Friends who know I'm in York doing a PhD envy me. 'You don't take classes?!' asks a girlfriend who has just started her PhD in New York. 'No, we kind of don't.' 'Wow, you'll be Dr. Lin before you hit thirty!' says another one who has been working in a publishing house in Taipei. 'I certainly hope so, but
' Just like that, sometimes it is hard to describe how it truly feels like to be a PhD student in this country. I chose to do it here, and I'm delighted to be working on my current project, but it has not been pleasant everyday. After reading a rejection note from a conference co-ordinator, I felt frustrated, and did not feel like working. It was only the first try; I should know many more daunting moments are yet to come. However, why wasn't anyone there when I had to suffer from things like this? Bridget Jones has Mark Darcy to rescue her from troubles, but when a PhD student's supposed to be in love with piles and piles of books, I reckon dreaming about a Darcy character to be around is silly. No wonder some research students never set foot in any cinemas. Made-in-Hollywood romantic scenes could have devastating effects on certain future academics' devoted minds. That won't stop me though.
Wan-yu
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