It is the end of April. Spring is in the air, and summer is just around the corner. Those of us who are instructors or teaching assistants will soon be free. Free from preparing for classes, giving lectures and tutorials, and…
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Blog Archives
On Balancing Breaks
Posted in Overwork, Productivity, Staying Well, Thesis, Time off Tagged with: mental health, productivity, summer, thesis, work-life balance, work/life balance
On Peace be Upon You
My family and I are originally from Malaysia. We migrated to Canada about thirteen years ago. We lived in Vancouver for the first three years before settling in Kingston. Each move required a major adjustment – from the rat race…
Posted in Community Tagged with: community, international student, international study, Kingston, Student perspective
On the Art of Procrastination
pro·cras·ti·na·tion /prəˌkrastəˈnāSH(ə)n/ When one voluntarily delays from performing tasks despite believing that he/she to be worse off for doing so – Piers Steel in The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done Procrastination. The bane…
Posted in Productivity, Student Perspective Tagged with: degree progress, Grad Student Life, humour, lighthearted, productivity, Student perspective
On Celebrating 2018 and Welcoming 2019
With 2018 more than a week behind, I’m sure that most of us are focused on making 2019 our best year to come. I have to admit that I found 2018 to be a difficult year. I had to deal…
Posted in General Tagged with: celebrating 2018, celebrating success, happy new year, new year, reflection, welcoming 2019
Q&A with Tanya Tran of TEDxQueensU
We’re so pleased to bring you a special Q & A with Tanya Tran, who is a licensee and Advisory Board Chair for TEDxQueensU. Tanya is also a current PhD student in Clinical Psychology at Queen’s University. Lets hear more…
Posted in Guest Posts Tagged with: networking, organization, professional development, TEDx, TEDxQueensU
On Feeling Overwhelmed
As graduate students, you have to prepare for your courses, work on your research, and fulfill your teaching responsibilities. You may also need to spend time with your spouse/partner, children, family members, and friends. What about regular, daily household chores…
Posted in Overwork, Student Perspective, Time off Tagged with: expanding horizons, Grad Student Life, mental health, productivity, time management, work-life balance
On Dissertation-on-the-Lake
I am a proponent of making writing social. In one of my previous blog posts, I touched briefly on writing retreats to overcome isolation among graduate students. Here at Queen’s, we are lucky that the School of Graduate Studies (SGS)…
Posted in Thesis Tagged with: Elbow lake, productivity, resources, SGS, summer, thesis, work-life balance
On writing blocks and getting unstuck
Have you ever experienced a writing block? Last February, I attended a special lecture by Visiting Professor Deborah Britzman. Professor Britzman holds the York Research Chair in Pedagogy and Psycho-Social Transformation. Her lecture was on a topic that is close…
Posted in Thesis Tagged with: Dissertation Boot Camp, productivity, professional development, thesis, writing, writing block
On Craftsmanship as a Metaphor for Research
How do you frame your scholarship? Do you have a metaphor for how you approach your thesis or dissertation? In her book Write No Matter What: Advice for Academics, Joli Jensen extols the benefits of craftsmanship as a metaphor or…
Posted in Thesis Tagged with: habits, professional development, research, research skills, student-supervisor relationship, thesis
On my favorite books from 2017
I try to squeeze in time to read books outside of my research area. I read more non-fiction books nowadays, especially those in the self-help and academic writing genre. Here I’m sharing 8 books from my 2017 reading list. These…
Posted in General, Professional Development, Uncategorized, views Tagged with: Grad Student Life, professional development, resources, Student perspective