Amazingly, it’s over!
Somehow, the journey to a PhD has finally ended, and what a change that makes in life. Don’t get me wrong, being funded to do research and learn in a field that excites you is an opportunity that I am forever grateful to have had. But being a self-sufficient adult earning a living wage while still getting to learn about primates and ecology is truly the best thing I could’ve envisioned for myself! The take home – stick with your dreams, if it’s to put yourself through the wringer in a PhD program, it will be a wringing, but it will be worth it. (June 15, 2020)
A funny thing happened on my way to a PhD
I’d like to use this space to share experiences from my graduate school process, as I’ve found it to be the strangest, most demoralizing, hectic, and yet exciting process of my life. The main point is – if you love what you’re doing most of the time, keep going, it’ll all be worth it! (Not in terms of pay or job opportunities, but in terms of happiness and fulfillment… that’s ok, right?)
During my graduate work, I’ve been tasked with some strange things, including learning how to climb trees and learning archery. I’ve been pissed on (by orangutans), had termites living in my hair for at least a day, and had a land leech imbed itself into a cut on my foot. I own a machete (parang, in Indonesian), and have been vaccinated for things I’d never heard of. This is normal for a field researcher – so if this happens to you, it means you’re doing the right thing!
I’ve also sat at a table with several other graduate students who were discussing what they most wanted to do with their lives. When the table turned to me, I told them I was doing it. I get to go out into a pristine rainforest and study primates, and then teach about it. I know how lucky I am, and am grateful to all the people who have helped make this possible… no matter what graduate school throws at me.
Andrea DiGiorgio 