Conference season (the first post PhD)

“You must enjoy all that time off in the summer.” I am not sure just how many times I have explained to my parents that summer is, for those research-orientated, just as busy as the rest of the year. Conference season starts in full force, and it’s also time to catch up on all of the research plans we had to abandon during our months teachings. This means writing papers, books, articles, those conference papers for the aforementioned season and endless to-do lists to keep track of projects. If care is not taken, it is a time of managing repetitive strain injury from all of the typing. At present, I am working on three books, a journal article, presented a conference paper two weeks ago and have one due in two more weeks.

The workload is self-directed although not entirely self-imposed. Academia is often competitive and we are judged for our outputs, but it is also imperative that teaching is informed by research. It is crucial to September that there has been time to engage with research. It is the only way to update lectures and seminars with the best material for students. The intensity though, feels joyous. The marking is done, and there is a freedom to the direction of work that does not exist during the semester(s). There is a sense of liberation, perhaps masking a slight tingle of anxiety at how very different the life of a researcher is post PhD.

During teaching, nothing much had really changed except for the fact I got to put Dr. at the start of my PowerPoint slides (nice, but hardly significant). Now, my research projects are created, crafted, edited and submitted all without input from a helpful advisor. There are no meetings or check ins about my progress. It is mine to steer, and mine to rescue when something goes awry. There’s an exhilaration to have more time to write on something other than that bloody Mass Effect series, but it is laced with an occasional glance behind me, wondering if I am still doing this research thing okay. I may well never have an answer on that one, but the unknown is something I will have to adjust to.

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