Don't do it!, a photo from Surrey, England

Photographer's Note

Let me tell you something about the world:
Don't do a PhD. If you're in your first year, it's not too late, quit.

Why? Here we go:
You think that having a PhD will makes finding good jobs easier? WRONG! You'll be "overqualified" so it's hard to find jobs that even less qualified people could do. People will offer you jobs on a Bachelor level, so why would you study for 5 extra years??? You'll have to retire after everybody else. Doing a PhD is boring, frustrating, nerve-wrecking. I work 16 hours a day, doing quite difficult things, that supposingly "almost nobody else in the world can do" and am paid just about nothing, yet I'm considered to be a well paid PhD student... The world of research is claustrophobic and narrow-minded. Most supervisors (those who are supposed to help you) don't seem to give a toss about their students and waste your time.
Now is that enough or do you want more?

A "bit" pi..ed off today...

The photo? it's me yesterday at 'round about midnight after 17 hours of work.

Don't tell me that there are people in China or wherever who work more and harder for less, please ;-)

eleparc, Luko, luisafonso, flory, designsoul, kajspice ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

Critiques | Translate

eleparc (24063) 2007-10-27 5:48

je sens que ce n'est pas la grande forme Nico! ne te désespère pas... tu vas finir par trouver un sens à tout ce travail... aies confiance! en tout cas cette photo est tres forte et tres belle! j'aime cette couleur rouge versus cet écran très blanc et la pose que tu prends ici! courage!
amicalement,
Eric

Luko (14000) 2007-10-29 9:43

Thanks for leaving me no regrets on my refusal to doctorate.
I'm glad I stopped, I was fed up with the 7 years I spent at the university (had a selection issue first, I realized I didn't like physics... then military draft between year 3 and 4, explains the 3 years more ;D ...), the last year helped me understand what you say about narrowminded researchers.... even though I think my workaholic boss is even more narrowminded.

Too much gets too narrow, that's the lesson of the story I suppose.

Except for some wild evenings, I'd hate going back to my student years. I also remember playing "Leisure suit Larry" or "Pirates" games at the university lab whenever I wasn't inspired about my topics. Sleepless nights trying to catch what a remote author meant or wondering how you would prove that proposal A is always better than proposal B given a certain topology. Who gives a f*ck in the end? is it worth scratching your face with the eyes getting red like in your photo...

First months at work are like a breath of fresh air.. it seems that everything is so easy, so simple... but then soon you realize it maybe too simple and you start thinking about how you challenged your mind at the university...

Anyway a good photo that summarizes pretty well the stuff boiling in your head, the red eye tiredness and the dark claustrophobia oozing from these peculiar years.

Manamo (3710) 2007-10-29 9:54

Poor Nicolas, I think I know how you feel...you went through numerous cyclic mood changes through your PhD. Those cycles pretty much depends on your level of fatigue, the progress of your research, how much your girlfriend is fed up of not having you near because your always working. There is no equation explaining all that. I'm no genius, but for me beside planning the experiments, I don't do any planning at all...one day at a time. I don't think about the job I'll get or won't get. I just do it for the same reason I got started in the first place: I love what I'm doing. period.
You seem to be down low right now. If you can, take a break. only one day off could help I think. Balance is one of the key...I know, easier said than done...I wish you good luck anyway. the end will be more than rewarding, believe me!

ohh...and the photo, it sums everything up, so well done.

Marc

[2] +

greg (2835) 2007-10-29 13:13

I think you don't make a PhD to find a well-paid job - you do it because it was something you wanted to do anyway. And despite the horror of sitting in front of an unwritten thesis, that's something to value. I don't envy your current mood, but it will come to an end, eventually...

The photo is great... you captured your feeling absolutely!

flory (4848) 2007-10-30 0:11

hi Nicolas,
when start medicine,my father told me'don't do it'!'after some months,i understand..i know this image,sure,it wasn't the same boring things;)....but in time,will see,talk from my own experience that deserved.pfuu...is more nice to work;))
a pause would be delightful..sun,walk..these 'red eyes' need sleep;)
take care,
Flory

luisafonso (862) 2007-10-30 1:35

I would like to say something that could cheer you up but I really can't find the words... I think my best advice is to tell you to go out, search for a Video Club (or go to FNAC), and buy a copy of some Monty Python DVD. But don't download it from the net, you have to get of from that laptop!

The photo is a very good one. That infernal red aura really sets the mood. The one you are in... Like it a lot!

Iva_R (1352) 2007-10-31 15:31

Bah, tu gardes suffisamment d'élan pour installer ton appareil photo et tirer ton auto-portrait. C'est donc que tout n'est pas encore si désespéré... ou bien? ;-)
Un auto-portrait par ailleurs plein d'humour!
Iva

designsoul (17843) 2007-10-31 17:06

Haha, Nicolas, I had intuited your admonishion beforehand and decided to finally not go for the PhD after Masters. WHile working on my thesis, I never ONCE met my supervisor, hardly exchanged mail, and met him only when I arrived to the defence of my thesis. Ha ha! Oh God, Ph.D is a torture, and your shot is testament to it... and a unique shot at that, a real self-portrait, which is precious! Love this, though it sounds surely sadistic, but not for the content per se but for the light, the incredible discrepancy between the red warm hues of the surroundings and the glaring unnatural light of the laptop. Did you also cut your finger?
Poor Nicolas! Ah! Being brilliant has its disadvantages... ;)
What is your field of study? There must be some rewards...
like this shot, for sure. Take care, and please sleep more than I do...
sasa