Confederation Basin in Kingston is a great place to grab ice cream and relax | Photo by Atif Kukaswadia

On the encouragement of my colleagues, I have decided to update my post from last year where I detailed my favourite dessert places in Kingston.

1) White Mountain

White Mountain is a Kingston staple. It’s been around for years, and is notable because they make all their ice cream in house. They have some absolutely delicious flavours, and paired with a late evening walk down by Confederation Basin, makes for the perfect evening.

Best memory: The clock hitting 3pm on a Friday, and the Thought Tub (my lab’s nickname) deciding to take a “lab field trip” to White Mountain for the afternoon.

2) Menchies - http://menchieskingston.wordpress.com/

Who doesn’t like their ice cream made a certain way – maybe with extra sprinkles? Or gummi worms? Or something a little more exotic, like chocolate covered raisins. Menchies is a self-serve froyo chain that opened up last year in downtown Kingston, and is rapidly expanding across Canada. You pick the ice cream you want (any flavour, any combination), the toppings you want and then pay by weight. Just don’t go there hungry!

Best memory: Doing an intense medicine ball/plyometric workout, then going to Menchies with a friend for a post-workout snack. It was delicious.

3) Spin Dessert Cafe - http://spindessert.com/menu.html

A slight change of pace here, for those who don’t like ice cream as much as sweet and savory foods. They have crepes, ice cream and other delicious desserts that you can check out. They also have a lot of space to sit inside, so this is a nice place to go if it’s too hot outside to be enjoyable!

Best memory: Using a Groupon there with two friends and having the “Return to Innocence” (cookies and cream ice cream, Oreo pieces, milk and white chocolate curls and hot fudge sauce). So unbelievably good.

I was mocked incessantly for my choice, but it was totally worth it.

4) Limestone City Cupcakery - http://www.limestonecitycupcakery.com//

Finishing with something completely different, but still falling under the umbrella of “dessert” is the Limestone City Cupcakery. They have some absolutely delicious cupcakes, but their real skill is in making beautiful cupcakes for specific events. Check out their cupcake gallery for examples!

Best memory: Having LCC cupcakes as the half-time snack in an ultimate game. Less healthy than orange slices, but definitely more delicious!

ADDITION FOR 2013: 5) Marble Slab – http://www.marbleslab.ca/index.php/creamery/home

Located just next to Milestones on Princess and Ontario, Marble Slab is probably one of my favourite new ice cream places. They have lots of different kinds of ice cream, as well as more toppings than you could ever imagine.

Best memory: Going there with my lab and realizing it was a double points day!

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These are some of my favourite dessert places – did I miss your favourite one? Let me know in the comments!

A view of Elbow Lake Nature Conservancy of Canada Reserve from Queen’s University Biological Station website

I just wanted to start off by expressing how excited I am to be chosen as a new member of the Gradifying blogger team! I am a first year PhD student in Biology studying Plant Ecology and Evolution. I did both my BScH and MSc at Queen’s and am an avid volunteer both at Queen’s and in the Kingston community.

Lately, I will admit that I have been feeling slightly overwhelmed. My field season runs from April to as late as November every year. I spent the first five weeks of this season digging hundreds of holes in the ground at two of my field sites to set up plots for my PhD project. Now I spend 8 hours/day collecting seeds and samples, watering experimental plots, amongst other things. My evenings are occupied by various meetings and volunteer work and of course that looming comprehensive exam.

This weekend, a bunch of people from our department went to Elbow Lake to celebrate a peer’s defense. It was an awesome time we had a huge potluck, a campfire, some people went swimming—it was great! I did have a good time, but I was unable to ‘turn off’ thoughts about my project. I know I am not alone when I say this, but I often find myself feeling guilty when I don’t dedicate at least some time each day to doing work on my project.

I asked a few of my peers about it and they confirmed that indeed, I was not the only person that felt that way—some people even brought work with them…to a party! I guess on the drive up to the cabins, I found myself looking for species and contemplating why that paper has been in review for so long, so maybe actually bringing work wasn’t that abnormal. A bunch of us chatted about why we feel guilty about taking a break and how we can change that. This is what our chat boiled down to:

• Supervisor’s expectations unclear; keep open lines of communication and if you’re feeling overwhelmed, express that! They likely don’t expect you to do work every day, all day.
• Own expectations unclear; you can’t do EVERYTHING!
• No concrete goals or timelines set up; make a plan. Maximize the time you do have to do work. Find the most efficient places to do work. Get into a routine. Whatever is best for you!

One of the most interesting points we discussed was that the work-life balance will not always be 50/50; sometimes work will be crazy and it will be 70/30 or even 90/10 (anticipating this as the comps nears). Importantly though, when given the opportunity to make it 0/100, take it. Take a weekend away with friends, go to dinner and a movie, bike to Wolfe Island and go for a swim…anything really! We all agreed that focusing 100% on yourself when you have the option is not a bad thing at all!

If you’ve been feeling guilty about taking a break or have other advice for students about this, please share your thoughts in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!

Congratulations to Amanda Tracey (PhD candidate, Biology) and Rachel Wayne (PhD candidate, Clinical Psychology) who are joining Atif and me* in bringing you experiences, events, and advice from our slices of grad life at Queen’s. We’re thrilled to have these two fine bloggers on board. So look forward to hearing more from Amanda and Rachel soon, and don’t forget that we’re always open to guest posts any time of the year. Just write us at gradify@queensu.ca

*I almost wrote “Atif and I” but I remembered my teacher friend once correcting a shameful lapse in grammar by saying “uh oh…my friends can’t join I, now can they? They would join me.” This example makes him sound like an awful pedant, but he’s actually good people. If you’re reading this, thanks Mr. Cuthbertson

Now, the watering hole in question in today’s title is really about bottomless cups of black coffee, and the musings are from a Gradifying favourite, Elias Da Silva-Powell, who, it turns out, is shortly moving on to some big and bright things outside of Queen’s. So he won’t be joining our team, but he does have some good advice for those of you looking to bond with your city. Read on.

Peter’s Place: A Place for All by Elias Da Silva-Powell

If Cheers taught us anything, it’s that there’s no feeling quite like being a ‘regular’ at a local venue.

While few people can expect a chorus of greeting upon walking into their favourite watering hole/coffee shop/restaurant, some businesses keep you coming back on a regular basis until you’ve worn a furrow right down the middle of their welcome mat.

Kingston has a wealth of businesses serving up quality food and drink, and everyone has a soft spot for one or two in particular. While I can’t claim to have dined everywhere, one spot in Kingston has been a stand-out favourite of mine since my first visit several years ago, and I’ve been singing its praises ever since.

If you haven’t considered Peter’s Place (34 Princess Street) I’m thrilled to provide a quick run-down of the reasons this local gem deserves serious consideration as your go-to spot in Kingston.

The location

Located at the foot of Princess Street just steps from Market Square, Peter’s Place is in a great spot for anyone looking to grab a bite after a stroll down the main drag or a walk by the water. If you need a break from the campus grind, it’s within walking distance of main campus, and the trek will help you build up an appetite.

The restaurant interior is clean and tidy, and the ambiance fits just about any occasion short of a very romantic dinner. I’ve eaten at Peter’s Place after a night of carousing with friends, as a quick lunch to break up a long library session and even had a (somewhat) professional dinner or two within its unassuming interior.

The service

Peter’s Place isn’t big, but it’s often packed and generally busy, particularly on weekend mornings. Despite having a large crowd to serve, the restaurant staff is always friendly and courteous, even when a large table splits one bill across multiple credit cards or dawdles trying to figure out an order.

If you can’t snag a table right away, it’s worth the wait, as the food is prepared fast and served promptly. In nearly five years of dining at Peter’s Place, I can’t recall one instance where I’ve had to wait more than a brief interval for a table or an order—a rare quality in a restaurant.

The price

When you find yourself dining out too often, you’ll usually notice a stinging sensation in the wallet-region, particularly if you like to dine out with a friend or partner.

One of the most evident advantages of dining at Peter’s Place is its affordable fare, as two can enjoy a plentiful dinner for under $25, and a hearty breakfast or lunch for one is generally around $10 (including the tip)!

The restaurant’s coffee deserves particular mention here, as it’s not only hot, strong and fresh, but is a pocket-friendly $1.50 and the cups are bottomless.

The food

I’m usually wary of restaurants that try to cater to every market—the more a restaurant tries to offer, the less impressive each dish is likely to be.

Peter’s Place effectively shatters that rule of thumb by offering a diverse menu which rarely fails to impress. Their breakfast menu is straightforward and to the point, offering all the firstmeal favourites: breakfast meats, toast and eggs in unadulterated or omelette form.

The lunch/dinner menu has something for everyone, boasting an impressive list of entrees. Of particular note is the breast of chicken dinner ($9.99), which includes a garden salad, rice, vegetables, and potatoes —a substantial meal at any time of day.

Don’t let the long list of diner classics deter you from stopping by for a lighter meal, as the salads at Peter’s Place are far from an afterthought. Special mention is due to the country style salad ($8.95), which tops fresh lettuce with old cheddar cheese, boiled egg and your choice of turkey or ham—an excellent choice for someone with their eye on a healthy diet.

The daily specials are an ever-changing roster of the fresh and delicious, and this author endorses the recurring steak special (with vegetables, potatoes, rice, shrimp, garden salad and a bun) with absolute certainty.

The verdict

Restaurants everywhere can boast great food, student-friendly prices and welcoming service. However, it’s a rare venue that can lay claim to all three, and Peter’s Place is (in the opinion of yours truly) a solid finisher in every race.

I don’t want you to take my word for it. Go and find out for yourself just how great dining at Peter’s Place can be. Don’t be surprised if this restaurant quickly becomes your favourite place too.

Open daily at 7:30AM. Peter’s Place closes at 7PM Monday-Friday, 3PM Saturday and 2PM Sunday.

 (Disclosure: the author is in no way affiliated with Peter’s Place, with the exception of his regular presence there for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He is not yet greeted by name, but the staff remember that he takes his coffee black, and that’s good enough for him).

This Comps Journal documents both my inspired and my agonized witticisms derived in a time of intense mental activity.

                                      GONE (OUT OF MY MIND) UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

March 30, 2013

I vacillate between moments of confidence and relative serenity punctuated by isolated moments of sheer panic. I live in the extremes.

March 31, 2013

Does productivity increase as a function of caffeine consumption? All I know is that I will equivocate caffeine consumption with productivity for the next month. Yay comps.

Made good progress on the common cause section today. Feeling confident about the final product, though still stressing over the timeline. It is difficult to predict the time-intensiveness of the paper. But it’s starting to take good shape. Sort of. I somehow feel it will all come together in the end. Much of the anxiety comes from not knowing how the argument itself will ultimately take shape; good writing ought to be a teleological process. (We can deconstruct writing into developing a coherent thought process or cogent argument, and also into the actual articulation of these thoughts; bad writing happens when we conflate the two).

I feel some relief from the fact that is not yet April.

There is beauty in struggle. I remember that.

April Fools.

New routine- Starbucks, gym, food, Starbucks, relaxation.

How many cups of coffee does it take to write this paper? I don’t know but Starbucks certainly does. There should be a portion of funding allocated to caffeine consumption for the purposes of writing.

I’m slowly climbing the gianormous mountain.  I learned that this is a recently added word to the English language. Probably a consequence of our hyperbolic culture.

I’m hungry again.

Made good progress on what might prove to be a tangential point in the paper. I think it’s still important nonetheless.  Ask me tomorrow

April 2, 2013

Not good today. I fell down the caffeine rabbit hole again and feel foggy. I’m debating having another one, because at least today will be productive, no matter how painful tomorrow will be. It’s like I need caffeine and all the strength of my adenosine receptors to perform at the upper limit of my intellectual potential. I’m at the bottom of my confidence interval today.

It’s 12.30 caffeine kicks in and I’m a responsibility champion again.  The world is beautiful and teeming with sunshine. It’s snowing in April and I freeze every time someone opens the back door at Starbucks. But at least I’ve got my table. It’s my third day living here

April 16, 2013

Just 2 weeks left now. I’ve returned from a mental-breakdown induced hiatus; I felt crappy and nothing fit. I took about a week off from the paper, but intermittently while I was restoring myself to sanity, I slowly chipped away at it. I’m caffeinated and I’m back. It all came together today. It’s unfinished, but at least I assembled the puzzle edges.

April 25, 2013

It’s the final countdown. The paper has shape and form; just requires a bit of slimming around the edges. I consider it an idle waste of my precious time and intellect to have spent five tedious hours inserting references. Or is it worse that progress has now been halted by this 240 student-high pile of final exams? I think I mark more kindly when I’m fed. Or maybe I’m too ashamed to admit that the Songza “100 worst songs ever” playlist is actually…uplifting.

By the way, the answer is 68 dollars and 12 cents. And still counting.

April 26, 2013 – The Final Entry

This submission is due before my paper, and so the paper remains unfinished. But I’ll get there eventually. In writing, Zeno’s paradox comes alive; there is always something to fix. But at some point, marginal gains for effort reach asymptote. I obsess over the final sentence, but perfectionism is a losing battle.

Good enough.

Read a little bit more about Rachel and her work at her CoNCH Lab profile page.

Holiday Mondays: there are so many of them, why not keep it consistent and make Mondays a permanent part of the weekend?

Anyway, with more thoughts on the natural subterfuge we employ in our daily lives on the fly, here’s English’s Elias Da Silva Powell, reflecting as he comes to the close of his MA on some of the most effective classroom conversation techniques and tricks of argumentation:

The Six Habits of Highly Deceptive People

It can be hard to stay on top of the various responsibilities of a graduate student. Juggling research, coursework and the ever-receding possibility of a personal life can often leave you overwhelmed and short on time.

At some point in your graduate career you’ll probably cut corners and skip doing an assigned reading for a class, only to be singled out by the instructor and asked to contribute to that day’s discussion.

There are a number of common strategies people employ to conceal their lack of preparation. I’ve noted a few popular ones here to help you recognize the blunders of others–as well as cover your own tracks.

(This is a work of satire. The author in no way endorses attempts to deceive one’s instructors or colleagues. That said, accidents happen).

The Freud Fraud (AKA the Marxist Misdirect AKA the Derrida Deceit)

“Reading this put me in mind of [x]. Has anyone read [x]? No? Good.”

Temporarily at a loss for words, this wily student covers his or her tracks by picking a single detail from the class discussion and drawing a connection to a different author or text.

The newly-invoked material is usually the special interest of the student who brought it up in the first place, meaning that no one else in the room is going to be able to catch him or her out in generalizing needlessly.

When you see panic in someone’s eyes as they mention their favourite author a half-dozen times in 3 sentences, they’re probably up to something.

Falls flat when: Someone else is a secret devotee of the student’s favourite author and disagrees with them, dooming the class to witness a jargon-laden debate.

Professor Wikipedia

*typing* “This was originally published in 1899 and republished in 1909. So there’s that.”

The Internet has revolutionized scholarly practice and research, but it has also given people the ability to become an armchair expert on a subject in a matter of seconds.

The Wikiresearcher is in a constant search-frenzy, calling up pages on texts, authors, concepts and historical periods alike, ever-ready to parachute a piece of trivia into discussion.

Despite being frequently unproductive, this person’s contributions are never quite irrelevant, and they usually squeak by undetected.

Falls flat when: Someone asks them a specific question.

The Vaguester

“How do we relate this to the ending? How do we relate this to the beginning? How do we relate-“

Assuming a philosophical pose, The Vaguester addresses open-ended questions to particular people, effectively playing ‘hot potato’ with the responsibility of actually making a definitive statement.

A particularly masterful version of this ploy involves assuming an air of superiority, as if the answers to these questions are already obvious to the student in question.

Falls flat when: The student reaches maximum circularity and accidentally asks how we can connect something to itself.

The Hanger-On

“I agree with what’s been said.” / “I was just going to say that.”

The Hanger-On has a hard time participating in a classroom setting, because he or she is conveniently beaten to the statement-making punch by someone else in the room who sums up his or her thoughts perfectly.

A less-impressive version of this strategy involves agreeing with the last statement made by repeating it in its entirety.

Falls flat when: In a moment of over-zealous participation, he or she endorses opposing sides of a classroom discussion.

The Synthesizer

“If we think about Richard’s question in light of what Kathy has just said about Roberta’s point, I think it’s clear that…”

This is without a doubt the most difficult strategy to deploy in a classroom setting, with a correspondingly high reward.

Elegantly retracing the thread of the discussion so far, The Synthesizer arranges all of the pieces in a pleasing and apparently engaged statement, despite the fact that he or she has literally no idea what’s being discussed.

I like to think of The Synthesizer as a kind of academic triple-agent, because you’re never entirely sure you can trust them or what they bring to the table.

Falls flat when: The Synthesizer’s apparently-elegant conclusion is directly contradicted by factual details.

The Anecdote-From-Experience

“This really reminded me of my own life. I mean-“

Personal anecdotes in class discussion should be rare, brief and relevant–though they never are.

You may recall this person from your undergraduate classes because of his or her tendency to supplement the syllabus with a healthy dose of info taken from his or her diary.

Not to be confused with people who do this in earnest, the Anecdote-From-Experiencer does this under the guise of making a relevant statement about the material under discussion.

Falls flat when: Doesn’t. Basically unassailable. Abandon ship.

As an international student at Queen’s, with English being my second language, for many times, I have heard my friends complaining how language barrier blocks their progress in study. I once complained so, too. It is “unfair”, indeed. However, my friends, language barrier is just a “paper tiger”. It will not stop us if we do not let it. Let me share some of my own experiences.

The most difficult part is, probably, to engage in class. We need to process what instructors and classmates have said. Meanwhile, we have to come up with something to say in order to get involved in the discussion. At the beginning, for the most of time, I kept silent. Soon I realized it would not work in this way, so I started with a few words, such as a question. Gradually I could speak two sentences, three, four…… Don’t be afraid of making mistakes when speaking. Everyone makes mistakes. Even when I speak my first language, I make mistakes. Well, you may be worried that others may laugh at you, thinking you are saying something silly. Friends, you are not living for others, so do not let how others look at you dominate your life.

Then, writing. It is hard for us to write in English as smooth as in our first language. It always takes us tons of time to write, right? If you are saying “yes”, I can tell you that you are making progress. It will take some time, but later you will find you have achieved a lot. We are too anxious and ambitious sometimes. We must give permission to ourselves to be human beings, and we must be patient with ourselves. No one can write beautifully in one or two days. In fact, how many of us could write beautifully in our first language, let alone second language? Practice makes, if not perfect, progress.

So, maybe you have seen a little bit of my point here. Language barrier itself will not keep us away from success, but the anxiety will. Anxiety holds us back from practices, challenges, and eventually progress and success. If we can deal with our anxieties, we would be much closer to success. It is not the perfect language that makes us succeed. It is the courage and spirit taken to face the challenges.

What makes grad school ‘worth it’?

By: Amanda Tracey, PhD Candidate in Biology

Today was one of those days I thought to myself…what the heck am I doing? I think we’ve all had those days. You know the ones where the piece of equipment you rely on breaks down and your many attempts at fixing it fail, you get your supervisor’s edits and it looks like blood smeared all over the page, not red pen, or you go to grab a book from the library (that no one in their right mind would ever want to read) and alas, it’s gone. Or maybe, all three of those things happen in one day- it’s possible…because they happened to me yesterday. And to top it off, you stop by Metro on the way home for the very grad student-friendly 6.99 chicken wing special on Thursdays, and not only are they all out of Sweet & Spicy, now they’re 7.99! That may have been a rant, and I apologize, but what I am getting at is that I think we have all been there. Sometimes one or more of these things among other things all happen at the same time and make you wonder, why am I doing this?

So yesterday’s horror had me wondering, what makes grad school worth it? It often seems like the many late nights spent doing experiments, wading through journal articles or marking undergrad papers goes unrewarded yet something keeps us all going…but what is it?

I took some time to ask some of my fellow grad students a question about their graduate student experience—what makes grad school ‘worth it’? Of course I had a few classic jokers who responded with “Nothing! What am I even doing here?” But I found most people’s responses interesting, surprising and in many ways motivating. I’ll give you my top 3 favourite (and serious) responses:

3. “Teaching and interacting with Undergrads who are really interested in your field”. It’s true. It really makes you take a step back and think about how far we have come since Undergrad and reignites that flame.

2. “The successes we all experience”. This was a common response that ranged from getting positive feedback from your supervisor, to getting great results or getting that grant proposal approved.

1. My favourite response was one that may not be so intuitive and had to do with the failures we experience as graduate students and these crappy, nothing-goes-right kinds of days. All they said (or maybe all Kelly Clarkson said) is “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. I really think they hit the nail on the head with that one. As graduate students we balance a lot. Our research, work as TA’s or TF’s, mentoring of undergraduate students, extracurricular sports and volunteer work, side projects/collaborations, grant proposals, course work and then on top of that the obvious things (but often forgotten things) like housework and maintaining an acceptable level of hygiene. In the end, everything we’re going through now will make us strong, balanced and amazing at whatever we choose to do.

So I guess what I am getting at is… if you’re reading this and have recently had one of these days or you’re smack in the middle of one right now, take a minute and consider what makes the experience worth it for you.

(Side note: There actually was one presentation that cleverly reflected on the conditions of the competition itself, which was from Kamilla Pietrzyk, a PhD student in Political Science at York, whose talk was entitled “Fast Activism: Changing the world in the age of distraction.” Kamilla wryly urged us to slow down in our lives as she capably raced through a ninety second summary of her research; her irony was lost on no one.)

Like an oblivious neighbor who invites themselves into your backyard party, I threw out my manners and sat down for a spell with almost every table at the post-event dinner. Hanging with Ryerson, I asked the exceptionally well coiffed Thomas Tiveron (his hair slicked, he pulled together the look with a blue vest and gold tie in Ryerson’s colours) about his technique for a flawless delivery. Inclining my head conspiratorially, I said, basically, What the hell, man? How did you do that? He leaned back coolly and replied “Nothing special – I mean, I memorize just about everything without trying.” Without trying. I allowed a mixture of admiration and self-reproach to register on my face by way of thanks for the advice and promptly left.

Over at the table where Guelph had joined forces with Queen’s Ryley Beddoe and her supporters, Krista Mitchnick, an MSc student in Guelph’s Psychology/Neuroscience program, gave some more concrete advice about her memorization techniques. Krista had a background in competitive dance, so the idea of perfecting and performing something for the scrutinizing eyes of others was nothing unfamiliar. For her, the trick was visualization. In my notes from this night, I have jotted down by Krista’s name “ERP” in what is, for me, surprisingly clear script. Either this is the abandoned segment of an aborted word, or, before we cut her off by agreeing as a table that interpretive dance would have been a better mnemonic, Krista was about to gesture toward a phenomenon called “event-related potential (ERP).” Wikipedia tells me that ERP “is the measured brain response that is the direct result of a specific sensory, cognitive, or motor event.” ERP. Well, whatever it was actually meant to refer to, I’ve got a handy new way of conceptualizing memorization as a systematic process, which I find especially nifty because I’ve become obsessed lately with the shorthanding of concepts.

Finally, as I intercepted competition judge Hugh Christie in the lobby, I became aware of the performative nature of what I myself was doing in that moment, and blanked on all the questions that are typically bubbling up under my polite expression. But the affable and accomplished trial lawyer had a gem to offer anyway, from his experience evaluating young lawyers developing their skills through mock trials. The crucial question, he said, was: can you convey a complete sense of confidence, without being strident? I wondered in that moment if any of the competitors had gone off their plans but had been saved, imperceptibly, by their sheer coolness. The evening was over, so I may never find out (unless they happen to Google themselves and decide to weigh in through a comment thread…?) but I’m at least equipped with a good question as a spectator in next year’s 3MT season.

Two reminders for you this week:

1. We are currently taking applications to become a blogger at Gradifying! Submit your application (in the form of a short guest post) today to gradify@queensu.ca!
2. 3MT Provincial Championships are already happening this Thursday. Ontario 3MT^® is on 18th April 2013, at Queen’s, with a 4pm start in the Kinesiology & Health Studies building, room 100 (28 Division St). Come one, come all, and get edu-tained.

Given the way the earth is slowly coming back to life and luring me outside, I’ve been thinking about time management and the summer months. I know, you probably see the phrase “time management,” a perennial favourite of educational wisdom (eh? get it? perennial…spring? rest assured, I have the good sense to be ashamed of my punning), and think there can’t possibly be any more said on the topic. But there’s a good reason I’m thinking about it.

The other day, I heard, also for what seems like the millionth time, that students dealing with assignment deadlines in some particular situation <x> would have a rude awakening when they got into the “real world.” Ah yes, the real world, where everyone can reliably be expected to obey the same deadline with equal rigor, every time. I blogged a while back for a feminist magazine about pop culture on this issue of “the real world.” This time, a new oddity about the phrase came to mind, one that hadn’t even occurred to me before: I suppose, then, all the TAs, TFs, RAs, professors, and administrators making and working around the same deadlines are similarly exempt from the real world? I expect many would beg to disagree.

I stand by what I wrote in the blog I linked to above – my occupation does not exist in some imaginary land separate from the “real world,” and just because I can be described as a student, the work I do doesn’t just effervesce away into some inert substance that can’t affect said world. But for all my protestations, I have begun to wonder if there are ways in which I succumb to the trap of seeing anything that falls on the side of earning an education, rather than delivering one, as chronically preliminary – permanently suspended in a state of preparation for something else. I wonder this when I observe some of my own behaviour. For instance, I occasionally despair about progress because, for a block of about four years, I have no one’s deadlines but my own to meet and by which to gauge my development. Another example: I balk more at making an investment in my education by, say, purchasing a piece of software or spending on a plane ticket to travel for a conference than I do at budgeting for home renovations or taking music lessons.

I’m curious about your experiences. I know these issues differ, sometimes drastically, by discipline. What about an informal poll: How many of you create a strict schedule for yourself? Set deadlines for yourself? Have them set for you? How many of you work in addition to your stipend? Do you travel regularly for professional development opportunities? Do you think about investing in your education?

I argue against school being seen as separate from “the real world,” but I suspect my actions haven’t always stood behind this argument. What you don’t realize about yourself, you can’t change. You’re witness to a small personal epiphany here; I resolve to become an entrepreneur about my research.

For some additional support in taking your academic work by the reins, consider taking a look at Queen’s School of Graduate Studies Expanding Horizons Workshop Series.

With the end of the semester approaching and people frantically writing papers, or starting to assemble their theses/dissertations, I thought it would be a good time to discuss backing up documents. Specifically, backing up important documents to the cloud.

Allow me to paint a picture for you.

Back before I was a Wise Old Graduate Student (like Yoda, except taller), I was a wee little undergrad (like Anakin in Episode 1, except with fewer midochlorians), excited to be doing an honors thesis, where I studied caterpillars. Towards the end of my undergraduate thesis, I backed everything onto a USB key. To ensure that I wouldn’t misplace or lose it, I put the USB key onto my key chain with my car keys. Since I drove everywhere, I would never lose it.

But, Fate had a terrible … fate … in store for me (Note: get a thesaurus. Or talk to Sharday about synonyms).

Pictured: Every grad student with THEIR PRECIOUSSSSSS

I went to see The Trews perform at an outdoor concert. It poured down for almost 3 hours, yet the band played on. I had a great time. I was soaked through, but thoroughly enjoyed the show.

But when I got home, I realized that the rain had fried my USB key. And along with it, all the work I had done. Luckily, I had a recent copy saved on the lab computer, but if not for that, I would have been in a lot of trouble.

That was a long time ago. Now, we have Dropbox, which is an online, cloud based storage system

Dropbox is an online, cloud based storage system, accessible via computer and even your smartphone or tablet

Dropbox works like a USB drive on the internet. It shows up as a folder on your computer, and when you drop a file in there, it uploads to the Dropbox servers, and you can access it from anywhere – phone, desktop, laptop, even a friends computer through their online system. When you then log onto your next machine, it will sync all the files with the Dropbox server so you have the most recent copy of all your files in your Dropbox folder. I find it particularly useful since I have a desktop, a laptop and a work computer and this means the most recent copy of my files are always available. There are also iPhone, Android, Blackberry and iPad apps available (https://www.dropbox.com/anywhere).

The key benefits are that you can’t lose it (since everything is stored online), and the level of redundancy built into it. Working on your laptop without internet access? Not a problem. As soon as you have internet access again, Dropbox will sync with the cloud and upload your files. Delete a file by mistake? Dropbox keeps deleted files so you can restore an old one. Save over a file? Dropbox keeps copies of old files so you can go back to a previous version. If you’re working on a machine without Dropbox, you can log into your Dropbox account, download the file, and upload the edited file when you’re done. Then, when you get back to your regular computer, it’ll sync into your Dropbox folder. Considerably easier than constantly emailing files to yourself (and much less room for user error)!

All your files are at your fingertips!

How much space do I get?

You get 2 GB for free when you sign up. You can pay for more space (50GB for $99, 100 GB for $199), but I find the 2GB is more than enough for regular word documents and such. If you use this link though: http://db.tt/aQFyR3c you will get an extra 250 MB (as will I for referring you).

In addition to that, you can also get more space by using a few simple tricks. As mentioned above, you get 250 MB for each referral. But, you can also gain space by completing the tasks outlined by Lifehacker here. These include: adding your University email to your account to get 500MB per referral (it says .edu, but I used my @Queensu email and it worked fine) and helping to spread the word through Facebook and Twitter.

How secure is it?

I find Dropbox to be invaluable for the work that I do. Dropbox is password protected, pretty secure, and works across Macs/PCs. However, security is a major concern. I wouldn’t advise putting anything too sensitive on there (birth certificates, social insurance numbers etc). For files like manuscripts/thesis documents it works great. Like anything online, it’s not 100% secure. However, I don’t view that as being any less safe than having a USB key that could be lost/stolen. And really, I don’t know many people that would benefit from my old manuscripts and thesis drafts. If you want, you can encrypt files before uploading them, but that isn’t something Dropbox natively supports (i.e. you’ll have to encrypt it yourself).

Disclaimer: Know your institution’s/data’s privacy policy. Some files you can take off site, and some you cannot. Be aware of what is allowed and what isn’t.

Do you use Dropbox? What do you think? Did you find it useful or not so much? Let me know in the comments!

Disclaimer #2: I am not being paid by Dropbox, and I am not receiving anything from them. However, if they want to send me a t-shirt, that would be cool.

Ed Note: A version of this post originally appeared on Mr Epidemiology Original post available here.