phd – Vicky Okafor

academic · motivation · research

Get Comfortable with not knowing

The assumption is that a PhD candidate is very knowledgeable. Probably knows everything about everything. As a matter of fact, to qualify for a PhD placement in any institution in the world, you need to present proof of excellence by exhibiting your previous degrees.

Here is the shocker! When you start this journey, it’s like an unveiling occurs, presenting things you do not know. The more you read and research, the more you realise that you do not know many things. And for some, this is where their imposter syndrome starts. You begin to question whether you deserved all the previous degrees you ever received. You begin to ask yourself how you even came this far with all the things you don’t know.

I know this because I have been there, and I am not completely over it if I am honest. Like you, I was not told that PhD involves stepping into the unknown, and for you to succeed in this journey, you need to be comfortable with not knowing. PhD is a synonym for unchartered territory. I mean unchartered by you like they say there is no new research. You need to be comfortable with the realisation that there is a lot you don’t know.

For some of us, it is strange to respond to a question with ‘I don’t know’. Let me tell you this, you gonna be making lots of such statements in your journey. That’s why you need to get comfortable with not knowing for you to channel your energy to know what you don’t know.

The beauty in this is that not knowing is the gateway to learning. I always tell my undergraduate students that if they knew what I had to teach them, they wouldn’t be in my class. Therefore, they should be comfortable with getting a few answers wrong in class.

For us PhD candidates, it’s not easy to get comfortable with getting answers wrong because our bachelors and masters degrees is a testament to how knowledgeable we are. Well, guess what, we don’t know it all. There is still so much more to learn, and that’s why there is something called a PhD.

If we can overcome the fear of not knowing, then we can progress in the journey whilst being conscious of the fact that a PhD research opens different doors that present new knowledge to be gained. So be comfortable to step in the door and know something new.

March 13, 2021

motivation · research · Writing

Say it to yourself; What I do matters

I don’t know about you, but this pandemic has stayed longer than I anticipated. I was so convinced that the term lockdown would have gone with 2020; apparently, I was wrong.

While lockdown has been lifted in my country since last year, it is inhuman to disregard the fact that some countries are still experiencing restrictions and rising covid cases. My prayers are with you all.

You might ask what the point of doing a PhD is when we don’t know when we will come out of this? I have thought about this question myself many times. Thinking of how no one might care about my research because the world is in a pandemic or what will be the purpose of a PhD in the world that is left after the pandemic.

Then it hits me that PhD is not all about the degree but the person you become after this phase of research. Don’t get me wrong, the degree is important. I have come to see the process of getting this degree as a formation stage. Dealing with known unknowns, unknowns, unknown knowns, and unknown unknowns that come with this process forges your character in ways you didn’t anticipate. It is a whole transformational process, whether you are prepared for the transformation or not. Therefore, even in the midst of chaos, your work still matters.

I am here to remind you that you matter, your PhD matters, the work you are doing matters. If not for anything, the PhD matters to you and hence, your research matters.

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March 10, 2021

academic · awareness · Writing

Shutting out the noise in your head (Part 1)

Noise according to oxford dictionary is a sound especially loud and unpleasant or that causes disturbance. It could a good music may be playing but if the song is unwelcome at the time then, it is noise. The description matches the noise we are used to, I call it the noise on the outside. I use that term because I recognize that there is noise that happens on the inside, the noise in our minds.

This kind of noise is particularly annoying to me because there is no turn off switch. For the noise on the outside, you can turn it off quite easily. For instance, if you are in a noisy environment, you can put on a headset to counter the source of the noise or you can leave the place.

However, the noise in the mind is so tricky, sometimes you won’t even know that its there. Inside noise handicaps you, cuts your productivity flow and causes your thoughts to be incoherent whether you are a PhD student or not. It simple terms, it is crippling to your mental health and the worse part is that you might not recognize its effect on your mental health until the damage has been done.

I mean how do you fight an enemy you can’t see?

I don’t claim to be an expert in mental health however, I will share how I detect that there is noise in my mind as it might suggest to you things to pay attention as regards inside noise.

I can’t explain how I feel. This might sound like an emotional issue because it has to do with feelings but it’s not. If one is in a stable mental space, you should be able to tell if you are excited, overwhelmed, sad, angry or hurt but when you can’t place a name to what you feel there is high tendency that there is noise in your mind.
I lose concentration. This is like a very obvious sign but for me, I can lose concentration when I am hungry or tired which is not the same as inside noise. So how do I tell the difference? Well… If I lose concentration and I have no desire to eat or rest then I know that I am losing concentration as a result of noise in my head.
I am all over the place. This is the most obvious sign for me and the last sign to manifest mostly after damage has been done. At this point, I experience lack of concentration combined with restless. I can’t sit still, my thoughts are in shambles, I am neither here nor there. I maybe at my work station at school but my mind is not there. I think of going home but I don’t think it will help either.

Does any of these signs relate to you? If I am missing some, tell me in the comments. I look forward to hearing from you.

Watch out for the second part of this post which addresses what to do about it.

Photo credit: pedroalves on flickr

September 1, 2020

academic · Writing

Writing maybe be hard but… (Part 2)

In my last blog post (not the letters), I shared how writing may be hard but can as well be fun. I also promised to share writing tools that can be used to make academic writing less hard.

Let me point out here that there are a lot of writing tools out there which can be overwhelming to try them all out. Sometimes, you might end up trying a new writing tool all the time and never actually write something.

I suggest that once, you try one and you are comfortable with it, stick to it. If you try something new and it does not work for you, there is no crime in dropping it and going back to what worked for you. I use various writing tools for different purposes which I will be sharing and why.

The basic tools needed to make academic writing seamless are;

Word processors: These are packages that allow you to write your thesis. Examples are Microsoft Word, Latex, Microsoft OneNote, Google doc, Evernote etc. I prefer to use Microsoft word to write my these because of the Mendeley plugin which enables me to cite articles as I write. I use Onenote to draft write up I want to post like this blog post. Although, I prefer google docs when I am working with people on an article.

Word and Grammar Checker: These are that keep you in check in terms of sentence structure for the whole write up. Examples are; Grammarly, Thesaurus, Microsoft Spelling & Grammar.

Referencing tools: For academic write up, you know citation is very important and that is why these tools come in handy. My favourite is Mendeley. It has offline feature, it synchronises across all devices and it is FREE! Education is expensive, as a PhD there are a lot of things to do with money. This is one less thing I don’t need money for.

This is me and like this is my case. What are your favourite writing tools? And let me know what I missed in the comment.

August 31, 2020

academic · Writing

Writing maybe hard but…

I know my last blog post was on why writing seemed so hard; however, writing can be fun. Yeah, I just typed that. For me, writing is my creative space. I don’t see myself as that much of a creative person, but writing gives me that chance to create, to put words together to form a sentence that carries a message. It is thrilling. A friend of mine said ‘writing is like her own Everest where she can lose herself in creating’.

With academic writing, it might not feel that way because you are expected to write in a particular way and use vocabulary specific to your field of study. It makes it feel like writing can never be fun for you. I am here to tell you it can be. It takes practice. You might be used to hearing that, but it’s actually true. You don’t get better at something if you do not keep at it. It might be tedious at first, but practise makes it better.

Your first sentence may not make sense. Your first paragraph may be all over the place but don’t stop writing. Initially, it might feel like you are not cut out for this. I mean not everyone is great at a particular skill so maybe writing is the skill you are not great at. Well, guess what? You are a graduate student and submitting a dissertation is a requirement to secure the degree. I suggest you might as well decide to learn the skill in the process. I mean what have you got to lose?

I would like to say that when you feel you can’t write is when you should. I know it sounds absurd. However, building writing skill requires Consistency and being consistent entails doing something even when you don’t feel like it. Hence, you have to keep writing. For a graduate student, I suggest scheduling a time frame every day dedicated to just writing your dissertation. For instance, 2 hours every day, Monday to Friday can make a lot of difference. In no time, the words begin to come to you, and sentences become more natural to form and paragraph begin to flow better.

Let me point out that you have more to write from a position of knowledge. The more you read, the more information you have at your disposal and the more you have to write about. You could just have an inclination to write it better than the author put it. Or what a particular author said is in line with what something you read somewhere else and you can both as one powerful idea. You are already writing. Reading and Writing go along. You can also consciously decide to put down something from every article or book you read, which can only help in forging the writing skill.

Now is a better time to develop writing skill as a graduate student because of the bountiful tools available to ease the process. I will be talking more on this in the next blog. Until then, don’t forget to reach out and share the blog if you think it can help someone else.

Photo credit: andreahelenajacobsen on flickr

July 15, 2020

academic · Writing

Why is Writing so hard?

If you have been asking this question, you are not alone. I took me not less than two weeks to draft this post. Wikipedia defines writing as a medium of communication. Are you still wondering why it is hard? When did you know communication to be an easy task? Look around you, there are advertisements of how to develop your communication skills almost everywhere. Communication is commonly referred to as an art because it requires creativity, says Kathleen Federici. You see the problem with writing now? Not only is it a medium of communication but a creative means of transferring information from one party to another.

There is always a need to communicate, you want to pass an idea across, and writing is the way to do that for an academic. In today’s world, everyone is an author, we all have something to say even though we could be saying the same thing in different ways. Just go to your Instagram feed, you will see what I am talking about. Virtually anyone can have their ideas out there by publishing it online, and it is made available to the public. Does this water down creativity? Absolutely not! Instead, the demand for creativity is higher now.

I am not here to talk about writing in general but PhD writing which is known as academic writing. PhD dissertation writing is not just any writing; however, the elements in the writing processes are the same, which is Communication and Creativity. I believe when you understand these elements, you are a step closer to writing your dissertation effortlessly.

Communication is effectively done when you are passing information, and the recipient of the information receives it in the manner you had in mind. Effectively is underlined to that it is the core of communication. The only way to communicate is to do so effectively. Effective communication not only saves you from being misunderstood, it equally saves the recipient the headache of decoding complex information.

Creativity is essential in writing especially in dissertation writing. A friend once told me (which I also agree with) that dissertation writing is majorly about writing the objective of your study in different ways. Hence the need for creativity in dissertation writing. A dissertation is usually lengthy; therefore, you have to find creative ways to keep emphasizing the relevance of your research to retain the attention of your reader/ examiner.

Thus, we can alternatively define Dissertation writing as telling your audience what my research is about creatively.

Are you worried because you think creativity is not an attribute to be associated with you?

Don’t be because, in today’s world, anyone can be creative. See creativity as alternatives, like different driving routes to get to the same destination. Technological advancement has made some tools available at our fingertips that can help build and enhance our creativity even in dissertation writing. Some of these tools will be shared in the next post. Till then you can share your suggestions in the comments.

Note that the beauty of Communication being art is that it can be learned.

May 12, 2020

academic · motivation

My Thesis, My Way

It is a common fact that PhD journey can be depressing, stressful and at some point putting mental and emotional health at risk. The PhD journey can be marked by days of wondering why you are on the program and days of disappointments. While the struggles to get a PhD may look endless and increasingly overwhelming, there are also days that you are glad you are on this journey.

These days I am referring to, are days where all the items on your to-do lists get striked off as complete, days that the chapter you have been writing on gets completed. I mean days that your supervisor tells you ‘good job’, ‘well done’ and the likes, days where you finally add a thousand words to your thesis or write more than two pages in under two hours. You got to admit that those days make the struggles of the journey bearable.

My thesis, my way is about having more of the fun days in course of your PhD journey. You deciding to have more of those days, is the first step in achieving it. As much as majority of circumstances we face in the course of the PhD journey is beyond our control, this choice we have control over this decision. You might be thinking after this choice what next?

Here’s what’s next, work with the decision. For instance, to successfully write more than two pages in 2 hours means you have been putting in the effort everyday even if it meant writing a paragraph on certain days. You don’t give up writing on any day because yesterday’s write up didn’t go as planned. Consistency is very essential.

You have to Plan. You just have to. I don’t know how someone can go through this journey without planning. Or one day, you wake up and realise that you cannot place your finger on what you achieved in the whole of year two. You need to plan because time is not waiting, it keeps ticking. You can have a PhD planner separate from your normal to-do list. Please do not have lofty plans. Start by planning for what you want to achieve in a semester, then break it to monthly plans, then break it to weekly plans, then finally, break it into daily ‘to-do list’.

Another vital requirement of having ‘Your thesis, your way’ is Motivation. I am not talking about motivation from a motivational speaker. I am talking of motivation from no one else but yourself. Learn how to motivate yourself. There are some days that you think your supervisor is lucifer, your coursemates are no-gooders and the thesis is just here to show the world how much of a failure you are (which is absolutely incorrect). On these days the motivation your have giving yourself will preserve your mental health.

Finally, give yourself a break. Yeah, your read right. PhD is not a sprint, it is a marathon. Therefore, to avoid burn out, learn how to treat yourself. There will be no Phd journey if you are not here to embark on it. You are the first requirement for a PhD. Treat yourself right, take breaks, assign day off for yourself. Rest makes you more productive. Don’t use the day off to judge yourself. That will just lead to effort in futility.

I don’t know about you but I intend to have a purposeful phd journey by doing my thesis my way.

April 12, 2020

academic · awareness

Has the journey been as anticipated?

PhD journey and lifestyle of a millenial…

I just had the desire to document my journey as a PhD student in a safe community and inform another student whether post graduate or undergraduate out there that you are not alone in your journey. The struggles and joy and every other emotion that goes with being a student is not felt by you alone.

Has this journey been everything I anticipated?

Absolutely Not!

It is no where near anything I anticipated that is if I had any expectations. I just wanted to come to school, study and very well and have fun while at it. I mean can’t studying just be fun? Must I sacrifice having a life for academics? Can’t the two just flourish together? These are my burning questions. If you ask these questions then you’ve got company and welcome to the community.

When I started the program immediately after completing a masters degree, I figured that since the PhD takes a minimum of three years to complete then I could have time for myself and have a life, a little breathing spacing in between. Here I am now in my second year and I have not yet completed my departmental proposal document. Where has all the time gone?

What have I been doing all this time you may ask?

I will say time grew extra pair of legs and ran faster. I haven’t got my breating space yet. I had a major health breakdown in my first to attest to that. There is always one conference that seemed more urgent than the thesis, a lecture to teach, a friend to listen to etc. While I want to focus all my energy on the thesis, I am still trying to grasp on the aspect of my life that exist outside of school and books and journals.

So now what?

One thing is certain, time is not going to slow down, I can only offer to run up and catch up with but it will only run further away.

I don’t know about you but I am determined to excel in this program while being a recognizable human. This calls for routine change and better time management skills.

Till next post, this is your Sassy Professor.

March 21, 2020