourself “what do I want to get out of this paper?” before you start reading it. It could be some small fact about the way something works or a brand new understanding of a common phenomena. This way, you are always reading with an inquisitive purpose. | 1 | 3,437 | 1.666667 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2ma7vc | h2luof7 | 1,624,336,664 | 1,624,327,217 | 5 | 2 | Going on a bit of a tangent, but take this experience as a good lesson on what to avoid when you are writing a paper. In my field (astrophysics), I have found older papers to be more pedagogical and fun to read as a result because the authors clearly thought about how the end-user might read their paper rather than as a way to just dump their results. I take all the dry and badly-written papers as a good reminder that I should try to be a better writer and make my papers more reader-friendly. | Happens over time. I'm able to sort of skim my eyes over bits like historical precedent and significance statements. Typically I read the abstract them go to the methods. If the methods are crap I don't need to continue. If they are good I read the results, scan the intro, then read the conclusion. | 1 | 9,447 | 2.5 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2lxrkn | h2ma7vc | 1,624,328,950 | 1,624,336,664 | 2 | 5 | you don't have a question or problem in mind. usually when we look at a paper, we want to find for example the concentration of a reagent that they used, or how did they cure the disease in the animal, what type of animal was it and how long did they live extra etc. As soon as I get the answer to that question I just move on, its just a quick glance 3-5mins. You don't have to read the whole thing, I know ur feeling to try to push thru the introduction and methods of the paper, usually I don't read the introduction, since its all fluff, I only read intro if its the first time in a brand new topic. Don't feel the need to read everything, just find what you need and move on, this will make it way easier. | Going on a bit of a tangent, but take this experience as a good lesson on what to avoid when you are writing a paper. In my field (astrophysics), I have found older papers to be more pedagogical and fun to read as a result because the authors clearly thought about how the end-user might read their paper rather than as a way to just dump their results. I take all the dry and badly-written papers as a good reminder that I should try to be a better writer and make my papers more reader-friendly. | 0 | 7,714 | 2.5 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2luof7 | h2m50mm | 1,624,327,217 | 1,624,333,227 | 2 | 3 | Happens over time. I'm able to sort of skim my eyes over bits like historical precedent and significance statements. Typically I read the abstract them go to the methods. If the methods are crap I don't need to continue. If they are good I read the results, scan the intro, then read the conclusion. | Reading papers is more interesting when you have something you’re looking for or an idea you’d like to back up or debunk. Typically this happens when you are well within a field and you are synthesizing new research questions or backing up your own findings. I recommend asking yourself “what do I want to get out of this paper?” before you start reading it. It could be some small fact about the way something works or a brand new understanding of a common phenomena. This way, you are always reading with an inquisitive purpose. | 0 | 6,010 | 1.5 |
o551bm | askacademia_train | 0.97 | How the hell do you enjoy reading papers? I am a STEM student about to go into his final year of undergrad. I have been reading scientific papers and conducting research since my first semester and while I have gotten *better* at reading papers, it still sucks SO much to do so. I do not know what it is. Every time I start reading a paper I get like a page in and my mind goes 'wow this is boring and it sucks' and I stop. I will all the time hear post-docs and my PI talk about how cool a paper was and I cannot fathom how they think so. To be perfectly clear, I think my research is amazing and I love learning. Lectures are my favorite thing but something about scientific papers just turns me off so hard. Does anyone else feel this way? Does anyone have tips on how to make papers more palatable? | h2lxrkn | h2m50mm | 1,624,328,950 | 1,624,333,227 | 2 | 3 | you don't have a question or problem in mind. usually when we look at a paper, we want to find for example the concentration of a reagent that they used, or how did they cure the disease in the animal, what type of animal was it and how long did they live extra etc. As soon as I get the answer to that question I just move on, its just a quick glance 3-5mins. You don't have to read the whole thing, I know ur feeling to try to push thru the introduction and methods of the paper, usually I don't read the introduction, since its all fluff, I only read intro if its the first time in a brand new topic. Don't feel the need to read everything, just find what you need and move on, this will make it way easier. | Reading papers is more interesting when you have something you’re looking for or an idea you’d like to back up or debunk. Typically this happens when you are well within a field and you are synthesizing new research questions or backing up your own findings. I recommend asking yourself “what do I want to get out of this paper?” before you start reading it. It could be some small fact about the way something works or a brand new understanding of a common phenomena. This way, you are always reading with an inquisitive purpose. | 0 | 4,277 | 1.5 |
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