she's studying!!!

dani, phd student in aus, just trying

[cherrymanderingg]

been fucking around w meme templates trying to make some sweet relatable add content but forgot i was in the middle of one and then i came back to

whatever idea i had, it can’t be better than this

[doubledteabaglife]

Scheduling a meeting with your thesis supervisor while you have nothing to show is an extreme sport

[caravaduating]

tomorrow to do

the gradblr challenge over but i still makin lists

send students power point

reply to email from R

write history section of lit review

write attitudes section of lit review (haha good luck) (just wrote a sentence about future research instead lol)

send lit review to supervisors

write up empirical ideas into a niceeeeee legible plan document and/or look into supervision

roast up some pumpkin

prep house for ppl coming over

fun times!

[valtsv]

[caravaduating]

i’ve been mighty unproductive these past two days. i submitted revisions for a journal article and taught on monday, it was a real rush to get the revisions finished and get myself prepared for teaching. and now tuesday and wednesday have just been absolutely chucked right out the window.

despite feeling like i haven’t done anything today i:

did grocery shopping

got my head around what i have to do to write this draft paper for a conference i’m attending next month

made a vet appointment for our lovely cat because we have a house inspection next week (of course, landlord schedules one immediately after we get cat) and i want her out of the house while that is happening, and i want her to have a check up anyway

cleaned the floor after someone ate a chicken neck all over the place (any chance of teaching a cat to eat on their place mat???)

spent a couple of hours tidying the garden to prepare for that house inspection (very tedious, still not perfect but with a few more hours it might be)

so i guess i did do a fair bit, but i didn’t really make much headway on any of the things i really need to get done this week! so my goal for tonight is to pull out all relevant sections of my lit review for this draft paper, think about what will be most useful to keep and what i need to find more on AND listen to a podcast or read a reading for class. its 6.30pm now so.. possible.

AND just for accountability goals for the rest of this week and next are:

Finish drafting this paper

Prep for teaching (reading one, reading two, podcast one, podcast two, key ideas, discussion questions)

Spend time brainstorming empirical study

Supervision shortlist

Write up research questions for next lit review section

[caravaduating]

So I've been struggling to get much done the past few days. I've been working from home trying to finish revisions on this journal article and have just been so.... listless and distracted?? Too much self-managed time without any meetings to interrupt me. I really have a lot to do in the next three days so I'm trying to be serious with my time from here on in. If I can get all this done before Sunday evening I'll be very happy. So here's a to do list:

Wash hair (1 hour)

Address biggest comment on article (nl) (5 hours??) 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Do readings for class + write discussion point (5 hours??) 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Make dinner (vegan eggplant moussaka 🥰 (1.5 hours))

Address other review comments (4 hours??) 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Send EOI for DJM

Call yoga place and ask about class size and skill level (I need to move my body!!!)

[caravaduating]

It’s Friday and I have a to do list!!

Read MP article

Look at MP revision suggestions, so I know what I'm looking out in the lit relating to that

Read over smart cities lit review section, remember how that connects to lit

Go get my haircut!

Go to a nice cafe for some study

Scope the literature on public housing, come up with search terms relating to different elements of thesis, and to MP revisions, make a search plan doc + table as I did for RA work

hopefully have thoughts about how translating this stuff into a real world project as reading and write that DOWN

When brain isn't able to do the kind of sifting work needed for mapping the lit:

reply to emails for RA work, OR

read texts for class on Monday (who woulda thought I'm the tutor now and I prepare for class almost as late as I did when I was a student)

[caravaduating]

Today was a good day! I met my supervisors which was a serious kind of... kick in the butt about HOW much I have to do before November. I knew before, but now I KNOW. It was useful, but I feel like I could get more out of those meetings if I had a clearer idea of the ~bigger picture~ of my project, and could keep that picture in my head.. something to think about.

I actually did everything on my to do list (other than my stretch goal) for the first time since starting this challenge! So that's exciting, hopefully a trend that continues. I also had an unexpected catch up with a friend, which was really lovely, and sent feedback to a student on some writing for the first time! I'm putting this success down to the gradblrchallenge xd

[caravaduating]

To do 8/8

Weeeeeeeeooooooo

Up at 7, porridge and mandarin breakfast

Go uni, read on bus

Supervision meeting

Reading group

Headshot (they doing it free at uni!)

Dinner groceries from IGA (sweet potato, kale)

Send students feedback (on bus home)

Upload meeting minutes + do any immediate follow up tasks

Prompt response for RA email

(stretch goal - plan response for article revisions OR do class readings)

Salad dinner!

[caravaduating]

So it is the evening of day three of the gradblr challenge! Today I’m making a done list instead of a to-do list. I've had a pretty nice day! Felt productive and not stressed, mostly just relieved to be done with the literature review section I’ve been working on for weeks. So, today I:

Got up at 5 (after going to sleep at 12) and finished revisions on on that draft and sent it to my supervisors (finally!!)

Registered for a conference

Went through all my emails for the first time this week, registered for about 5 seminars and workshops this and next month (will i go to them…. time will tell)

Did the dishes

Went and bought a coffee for my too sleepy partner

Did 1.5 hours RA work, sending individual emails out to 20 participants of an event I’m helping organise. Kinda scary because it’s not the kind of work I’m used to doing, but afaik I didn’t mess it up

Had late lunch n a big chat w my partner while eating Italian food

Did a reading for tomorrow’s reading group

Had pumpkin soup for dinner and watched the news

Pulled myself away from the TV and am now doing the second reading for tomorrow’s group

(this is still a to do but: wash my hair (a mammoth task))

It feels v good to get all these little tasks done after spending so many days working on lit review revisions that felt never ending!! Tomorrow I'm meeting my supervisors so ah hopefully that's ok. I wasn't that impressed with what I sent them honestly, n I hate submitting work I'm not 100% happy with. Anyway. Wahoo

[caravaduating]

you know you’re a new tutor when you say that u will give feedback on the non-compulsory summaries your students have to do, that you will not be paid for giving feedback on. seemed like a good and nice idea in class but now i’m seeing these emails roll in... oh boy.

[caravaduating]

to do/goals for tomorrow 6/08/19

up at 6, go look for E - check garage, then neighbour’s yard

home, shower, freezing cold study in the garage listening out for E

read 2 KC articles, write up summary, reorganise that section

Home for lunch, leftovers

Revise Young section (quickly!!)

16:00 - induction for new casual staff at uni

18:45 - home, reread whole lit review, send it

at some point, reply to RA email

[caravaduating]

Bit of a lackluster photo diary today, but my first time tutoring a uni class is officially done!! It went........ ok!

I tutored two classes, during the first one I was super nervous so I struggled a little, but it wasn’t a complete catastrophe. The second one was actually really enjoyable, I was way way more comfortable and had fun telling everyone what I thought of the readings, and hearing some of their thoughts (the three people who had done the readings at least...) the second class was also way more interactive, probably because I was more relaxed. Now I’m over that hurdle of -first-ever-class- I won’t have to go through all the anxiety of the unknown next time!

Now I just need to finish revising comments for half my literature review, catch up on some emails and odd-jobs for RA work and then get started (finally) on revisions for a journal article. Feeling marginally more on top of things.

[caravaduating]

Sunday goals/to do

7.30 up, dress, porridge breakfast and a mandarin, feed cat (!!)

8.15 walk to J’s place via the (hopefully open) bakery n buy something nice to take, have a quick cuppa tea w her. read LC reading while walking hopefully finish it...? i dream big

11ish home, couple hours work on DJ revisions (once LC reading is done), hopefully finish up Crenshaw..?

Go over notes from meeting with D, make sure I have a good plan in my head for every worst case scenario in class

1ish go for lunch with A + maybe J, discuss LC reading with them, write down ideas for discussion w class on Monday, make sure i can explain key concepts clearly

Read case study reading

hopefully feel good and ok about class happening??

before bed / plEASE send lit review v2 to advisors..... please. alternately, send apology email asking if i can send it tuesday or if they’d rather unfinished version. dam it.

pack bag up and get everything ready for the morning so it will be chill!

[caravaduating]

intro post!!!!!

name or nickname: Dani

location: Australia

area of study: excellent question, I’ll let you know when i figure it out (maybe .... media studies??)

level of study: first year PhD student

do you have any other blogs: yea, you won’t get notifications from this blog coz it’s a side blog @tumblr let me change which account i like things from please

a word on your thesis/dissertation: i’m screaming (looking at this idea of data justice aka social justice + datafication, hopefully will be applying these ideas to an urban context but i’m only six months in we’ll see)

what has been your experience with graduate school/university thus far: I love it, it’s been a little isolating coz my uni is a tiny bit far away from my house so I can never be bothered to go there, so I feel a little disconnected. But I love the researching and thinking and making connections between things, love the constant stress of always having 5 commitments I need to work towards at once, love reading in the winter sun in my backyard, love all the supportive academics I’ve met so far

is this your first #gradblrchallenge: yea

what do you hope to accomplish with this challenge: ahh august is gonna be a big month. hoping this challenge will help me keep on top of things, as well as meet people who are in similar situations!! this month’s deadlines:

submit a revised lit review section to my supervisors on monday

start teaching on monday, will teach every monday this month so would like to become confident in that

on the 19th i have to finish + submit revisions to a journal article (which i haven’t looked at/thought about all year o dear)

and on the 30th i submit a first draft of a whole entire complied literature review to my supervisors

where do you see you self in five years: uhhhhh living in the country with a little horse going for strolls in the morning mist

meaning behind your url: it is my personal URL but the ‘n’ is replaced by ‘aduat’ (because hopefully .. .. with the help of the friends we make along the way.. i will be graduating (caravaduating) in 4 years)

a random fact about you: Basically the only thing I watch on tv now is critical role. and recently I’ve been trying to watch the news every night!! after about.... 9 years of avoiding it. I’m finally ready.. to hear the news.

[caravaduating]

2/8 photo diary

Today was.... ok, didn't get up until almost 9 :/ I worked really well once I was up tho, got a fair bit done. But it's never enough!! Then I went n met the coordinator of the class I'll start tutoring on Monday!!! It was lovely, I told him how nervous I was (it will be my first time tutoring ever) and he gave me lots of tips and was very reassuring. And showed me where some of the classes I'll be teaching are. I feel much less nervous now. Still very scared tho. Also..... a cat I'm gonna take care of for a while (maybe forever) is arriving tomorrow!!!! I'm VERY excited

[thespecsappeal]

Forget pulling all-nighters and chugging coffee until it’s practically coursing through your veins. You know what gets me hyped up? Earl Grey tea on slow sunny mornings after a good night’s sleep. Submitting an assignment early, knowing you’ve completed it to the best of your ability. Reading for pleasure. That feeling of limbless relaxation after a good workout. Unearthing all your buried interests and falling in love with them over and over again.

Repeat after me: success is not suffering. Success is nOT-