A
male
age
30-35,
anonymous
writes:I'm currently in a massive state of indecision about my future and I was hoping for some advice.I'm 8 or so months into a postgraduate degree in chemistry, and the option to extend it to a three year PhD course came up a few months ago. At the time, I wasn't feeling at all confident in my abilities in the field, and I was also letting the degree take over my life in general e.g. getting overly stressed about any lab results that weren't ideal, coming into the lab far too often out of hours... However, now I've adjusted into the lifestyle more, and I can see that the other students I work with (and really get on with too) are a lot closer to a 9 til 5 with the odd bit of overtime than the sort of "taking over your life" hours I initially put in. All in all, given the good pay for it, the good people and the more casual lifestyle of it since I matured a bit, I think I might have made an error turning down the PhD.Now, I know my supervisor asked another student to talk me into staying for the PhD, but I was a bit pigheaded and kept talking about how I was gonna travel instead. Now, this is still an option. However I do worry I'll be leaving behind a good opportunity (the money and the fact I can move to a flat with friends instead of my current one where I barely know the people I live with) for the hell of it.On the other hand, I was convinced I should just ask if the PhD is still available last night, but this morning I felt stressed out and unsure again, the thought of another two years of science overwhelming and worrying me. I have a feeling that stress won't really go away.So, I don't know what to do short of flipping a coin. I can see too many pros and cons in both staying, or leaving to travel and then considering further education afterwards. I'm young enough to take the time to travel, and I have savings, but... I dunno. It's difficult. Any advice?
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male
reader, Danielepew  +, writes (19 May 2012):
 Do as Annalisa said. Go for the Ph. D. If you're bored, whatever, then you can travel.
A
male
reader, Mr. Y  +, writes (18 May 2012):
Never loose a chance to study more.Go ahead and do it.You may have to struggle for a couple of more years but if you did it upto now why not do it for 2 more years.At least you wont have any regrets after that.If I was your friend , I would not just advise you to go for it I would rather push you to go and do it.
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A
female
reader, person12345  +, writes (18 May 2012):
 Whether you get a PhD depends on what you want to do with your life. In any physical science you really do need a PhD for most jobs. Basically if you ever want to be the boss of anything/in charge of anything, you need a PhD. You will get the chance to travel to lots of conferences and symposiums and such if you are good at what you do. There are tons of opportunities for this. In between your PhD and postdoctorate position, you can travel then as well.
Not everyone has the opportunity to get a PhD and really, 3 years is not that long to completely change your life. You open so many more doors having that degree over a masters. I have grown up surrounded by scientists and I have to say, I have never met one with a masters. They ALL have PhDs. So if you want to be a chemist of some kind, you really do need that PhD. Very few people will take a chemist with only a masters degree seriously.
So really it comes down to whether or not you actually want to be a chemist. If you do, then you absolutely need to get that PhD. If not, then you should just finish your current program and finds what interests you. If you are, you are essentially torching your career if you don't pursue your PhD just so you can travel for a year.
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A
female
reader, Anonymous 123  +, writes (18 May 2012):
 I'm doing a PhD in Sociology, and I've traveled, a lot. I've been to many conferences, I've seen 5 countries, I've had the best time of my life. The best thing is, I've not had to pay a dime for any travelling because its always all been paid for. Surprisingly the conferences that I've attended have been as varied as you can imagine. I've attended the World Social Science Forum in Bergen, Norway and conferences on Spirituality in Italy, France and India. Much of it isn't even connected to my work in sociology, its a matter of interest and a part of multidisciplinary studies.
What I'm trying to say is, if you get the chance to do a PhD, TAKE IT. Your research need not necessarily be focused only on chemistry, you can write papers, get published, attend conferences AND get to travel...all for free if you're lucky
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A
female
reader, ineedyou  +, writes (18 May 2012):
 I would definitely take the PhD! I think you love what you do and you just let stress get you. I know sometimes we can feel trapped in a kind of life we don't want, but you won't! You have good friends and I'm sure you're great at what you do (I mean, they really begged you to take the PhD). Being a teacher, I believe there is nothing more important than education and since you're being offered this amazing opportunity I reckon it'd be a shame to turn it down. You are still so young! And you'll always be able to travel later on in life. I, for instance, took all my Post-Grad qualifications, became a teacher, got a good job and then decided I didn't just want to work but I could easily manage to work AND travel extensively during the summer. Enjoy your PhD! Such a great opportunity!
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