Hello all, today I am coming to you with the latest post in my PhD Chronicles series and I am diving into the topic of navigating the lab at the beginning of your PhD and the 5 things that I have learnt so far. Shadow Others I am quite lucky that my supervisor paired me up with another colleague in our lab because we are working on the same tissue (adipose). It has been a big help, especially when trying to learn new experimental techniques and some cool little tricks when it comes to working with adipose tissue. I would really advise that when you start your PhD see if there is a senior member in your lab group that is doing similar work to you and watch them doing experiments. By doing this, you get to see where everything is but also you gain a better understanding of some of the techniques that you’ll be using because eventually, you will have to be doing this alone. That being said, in the beginning, it is always nice to see how it’s done and to pick up any tips. This is because ...
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A Budgeter Lookbook
Hello all, I am pleased to come to you today with my first blog post for 2020 which is a look book showcasing outfits I wore over the festive period whilst being confined to a student budget. I set this as a personal challenge for myself to see if I could adopt the habits to become an efficient budgeter overall. I was also intrigued to see what I could come up with seeing that December is usually the month where I suffer from the hugest cash loss overall. The aim of this was to see how I can achieve clothing combinations without breaking the bank too much. This has involved me reducing my spending on new clothes and shoes as an opportunity to make use of the mountain of clothes I had previously purchased in advance whilst ensuring I have enough for my essential finances. I'm not yet close to doing the 1 year without buying clothes challenge but so far I have done well. It's always good to go through your wardrobe and see what clothes are hiding and just waiting to be worn (it also ...
My 2019
Hello all, today I am here to share with you a round-up of my 2019, First of all, I would like to thank God for allowing me to see the end to another year and bringing me through the year safely! Now this year of 2019 has been one hell of a year. As in I went through hell and back but it's by God's grace and power that I made it to the end. Nonetheless, 2019 was a year of both small wins but and humbling life lessons across the board. Academic/Career As always, the overall journey to pursuing a scientific research career was very up and down for me in 2019. Many people know that I have just started my PhD, however, I will be honest and say that I secured my place in May 2018. Due to an obvious financial deficit, I chose to defer my PhD entry to September this year in the hopes that my finances will be in order (I did well for the most part but I did stumble into some bumps as expressed in my previous post). In the meantime, I was living the adult working life for most of this ...
Struggles with Having Faith 2.0
Hello all, it has been a while since I have written a post about my walk with Christ because I have had to work on a few things about myself. I want to touch upon the topic of faith and expand upon it about my journey. My last post on faith, I went into the struggles of having faith amid your troubles causing you to not take steps. Now in this new season, I want to talk about being consistent with having faith after taking a bold step out in faith. It is easy to debate when you haven't stepped out in the water yet but once you do and you are away from dry land I won't lie to you it can be so scary. You never think you have a faith problem until you get tested and put through the storm or in my case out in the water away from dry land. In all honesty, I will admit that me starting my PhD this year was a huge leap of faith that deep down I know will pay off long term. However, right now your girl is going through it! Long story short, I made the decision because I felt that me ...
My Solo Day Travels in Bath
Hello all, I am pleased to come to you all with another travel blog post on my first solo day trip. Lately, I love the idea of day trips and since I have moved to Reading I was thrilled at the choices of UK cities that are easily accessible by train. The first city of my UK bucket list was Bath, Somerset (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). I was lucky to be provided with a complimentary pass from Visit Bath to explore Bath’s most iconic sights which helped with building my itinerary. Saturday 16th November My train was very early in the morning and unfortunately for me, I didn't sleep much the night before. Luckily, the train ride was only an hour away so I arrived at was in Bath Spa station relatively quickly. Once I exited the station, I had some time to kill before collecting my pass and everything is pretty much within walking distance, so I took the opportunity to buy a backpack from Primark to spread the load of what I was carrying. After collecting my pass and grabbing some ...
My 5 Self-Care Tips
Hello all, I am here to talk about the matter of self-care from the perspective of a PhD student as part of my PhD chronicles series. Self-care is subjective and differs from person to person but the ultimate goal is to ensure optimum health in all aspects. In this post, I share the 5 ways in which I personally implement self-care besides my faith and why I think it is important. Rest My number one self-care method is to rest! Simply trying to operate and do your work whilst running on empty with your battery drained will hinder your productivity and will not benefit you in the long run. As soon as I feel that my eyes and body are getting tired that is a personal cue for me to rest whether it means to sleep or taking a break from the work I am doing. I am at the early stages of my degree which has seen me be more in front of a computer as opposed to being the lab all the time meaning that I spend most of my day staring at a computer screen. However it is not by force to sit at ...
