i have submitted my written comprehensive exam. the oral portion will be soon. things definitely started to feel more chaotic towards the end but i submitted it and itâs done.
itâs still so weird to be a norf town bih in a doctoral program. grateful for a field that essentially lets me do academic journaling. hopefully i pass!
First of grad school has begun! Itâs still a bit unbelievable that Iâm in a doctoral program, something Iâve been wanting for YEARS (imposter syndrome... is that you?).Â
Itâs a small school and we actually have had the opportunity to meet with the cohorts that are ahead of us. Itâs reassuring to hear them say that, even though itâs hard work, theyâre still happy with the route theyâve chosen.
Even better, all of the professors seem genuinely happy to be at the school to teach with us. Too often you hear that professors are only teaching to do their research but that does not seem the case here.
I am happy.
But a bit scared!
new Instagram name! ::Â https://www.instagram.com/psyched.to.study/
A Harvard graduate student is enrolled in two doctoral programs and raising newborn twins.
Talia Gillis has such a calm, friendly presence youâd never guess that sheâs undertaking two doctoral programs while pregnant with twins and running around after a toddler at home.
âDid I underestimate the amount of work it would take?â she asked rhetorically. âYes, probably. But it has been fantastic.â
Gillis recognizes that sheâs an outlier. âItâs not very common for women to have kids in the economics graduate program, and two is odd, but three is kind of crazy,â she said in early February. âIt took a long time to reconcile my self-concern as a graduate student and the fact that I was going to have twins, but a lot of people have been very supportive.â
Born in London, Gillis moved with her family to Australia when she was an infant, and then to Israel when she was around 8. It was at Israelâs Hebrew University that she first studied law and economics as an undergraduate, before moving to Oxford for a graduate law degree. She then came to Harvard six years ago to get an S.J.D. in law and economics, deciding soon after to add a Ph.D. in business economics with a focus on household finance and behavioral economics.
âWith behavioral economics, it takes one to know one,â she explained with a laugh, adding that âintrospection about how I was running my finances and spending money really had an initial appeal for going into behavioral economics and household finance.â