Photo credit: Jefferson BM
The negative bits of doing a PhD are very easy to find online (and worth thinking about), but the positive points may arguably be more important if you are deciding whether to start a PhD or going through difficult times of your PhD journey. So I thought sharing my personal thoughts about what I've liked and what I value from this experience may be useful for others. I'll try to be brief and focus on four main points to explain why I have liked being a PhD student:
First, I can pursue questions I am genuinely interested in, having both independence and support. How come I value this so much? Well, before starting my program, I worked in research institutions and in education. Experiences in the workplace (although valuable for their own reasons, won't get into this here) have shown me that going after the topics you most like and deciding how you will spend your time is very rare. In fact, even within academia PIs complain about all the time taken up by tasks they would rather not do, such as administrative work. While you're doing a PhD, you not only have the chance of posing your own research questions and what methods and approaches you will use to tackle them, but you also decide how your work routines will look like. Be careful though, some PhDs request that you dedicate a lot of time as a teaching assistant, consider this when deciding where to do your PhD. Regardless if some of your time goes into teaching or not, it is true you are setting your own goals and therefore deciding how high up the bar is. It is hard work, but you do not get bored. This intellectual independence, which allows you to succumb to curiosity and find your own challenges, is also accompanied by a support system. This is essential to turn your dreams into realistic, achievable goals and get things done. Your support system starts with your supervisors, research team and collaborators. They are all key for academic reasons and, maybe even most importantly, to back you emotionally and give you some perspective when things get a little tough. Having them is complemented by belonging to an academic institution, which gives you access to resources and tools you will need, as well as a good presentation card to build on your relations with collaborators and the scientific community. Oh, and don't forget: this support system will also make easier getting money for research!
The second reason: Sure, I am dedicating time and effort to something I enjoy and believe in, but I am also working on myself, growing professionally and as a person. The work you do is of prime interest, and participating in conferences and writing papers is very stimulating and represent key milestones in your career. But don't forget that not everything is about your clever ideas and interesting findings. In reality, I've found that your achievements as a person, and the lessons about being a kind, generous and honest researcher, will come to you first during your PhD experience. They might be harder to see, but take the time to identify your personal growth and value them as breakthroughs too. In addition, the training you will receive and the skills you will acquire along the way are useful for the work you will be doing beyond your PhD.
In the third place, I still am a student who is learning about new and challenging topics, and at the same time I can share things I am really passionate about with others. The experience of having students and seeing them improve their skills in the field, question established ideas in science and develop their own research interests has been one of the best parts of my PhD so far. I've also treasured the moments when people, belonging to local farmer communities, park rangers or family and friends, have shown interest in our work and understood its importance. Finding common grounds where people share their own reflections and deep appreciation for nature fills me with hope.
My fourth point is more specific to doing a PhD in ecology: I get to spend a lot of time outside in beautiful places and in close connection with nature. I am doing fieldwork in the high mountain ecosystems of the Northern Andes, more specifically in Chingaza National Natural Park and surroundings in Colombia. Conditions are difficult sometimes because it can get cold, windy and wet. Plus when it is a sunny day, solar radiation is high, and physical work at 3,300 m asl means you are frequently out of air. However, the paramo and high-Andean forests are fascinating ecosystems and have breathtaking views. To have the chance of working for these places, improving our understanding of their complexity, often feels like a dream came true.
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