If anybody tells you it is an easy journey they are obviously lying to you because NOTHING, I mean nothing prepares you for the roller coaster ride that you experience during the time you are reading for a higher degree. Most people myself included have had to testify that reading for a Masters or PhD is a test of your will, your ambition, your patience, you name all the character traits you can think of because there is a time when giving up sounds like the most logical thing to do because the process will drain you, challenge your thinking, make you feel like you are stupid and quitting seems like the best exit option available to one.
I have had my fair share of moments of highs and lows in the last two and half years while reading for my Master’s and most recently starting on the PhD. It is never easy, you need to be worried if you feel as if everything is free flowing and easy to accomplish because it is not. The detours and curve balls that come your way can throw you off your balance and you might end up feeling like giving up. Trust me… It never gets easier. But I guess the one thing that has kept me going from one journey to the next is the fact that I want to continue to push my boundaries and challenge myself to achieve what some regard as impossible to achieve. It might sound cliché that with commitment everything is within reach but this remains true to this day. I always remind myself that if others have been able to achieve their goals and there was nothing exceptional about them besides being disciplined, then I can also do it, it just takes a lot of commitment, a lot of discipline, a lot of sacrifices, 10 plus hours of working daily to get it done but at the end of the day it will be done. I constantly remind myself that I need to put in the hours to get the work done.
One of the most valuable lessons I have learnt from my postgrad academic journey is that there is no substitute for hard work. You cannot cut corners during the whole process because you will only be doing yourself a disservice by doing that. I developed an understanding very early in my Master’s journey that if I was going to do exceptionally well I had to do the extraordinary in order to get the desired results. Moral of the story being that you can NEVER achieve the EXTRAORDINARY by doing the ORDINARY. I needed to push my boundaries and work hard in order to get the work done. I set up targets and deadlines for myself that I worked towards achieving, of course all of it would not have been done were it not for the AMAZING supervisor (Prof, Vincent) I have had the privilege to work with. I guess what am trying to point out is that, giving it your all always pays off at the end of the day.
I have drawn strength to continue with my academic journey from the passion I have for what I do. I guess being passionate about what you do is one of the major elements that will carry you through during your darkest hours -- when everything becomes confusing and difficult so much that you just want to crawl into bed and cry yourself to sleep and hope by the time you wake up all your problems would have disappeared. I have always found solace in the fact that I loved what I did for my Masters and I have been privileged enough with the help of Prof to discover what I love doing for my PhD as well. Passion will carry you through when everything seems to not make sense. Listen, it is pointless and stupid to focus on research that doesn’t move you because your project is practically your baby that you need to care for, nurture, love and see come to life and unless your heart is completely in it, you run the risk of becoming miserable the whole time you are doing it.
You will hate yourself and the journey because it will become painful and difficult each day because your heart won’t be in it. I have had to tell myself that I do not want to spend five years of my life working on stuff that doesn’t move me to the core, or a project that didn’t make my heart skip a beat when I thought about it. I needed to do research that I would be enthusiastic about and was willing to talk about all day to all your friends and family. I have been in a lucky space to be able to always chat to my best friend about my work. A friend who happens to understand and has fallen in love with what I do as well even though his area of expertise is in Finance and Accounting. Bottom line is, you need to be excited about the avenues and possibilities that your imagination about your work opens up for you in your mind and in that way, you will strive to stay diligent with your work and see the project through because at the end of the day, it’s about running the race and reaching the finishing line by producing quality work that you would be proud to have co-created with your supervisor.
Both my Master’s and PhD journeys have been riddled with obstacles and challenges but they have both been worthwhile for me. I have learnt to be patient with myself, I have learnt to believe in myself, appreciate the potential within me to achieve greater things and depend on it to carry me through the rough phase of the journeys. I guess what I am trying to share is that, nothing is ever easy but I have had to learn to persevere in all that I do. Over the past two and half years, I have learnt to understand and accept that there will be moments where it won’t make sense but that giving up is NOT AN OPTION. I have learnt to keep pushing and digging deep until a solution to a problem has been found and that no matter how long it might take, I will get the work done and I guess if I were to share a piece of advice it would be that giving up should never be an OPTION. One just needs to believe in one ‘self and work very hard towards realizing your dreams and try to enjoy the journey as much as possible! Appreciate the ups and downs as they shape and mold you into a person who will be resilient and won’t give up on their dreams because there are stumbling blocks in your way.