The PhD is not just about working hard, the PhD is about taking care of yourself
This blog took a backseat for a couple months due to several reasons. One was due to the realisation that blog activity doesn’t equate to coursework or PhD writing activity, and I’m also in the process of rebuilding my website (a major revamp!). I also had a health scare, and I’ve had my first Thesis Advisory Committee meeting and to be frank it feels like the “START OF THE PHD” all over again! Back to the drawing board!
The good news first is that I’ve finished all my coursework for the PhD. I decided to take 3 modules each semester in Year 1 so I could clear it within the first year. My final GPA is 4.92 because I lost a few decimal points taking a cognitive psychology module that was really a neuroscience module (and I didn’t even take “O” level biology, so… it was still enjoyable but quite out of my depth and specialisation). Anyway, I definitely feel like no one has ever looked at a postgraduate level job applicant and nitpicked about their PhD Coursework GPA – it will be the quality of one’s research work that speaks for itself, not the weird bundle of coursework you had to take along the way.
With regards to the health scare, I went to the doctor to get a particularly long cough checked out, and so they simply ordered several tests and a Full Blood Count to get a general picture of how things were. Well, it turns out the cough was literally nothing to worry about, but I was in the Doctor’s office when a nurse in full battle gear came in with a clipboard saying “CRITICAL!” and from the moment the doctor looked at it, a 15 minute timer started running on it. I genuinely thought this was for another patient at the time. But then the doctor looked at it and asked me, “Are you dizzy? Do you feel unwell? Do you have any chest pains?” I told him that besides the cough I was feeling very well. The doctor later said that my haemoglobin was so critically low that usually they send people with this level to the Emergency Room, where the hospital can deliver the IV iron therapy. (Apparently if someone’s haemoglobin was normal but suddenly fell to this level, they’d expect the person to have immediately fainted on the floor) Also, apparently my red blood cells had become very “tiny” because I apparently hadn’t given my body the ingredients they needed in order to manufacture more red blood cells. In short, I was diagnosed with severe iron deficiency anemia.
There’s been the tiktok meme of ✨GIRL DINNER✨ in which women show off their either very fancy snack plates or their extremely bizarre sad snacks which masquerade as meals. People often ask me how I handle being a full-time PhD student AND making art AND being the main caretaker for my toddler. The sad answer is that for some time, whilst I prioritised cooking healthily for my daughter, I allowed some of my own meals to become very meagre or unnutritional. I would eat one bundle of somen noodles with store bought sauce and considered that to be a meal. I had never cooked red meat, chicken, pork or fish in my kitchen.
The good thing about finding out about the anemia after the school term is that I’ve been able to make some serious lifestyle changes which include meal planning – planning to have some meat and protein in every meal and taking time to cook and eat well. I also started making my own kimchi and kombucha, and took some cooking classes to help me get over my mild fear of not knowing how to handle raw meat.
So what have I learnt from my first year of PhD?
The PhD is a really long marathon – don’t forget to feed yourself well and take care of yourself so that you can finish the entire race!
