I'm late to the party, but I want to write on Candid Engineer's Scientiae topic, overcoming challenges. So far, the most challenging thing I've had to do in grad school is assemble and meet with my committee. I think that sounds pretty lame since it's an integral part of doing a PhD, but the process of building my committee hit an irrational nerve (subject for another post) that had me nervous for weeks.
I know part of a professor's job is to serve on thesis committees. Some of them even like doing it. But everybody always seems so busy all the time, and I really hate the guilty feeling that comes with the notion of wasting someone's time. I think really the problem stemmed from the fact that there weren't many faculty for me to choose from. Thus I had to ask people whose interests don't overlap much with mine, which means I have a committee partially populated* by people who don't really get what I do, don't have a whole lot to offer, won't get a whole lot from me, and don't know me all that well. It makes me dread my meetings with them, and it makes the meetings a lot less pleasant than they should be because it takes so much effort to get anything done.
I have learned from this though. There have been several subsequent occasions where I've had to ask people to help me with something in a way not completely different from my thesis committee. I'm happy to report that I was much more confident, the interactions went better, and I actually enjoyed the experience of having a reason to talk science with some different people. So I may not have overcome the challenge directly with my committee, but I did overcome my fear and inhibition. I'd say I even learned a skill, and now I'm much more comfortable dealing with the interpersonal parts of doing science. I'm still trying to find a way to get out of my next committee meeting, but I'm excited by some new relationships that have recently developed. Yet another reason I can't wait to graduate!
*Of course, I do have my two advisors who are both great. Plus an outside committee member who is great but also very far away and s/he doesn't know me all that well.
scientiae-carnival
8 comments:
I feel you.
I haven't ever had to meet with a committee on a masters level, but my thesis is the kind of thing that actually cuts across three different departments, and I've had to ask for a lot of help from people who I don't know that well.
It *is* nerve wracking. But it also means that emailing people in order to interview them wasn't nearly as stressful as I thought it would be. You do build confidence.
I totaly understand what you mean. I still feel that I am taking time away from people I meet with, I even have this with my thesis advisor. *sigh* If you have a good solution on how to change this attitude, pleaaaase let me know.
They are fucking PAID to supervise theses!!!! Congratulations on turning into a meek piece of dirt!
I think many students feel this way, at least at first. I'm glad I can say that it has gotten better, and that I've completely enjoyed the similar experiences I've had since forming my committee.
Forming a committee can be a huge pain in the ass. For my committee, I had similar feelings to yours regarding my outside committee member, someone who was not supposed to be affiliated with the department in any way. Unfortunately, tt seemed like everyone in my grad. school and the neighboring grad schools were cross-appointed to my department. The person I finally suckered into the job always seemed so bored and I felt horrible for him, but there was not much I could do. I tried to ease his pain and boredom with cookies though. :)
I study in a small university with about 5,000 students and 1,200 staff (academic and non-academic) and I find it really hard when I tried to assemble my own committee member for my Master's in 2007. And one of the reasons was that my main advisor wasn't (she still isn't) a very likable person.
There was a professor who, bless his soul, told me that it didn't matter to him when I could submit my first draft to him because he would not point out anything because "your main advisor always thinks that she is right".
So my challenge was to form a committee that doesn't "dislike" each other, and THAT was difficult! In the end, I asked my main supervisor to suggest names, and I just pursued from there.
I really hate the guilty feeling that comes with the notion of wasting someone's time.
I struggle with this too, particularly since I have to ask for help from external people because I am not getting the supervision I need internally. I recently got a lecture from someone I've known and respected for some years now, when I expressed this uneasiness. I was told it was not my position to worry about protecting other people's time, that professional academics should be able to say no when they don't have the capacity to help, and that one of the benefits of being in academia was that many people enjoyed discussing research and helping others, even those outside their direct area. I'm trying to keep thinking this as I approach people to ask for help.
God, this is what's wrong with science on so many levels.
1. It's a GOOD THING to interact with people in other disciplines and get their input.
2. It's a GOOD THING to have to learn how to explain your work to people who work on other things, and make them see what's interesting about it.
3. It's totally their job to help you this way.
4. It's hardly any of their time to attend your, what, annual committee meeting? Give me a break. This should be one of the best things about being a professor.
Post a Comment