It is the start of Autumn and that means the start of another new term. I’m now in my 3rd year of my PhD so right about now I should start getting good at this. The new term has brought a shift in my responsibilities, with the start of a number of new students in my lab following me being alone most of the last year. Apparently I am a senior member in my research group now. This means I am getting asked questions by experienced students, with me playing the role of someone who knows what they are doing.
I will say the introduction of students back to campus has been incredibly refreshing. Seeing undergrads going about their days has given me a lot more energy and drive to stay on campus and do work. I don’t think I truly appreciated how having a busy environment to work amongst results in a large increase in my productivity.
I haven’t written a blog post in a while due to various commitments and the constant wrestle with self-implosion over the summer. I took a side hustle doing freelance writing and wanted to focus on not completely failing at that. I had loads of ideas to write blog posts about not being able to re-do simple experiments, and the experience of finding out someone published the exact work you have already done. Hopefully I’ll find some inspiration to write about those in the future.