This month’s Scientiae theme is particularly apt for me (I’m just a lot late in posting). I’m within (approximately, you know, give or take a semester or five) a year of graduating, I’m training for a 13k in October, and Dr. Man and I have started brewing our own beer. I feel like I’ve been in a holding pattern throughout my PhD experience. There’s a lot of ‘Well, I’d do X after I’m done with school’ or ‘I’m justing waiting to graduate until I try Y.’ A lot of times, it’s like I’m waiting until I’m old enough to do something. Like there’s some magical age after which I’ll have things figured out or there’s an age I must reach before I can do something.
Recently, I’ve decided that I might as well allow my life to move forward as much as it can. Hence all the activities. It doesn’t make sense to put off my life until after school. And I think that’s become an excuse to stop trying. If I categorically state that I won’t try/do something different until I’ve graduated, then I’m off the hook. I don’t have to do anything new or different or scary.
I don’t have any advice on how to make forward progress, but my guess is that it’ll be incremental. It’ll involve breaking up the new, different, scary things into smaller more palatable pieces. For once, I’ll look at the trees more than the forest. And hope that will allow me to make it through.
I feel the same way too,at what point do I grow up or when will I be old enough to do this or try that. I’m trying really hard to break that habit, so I try to do many things and drag my other PhD friends with me.
I wish you well in prepping for the 13K.
Totally hear ya. When does being an adult really begin to feel “normal”? It helps to have friends who are also actively trying to make that transition from the weirdness of grad-studenthood, I’ve found.
A 13K! Wow. I do my cardio every day, but I’m no distance runner (not a lot of slow-twitch muscle on me). What’s your training regimen?
I’m so happy you figured this out before you graduated!! My husband and I have been talking about having goals for our lives. Now that we are out of grad school we can focus on more than just graduating as our goal.
YES!!! I had this same revelation a couple weeks ago, and didn't post about it because I felt like an idiot for not arriving at it sooner. I'm so glad that you posted this.
I realized that I was falling back on the "real life begins when you're done with school" excuse. Um, no. Life is right now.
PS – I'm thinking of embarking on some home brew adventures myself – keep us posted on how yours go.
Congrats! I unfortunately didn’t figure this out till after I was done and am still trying to convince my husband of it. He really wants to homebrew but is always waiting till after the proposal, this experiment, this conference etc etc. It would be great to hear more about your experience with it!
Good for you to decide to stop waiting for your life! I realized I was in that pattern awhile ago also, still working on getting out of it.
Good luck on the 13k!
I guess I've been a bit out of touch, and didn't know you were brewing beer. That sounds like a start in a fun direction!
Nice post. I am so guilty of this type of thinking. In undergrad I couldn't even take evening classes b/c I would spend the entire day not doing anything because I still had to go to class.
More Than Science: That's a good idea. Maybe I'll recruit my other PhD friends to do the 13k with me. I'm not sure if any of them are as crazy (stupid?) as I am though. 🙂
Contemporary Troubadour: I'm really wondering that myself. I think I've got most of the benchmarks for being an adult, but I'm still shocked not to find myself as a kid anymore. Strange, huh?
I'm using a guide from runnersworld.com They have a bunch of programs from mild to hard. I'm going with a mild one. I'm not sure if I'll be able to run the whole thing, but I'll finish. And that's something, right?
Jennie: I'm hoping that I'll be able to continue acting on it. Graduation is a pretty big goal. I'm glad that you and your husband are able to focus on other goals now. 🙂
AA: I thought, as I was posting this, that I am the only person in the world who hasn't figured this out. But I have no shame, so I went ahead and posted. I'm glad I'm not the only one!
I'm planning a post about our first batch. We've already learned a bit. So even if this first batch is a bust, I think the rest will be much better!
Albatross: I'll definitely post about this! It's been fun so far. Besides it's much nicer to be able to drink your experiments 😉
Science Girl: I think it'll take a while for me to get out of it. The 13k gives me a goal to work towards, which always makes it easier for me. How's your running coming?
Silver Fox: Nope, you're not out of touch. I just mentioned it this post. It's been fun so far!
Microbiologist XX: I do that sometimes with the lab. I'll have to go in during the evening, so I won't do anything during the day because my evening was busy. I'm not as strange as I thought!
With all the moving, I have skipped 2 full weeks of running. Hoping to ramp up here soon thought!