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Middle of Day 1
The day didn't go as bad as I had imagined. Started working on some school assignments on my to-do list after eating a nice breakfast (more like lunch) and watching an episode of A Sign of Affection =)
Here's to the possibility that I will face the more daunting task of continuing to write the literature review part of my thesis. Cross my fingers that I finish the day strong and satisfied!
3/1/2025 Day 1
I feel like yesterday wasn't that bad, so today should start pretty well too... Guess I was wrong / not as accurate as thought about my own behaviors.
I ended up waking up and checking social media, and it sent me down a spiral of starting this new online novel about werewolves and fated mates. They know me too well lol.
Now it's past 3pm and I have a long list of to-dos, combined with what I didn't get to yesterday. Will this kind of life ever end? Will I ever decide to not push away what I need to do right now and enjoy the instant gratification that causes me long-term despair?
via Gridllr.com — gridlify your Likes!
collected pictures of the bookshelf
A bit crowded but much cozy.
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I just added a third simple watermelon design to my fundraiser (edit of open source material again), found here. As usual ALL PROCEEDS are for my Palestinian best friend, to help take care of his loved ones. He'll donate any his family doesn't need to the charities he works with.
Also this is not related to the shop, but my friend and I are both STEM grad students and our department is getting increasingly involved in Palestine activism. To our fellow grad students, please check out my last post about campus activism, and please check out these examples of statements from grads at the Goldman School of Public Policy and the UCSC Astronomy Department. You can do something like this at your school too!
Here are the above shown on a few products:
You can also find my full shop here. To see a design on different products click on the display product and scroll down or go here to browse by design. Here's a small sample of some of my other work:
Thank you to everyone who has helped out with my fundraiser so far!
I put this on a bunch of shirts and stickers and stuff, I figure it'll be good for protests and campus activism. Found here. As usual ALL PROCEEDS are for my Palestinian best friend, to help take care of his loved ones. He'll donate any his family doesn't need to the charities he works with.
To my fellow grad students: this friend and I are working with our department on making it easier for grads to bow out of research they have a moral objection to. We're also working on putting together a statement on Palestine. If you have a lot of colleagues on your side and particularly if you're in a program like engineering, physics, astronomy or applied math (with a lot of military applications) you should try to see where your funding is coming from and support grads in divesting from ethically questionable research. I won't say too much about what we're doing because I don't want to risk doxing my friend, but here are some examples of statements from grads at the Goldman School of Public Policy and the UCSC Astronomy Department. We (STEM students in particular) are the next generation of minds behind the military-industrial complex. It's up to us to make it clear we will not be complicit in work that supports genocide.
You can also find my full shop here. To see a design on different products click on the display product and scroll down or go here to browse by design. Here's a small sample of some of my other work, I make stuff in a bunch of different styles so there's something for everyone:
Thank you to everyone who has helped out with my fundraiser so far!
When Writer’s Block Meets Imposter Syndrome
So I am at that point in my apps where I have to write a personal statement and I am S T U C K. I can talk and talk about language and how much it means to me, when I put pen to paper, suddenly I feel less valid and like my ideas and interests aren’t all that interesting.
I know that I shouldn’t be as nervous as I am. I know that I am a good scholar and that I worked really hard to even be able to consider going to grad school. I know that I can do this.
I think I just need some more perspective.
At a crossroads
So here I am, sitting on the couch in my parents’ living room wondering how the hell I got here. Now that I’m out of college, I feel like that one shot in The Matrix where Neo tries to follow his mentor by jumping across the roof: moving forward but in slow motion. I just jumped from a ledge desperately trying to figure out whether or not I gave myself enough momentum to reach the other end.
I’m taking a year between undergrad and grad, but now I’m starting to wish I had just sucked it up and applied during the fall semester of my senior year. I’ve got a good support system (thank goodness) and a job lined up for the summer but I am just so nervous.
I feel like Evee, so many ways to evolve. Am I scared? probably. Am I gonna study for the GRE’s and take them anyway? hell yeah! Will I listen to a lot of kpop while I do it? Undoubtedly.
I am so grateful to be where I am right now, but I don’t know how to leap into the unknown. And I don’t think anyone really does. I think that’s why I’m here, in slo-mo between two rooftops, one too far behind, and one almost too far ahead.
Sorry for the rant, y’all! I love you, keep working hard, and rest when you can.
And don’t worry, I’ll be okay
Peace,
Lisa
(ps. this is an accurate depiction of Kim Namjoon pulling me out of my own fear)
Hi Studyblr/Gradblr Friends!
What are you all using to create portfolios to showcase your work? Any recommendations?
So I’m in the final semester of my undergrad.
Which means its grad school application time for me (I’m starting a little late because of personal reasons (-: ) Anyway, I was wondering if anyone out there on the great blue gradblr had any recommendations or tips for writing a personal statement?
99% of mathematicians quit staring intensely at the problem right before it solves itself
the existence of a parameter space implies that you could like hang out there and maybe have a good time but you can’t and thats sad ;(
she feed me that glucose analog till my lacoperons express their proteins
I fucked this up. Present me is pretty pissed at past me.
i can not and i mean i can not stress this enough… make a bibliography as you do your research. i mean, make a fully formed, correctly cited bibliography as you work. just do it. i know i know you’re being lazy or you hate making citations or you’ll just get to it later or you don’t want to get distracted etc etc etc
whatever your reasons just make the fuckin bibliography
and while im at it… put the footnotes in properly as you are writing. just… do it. for future you. please. for your sanity. do it.
Do you know that as a PhD student at my university they let you check out books for 4 months?
Here I am, I become the hoarder of books that I was always meant to be
I’m a “late” PhD student and it’s the best decision I’ve ever taken.
Yes, everyone is younger than me. But this is my place, my time and my moment. Everyone has their speed and this is mine.
you’re not falling behind. you are still young and have a whole life ahead of you. you have enough time to explore things u love and experience your life and make your goals come true and find reasons to live. take things one day at a time and don’t let the fear of falling behind stop you because life isn’t a race.
New gradblr here! PhD in maths and native catalan and spanish speaker.
Maybe I should post more things in catalan... The internet is too english predominant, it needs to change!
Reblog if:
You’re a
gradblr
Or you post any of these languages:
Irish
Welsh
French
Esperanto
Italian
Dutch
Basque
Finnish
Polish
Frisian
Spanish
Bosnian
Croatian
Serbian
Faroese
Icelandic
Swedish
Danish
Lithuanian
Polyglot stuff
Minority/regional/minoritized languages
Excited to follow you all!
My technique for Quick Literature Review
Literature Reviews were one of the most confusing things for me when I began my PhD. I would get lost in searching for papers, wallowing in tangential directions, sometimes looking at entirely unrelated stuff. Other times, I’d be trying so hard to read an article and stuck without moving forward.
From my fair share of struggle with literature reviews, I deviced a technique that helped me do quick literature surveys, especially when I needed to write a proposal or improve half-written manuscript or to understand a new method/theory. So, here you go…
1. Collecting literature: Research Rabbit App🐇
This is my go-to tool for literature discovery. In addition to quickly build a literature collection, it helps to see how all the papers in my collection are connected! This is very essential when you write your LitRev, as you will need to draw connections between different works.
Go to www.researchrabbit.ai and search the topic you need articles for, and add them to a collection.
The app will automatically suggest more papers based on your selections and will make connections between the articles in terms of authors, citations or references!
You can also look for other papers by a certain author or similar papers to the one you choose.
(Make sure to stop when you find yourself going down the Rabbit Hole ;) )
2. Extracting information: Skim & Annotate 📑
Once you finish collecting the literature,
quicky read the abstract and decide which ones are important, relevant or new.
Now and skim the chosen papers, and annotate the most important things you find. I usually go for paper and highlighters, sometimes use the annotator in Mendeley
Optional: categorize the articles and assign a colour for each.
(Don’t spend more than 10 minutes per paper. You can always go back and read the article thoroughly after completing this task)
3. Organizing thoughts: The Sticky Note Method 🗂
Here comes my favourite part. I developed this technique inspired by a lot of tools I found on the internet. The Sticky Note Method is to capture, rearrange and construct thoughts.
From the now annotated, categorized collection, write down the essence of each article in a separate sticky note.
(here is where the colour-coding might come in handy: you can use different coloured sticky notes for different categories.)
After doing this for all the papers, stick them in a board/notebook
Rearrange them till you get a coherent flow!
That’s it. Now start writing your review! ;)
100 days of productivity
starting 25th October 2023 ending 2nd February 2024
Rules
Success or failure -- just show up
No #ZeroDays -- No matter how hard it feels, do a little thing, a bare minimum. Don't let any day become a zero day
Do at least one PhD-related task everyday
Read a journal article everyday. Skim, AIC, full workout - anything
Weekends are excluded, but counted -- because rest is productive
Learn & practice mindfulness
Take two pictures everyday to represent the day (post them here)
Accountability
Daily update of task list here. Perfection is the enemy of done. So don't overthink, just post - even if it feels half-baked.
-----
I’m currently in the final quarter of my PhD. I feel quite demotivated and I find it hard to gain momentum. So I thought I'll take up an accountability challenge to help me stay motivated and eventually build a routine.
If you are already doing a 100 days of productivity challenge, or would like to take on one, please do comment/like this post. I'd love to have some company and inspiration! Please help me find similar accounts! <3
How to set up a research journal
This is just one way you can set up a research journal but it's helping me tremendously so maybe it also works for you. My set-up is partially inspired by this video by Answer in Progress and I suggest you check out their curiosity journal.
Preparation
First you need a notebook. The trick is to find a notebook that you're not afraid to "ruin". We all want a really neat, aesthetic research journal, but the reality looks more like hasty scribbles, but that's okay, that's where the research breakthroughs happen.
I personally bought a cheap lined notebook from Søstrene Grene that I thought looked cute and put a sticker on it. That way I feel good about using it but I also don't mind when my handwriting gets messy because it was only like 3€.
You should also stock up on pens you like writing with. Different colour highlighters and post-its are also a good idea but not a must. Keep it cheap but comfortable.
Title Page
Here you should put down all the really important information: year, title, deadlines, word count, supervisors. Maybe add an inspirational quote to spice it up but keep it simple and relevant.
Key
This should either be your next or your last page. I personally use the last pages of my journal so I can add thing and find it easier. Your key is there to list abbreviations and symbols.
For example, I have different symbols for statistics, dates, new terminology, questions, breakthroughs, important notes and abbreviations for the most important terms in my field. It's shorter to write T9N than Translation.
The trick here is to have enough abbreviations and symbols to save time and effort but not so many that you constantly have to look back and forth between your page and key. They should be memorable and not easy to confuse.
Topic Mind map
If you hate mind maps you can skip this of course or use a different method but what helped me is to visualise all the topics that connect to my research project in a mind map. I then colour-coded the main groups of topics with my highlighters. It helps me to keep an overview on how many topics I need to do research on.
Proposal
If you're writing a thesis/dissertation it can be helpful to have a page set aside for your proposal and take some bullet point notes on methodology, chapter structure, research context, aims and objectives and think of some titles. You can also do this for your lit review and a list of works to include.
Hypothesis and Question Pages
I set aside four pages for this but you can adjust this to your needs. The first page is my hypothesis. It doesn't have to be fully formed yet, it can just be bullet points with five question marks. You can always revise and update it but it is important to keep an eye on what you're actually trying to find out.
The next idea is basically just stolen from Answer in Progress: a section for big questions, medium questions and little questions. These aren't necessarily hypotheses you aim to answer but questions you have about your topic that might be good to look into (maybe they lead somewhere, maybe they don't).
Research Notes
Now comes the big, fun part. Research notes are allowed to be a little messy but you should have some sort of system so you can actually find what you're looking for afterwards. I'm currently just looking at books and articles so that's what my system is based on. You can totally adjust this to include other forms of research.
What I do is that I put down and underline the author and title of my source. Underneath that I use my highlighters and mark the topic of the paper based on how I colour-coded them in my mind map. You might have to do this after you've finished reading. For example, if a text talks about censorship and dubbing in Germany, three of my topics, I will draw three lines in light blue, dark blue and red, the colours I chose for those topics. This way you can easily browse your notes and see which pages are talking about which topics.
When it comes to the actual research notes, I include the page number on the left and then take bullet point notes on whatever is relevant. These are often abbreviated and paraphrased but if something is especially important I will write down a full quote.
As mentioned earlier, I have a key of symbols I use so I can simply put down a '!' in order to differentiate a research breakthrough from a normal note. You can insert your own thoughts much more easily when you know you'll be able to tell them apart later on. At the end of each article, book or even chapter I write down my main takeaway.
Other Notes
This is your research journal and you can do with it what you want. I also added lists of films that might be relevant for my research, a list of databases and publishers to check for papers and tips on research strategy.
If you're working with interviews or surveys you could write down your questions. If you're nervous about your research you could include a list of reasons why your research project is important or why you're doing it. You can include a to-do list or a calendar to track meetings with supervisors. Anything that helps you with your research.
Things I Wish Teachers Would Understand
I have a life outside of school. I may be going through health problems or mental health issues or family troubles or financial issues. Literally, I can name so many things and of course, you won't consider it because the only thing you notice is that how I've not done my homework or how I got low grades in my exams.
Grades don't define me. Or my efforts. Or my self-worth. Just because I get high grades doesn't mean I'm more smart or disciplined. And just because I get low grades doesn't mean I'm dumb or lazy.
Mental health issues are real. Really real. And they are hard to deal with.
Learning disabilities are also real. You can't just get out of it. Working hard doesn't fix it. It's a real issue.
Being an introvert is not bad. IT IS NOT BAD. Period. I do not have to speak more in class to prove that I'm paying attention. It just means that I do not want to speak. I'm fine with being quiet.
I can forget things. I can forget that assignment that was due, I can forget to do the homework. And I can definitely forget about the test.
The things you say matters. Even if it is sarcasm. Even if it is a dismissal. Sometimes, it makes me stay up late at night. Sometimes it just stays with me throughout the day. So, yes. You should speak a bit more carefully.
Grades don't show my full effort. Sometimes, I try so hard and I still don't get it right. And when you say that I should try harder? That does shatter a small part of me, not because you told me that, it just makes me feel that I'm the one who's damn stupid and that no matter how much effort I put in the work, it doesn't matter if the grades are not there.
As a student, I will of course prefer some subjects over the others. It is not a personal attack. And it is not an invitation for you to tell me something sarcastic about it.
Calling out a student on their mistakes in front of the whole class or our juniors or seniors or any other teachers is not okay. It's embarrassing to us and makes us feel bad.
Small praise does mean something. Honestly. I remember every good thing a teacher told me because I'll be honest, most don't say very nice things.
Please don't try to force things on us. Whether it be competitions, extracurriculars or anything really. It doesn't feel good.
And if there are some students who misbehave? That doesn't mean the whole class is bad. And no, collective punishments don't help.
I also appreciate when you try. Like, really. I respect you because you teach dozens of classes a day and still show up to our classes with neutral moods. You have a lot of patience for dealing with us.
I really appreciate your stories, advice and the small tips that you give about life now and then. It helps. And yes, I do remember.
I also feel that sometimes that both our expectations come crashing down. You expect us to do good. We expect you to be supportive and passionate. And it's okay to let go of your expectations sometimes.
And I know you have stresses too. You, too, have health problems, mental health issues and family issues, financial issues. I know you have the pressure of making everyone pass through the year and delivering good grades. And I have to say, I understand you. I really do.
I'm writing this because I've had so many teachers expect so much from me. And I'll be honest, that pressure broke me. Seriously broke me. I also respect teachers a lot, but it also doesn't mean I appreciate their behaviors or actions. You make up the world that we currently live in and I say this, not just as a student but as a person.
(P.S. This has been in my drafts from a long time. This was like peak exam + pressure + stress season, so don't mind the not so small rant. And no, I don't have a personal grudge against teachers.)