A Must Have Book For PhDers

Hari ni aku decided utk ditched segala pelan kesihatan aku. No more Iron Supplement, no more Detoxing Tea and no more Slimatee. Pastu tido kasi cukup 9 jam. Best2. Bkn apa, tp sejak amik benda2 tu, hajatnya nak improve health and immune system plus nak la kurus sket2 in the process , tp duk asyik rasa lesu and berat2 kepala jek. Sampai nak wat kerja pon x de smgt langsung sbb konsentrasi mmg terjejas teruk. Alhamdulillah, aku stop ni dah rasa back to my old self, tp selsema nya tetap ada la. Tp at least bole fokus buat kerja sbb sakit kepala dah x de. Mmg org kata kalo buat detox kdg side efek dia sakit kepala la, buang air kerap la, tp kena sabar and istiqomah. Tp aku ni stop mid-way, failure sungguh, x tau la ok ke x. Ye la, dah berhari2 gini, sampai kerja x jalan, x tahan aku beb.

Anyway, dtg2 je lab hari pada pkl 1 tghari ni nmpk sign yg mengatakan satu floor dlm bgnan aku tuh akan ditutup at 4 pm bcoz of electrical work. Hok aloh, org baru nak buat kerja, dia nak shut down satu floor plak. Anyway, determined to make the most of it, aku niat nak lepak aje la library. Bkn aku x biasa pon kat library tuh. Sbb nya faham sgt dah kalo balik umah tu, mintak mahap la nak ngadap kerja lagi ye dok? Ngadap Tuan Puteri Tuanku Aisyah Nurzahirah je lah jawabnya. Habis produktif pon Tuanku akan tido atas riba la jawabnya, satu tgn menaip, satu tgn memangku dia, satu breast tersumbat kat mulut tuan puteri kecik tu sampai la tertido betul . Olololo.. kesian plak tgk dia tido mcm dlm gmbr ni.




Tp skali tuh masuk library, ya Rabbi, ramainya org. Oh, aku terlupa plak budak2 undergrad semua ni study week, yakni minggu dpn start exam. Apa daa terlupa, padahal hujung minggu ni ada jemputan majlis doa selamat untuk adik2 undergrad di Plymouth yg nak periksa. Susahnya nak cari kerusi kosong. Ye la, kat bhgian open2 tuh, semua dah penuh, budak2 undergrads ni duduk ikut geng masing2 la kot, ala2 study group la tuh. Aku ingat kalo booking bilik karel mcm aku biasa buat pon x guna, mesti penuh jgk. So jenuh la aku pergi up, down, and looked around, sampai jumpa 3 bilik ni - Casual Study Room, Quiet Study Room & Silent Study Room. Apa beza plak silent ngan quiet ni, heran betul. Apa pon, nmpk drpd luar mcm Bilik Quiet tu penuh, Bilik Silent tu plak kosong, so try nak masuk, tp ternmpk sign yg mengatakan - No Handphones, No Food, No Drinks AND NO LAPTOPS. Aiyo.. utk silent kena betul2 diam rupanya. Klik, klik, klik menaip x dibenarkan. And siap suruh minimize kan ruffling through the notes lg tuh. Waduh2, ini mcm kalu bernafas pon takut. Tp nak buat mcm mana Bilik Quiet dah penuh. So dlm termangu2 kat luar tu, ada nmpk sorg budak kluar drpd bilik Quiet, meaning konfem ada seat kosong la kan. Aku pon apa lagi, zasss terus masuk n claim aku punya spot. Ye... begitu happening skali library. I'd thought I'd never see the day. Syukur seat nya best plak tu, ada view. In actual fact bole nmpk lab aku di seberang sana, yg telah gelap dan dikosongkan ituh. Weh.. rupanya kalo aku solat org bole skodeng dgn jelas skali lah! Baru aku tahu.




Masuk2 tu, wah... it's friggin' hot, and blimmin' hell, it smells in here. Ye la, dah mcm2 org tu kan, tau2 je la. Mula2 risau gak psl idung srott srett aku nih (esok ada appointment ngan GP - yeay!), tp bila duduk x lama tu dgr bersambung2 je org srott srett gak. Hehe. Pastu lebih memalukan drpd bunyi srott srett itu adalah bunyi keronchong dlm perut plak. Yennadey, nasib baik ada pisang ngan air mineral aku bwk bekal (walaupon detox ku telah kecundang di tgh jalan, bab mkn masih cuba ikut pelan asal, kurangkan nasik and bykkan buah. Crisps and cookies jgn sekali). Masa2 ni la appreciate sgt my very personal space kat Lab Computer Music itu.




Nasib x masuk bilik Silent kalo x kebulur aku sbb x leh mkn. Anyway, duk dlm bilik Quiet ni pon awal2 td org sebelah dok jeling2 gak, sbb aku menaip2 apa semua. Apa leh buat, mmg kerjanya coding kan. Aku tgk rata2 budak lain membawa nota printouts dan dgn poyo nya mengulangkaji. Wah terkenang semasa muda2 dulu. Untung wat PhD x de exams gitu hahahah *gelak suka hati x hengat dunia*




After awhile, aku rehat japs and started baca buku yg direkomen oleh Al, kawan lab aku nih. Utk pengetahuan, semua, Al ni dah nak siap writing thesis dia dah, and this is his SECOND PhD, yet he reads this book like it's his second Bible. Beliau menyuruh aku check out and read buku ni cpt2, bcoz it got him through the first PhD. Wah,... kalo sampai buat PhD kali kedua pon baca buku ni jgk, it must be really good now, isn't it?

So aku pon start la baca buku nih, alang2 otak dah lemau nak wat programming di kala ptg hari ni kan, AND I got really engrossed. In about one and a half hour of speed reading, dpt lah khatam. Aku mmg x nak linger lama2 baca light reading nih, but aku perlu menyuntik kembali smgt perjuangan dalam diri dan memperbetulkan niat kenapa aku buat PhD ni, sbb tu gigih aku baca from cover to cover. Insya Allah lps ni dah kembali tegak on track, dan even if ada jg bibit2 kemalasan dalam diri nih, aku dah paham kenapa. It's the Second-Year Syndrom. Ha.. nak tahu lebih lanjut kena la baca sendiri ehehehe... Aku mmg further recommend la kat kengkawan lain, especially yg tgh wat PhD la. Tajuk buku tu ialah 'How to Get A PhD: A Handbook for Students and Their Supervisors', by Phillips & Pugh. Ni muka dpn dia (tp yg more recent version ada gmbr lain - hok kawan aku tuh cover lain).




Meh aku share sket la point2 dia yg aku rasa menarik, kira ala2 teaser la ek (x leh wat byk2 kang kena saman aku psl copyright plak):

On Feelings & Challenges in PhD:
* Goal posts are continually being moved!
* Isolation, e.g. 'I work alone in lab. Full of people, all research students, all working alone', or 'Most of the communication in the lab is artificial'
* Postgraduates must realize that determination and application, rather than brilliance are needed for a PhD - go get it!
* Overcoming culture shocks for overseas students - language, reserves, accommodation, financial problems, climatic differences, ill health, worries about families back home, etc <--- sgt2 betul. badan aku tgh culture shock kah, climatic differences and ill health manjang nih?


On How NOT to get a PhD
* The first method to not getting a PhD is to not wanting a PhD. You must WANT a PhD bad enough, to the point that you have to answer, "Why am I doing this fruitless job?", "Why have I inflicted this on my family?"
* Overestimating the nature of PhD e.g leave the Nobel prize-winning, paradigm-shifting research for AFTER your PhD
* Underestimating the nature of PhD, e.g. research means finding good questions as well as good answers
* Taking a new responsibility before finishing e.g writing up demands the most concentrated effort of the whole process - extremely demanding test of professional competence, and to really demonstrate that you are WORTH a PhD!


On Kenapa Aku Mandom Aje:
* fed-up, confused, stuck - getting nowhere syndrom
* 'just churning the results, plodding on, no challenge'
* 'doing the mechanical things just go on' <--- ye coding x abes2 ni naik muak dah rasa, tgk pon x sudi, blerghhh!
* BUT a SV remarked, 'during the next six months he'll get through this sticky patch and the results should just pour out' <---- aku berdoa bersungguh2 that this is true!


But point paling aku suka (altho yikes, menakutkan):
* Three years will appear like a long time to finish one job at the beginning. Beware of this illusion. If you trust it and behave accordingly, you will be in deep trouble by the end of it


Dan mcm2 lg la. Yg part technical2 tu aku skip la kat sini, mcm mana nak tulis thesis, apa proses2 dia, how to do reaserch, how to manage SV, tu semua kalo nak tahu kena baca la ye. Wajib la bg kredit authors yg penat2 tulis. It's a very good read, especially if you seem like you're on a hiatus for awhile like me. Atau mmg sengaja malas nak buat kerja tu kan, make yourself look busy productive and grab a copy. 161 muka surat aje. Guna taktik speed reading mcm aku ckp hari tu, in no time lah leh finish. Enjoy and Happy PhDing! ;)