Columns

There's a bloke I've seen for work every few weeks since before Christmas; without fail, every time I see him he asks me some form of the question, "When do you start back at uni?" No matter how many times I tell him I've actually worked straight through summer, with just a few days off over Christmas, next time I see him he'll still ask again. Another year, another term beginning, a fresh influx of shiny new first years. Same old for postgraduates.

I came to Canterbury as one of those shiny first years far too many years ago. After a Bachelors, an Honours year and a brief sojourn at Lincoln (forgive me, I knew no better) I started a Ph.D. that was supposed to take three years. Three years turned into four which is on its way to becoming five. Now I'm set to submit my thesis in June.

We all love a healthy dose of procrastination, so what better time to write a column on postgrad life to shine a light for undergrads on our strange "student yet not" lives?

There are three flavours of postgrad. Honours is a year tacked onto the end of a Bachelor's – though for some degrees it's compulsory (here's looking at you Engineering). Generally there is a mix of classes and a small research project, dependent on the department. Masters students do a year of coursework then 12 – 18 months of thesis work (again, department dependent). A high grade in Honours allows direct entry into a Ph.D., so some people skip the Masters stage entirely. Meanwhile a Ph.D. is three years (don't look at me like that...) of thesis research culminating in some 150 – 200 pages of write up and an oral exam. Then you get to call yourself 'Doctor', which I'm sure is the only reason most of us are doing it.

But one thing is consistent – everyone hits a tonne of hurdles. A thesis is insanely personal; you're the only one doing it, you're responsible for it, you live it and breathe it and wear it for years. Supervisors must be managed, conferences attended, funding applied for (and rejections dealt with), data collected, chapters and papers written. Derailment at any of these stages can be devastating. Failure, mistakes and disruptions can feel like personal fuck-ups. Makes me tired just writing it.

As someone who has probably internalised too much of this lonely journey, I'm keen to investigate some of the issues and see where I went wrong. If you're an undergradate and think this doesn't apply to you, don't be fooled – undergrad is a gateway drug to a life of research and thesis writing. So stick around. Next week: Orientation for those too old for togas.