The hardship of being a student

Many people, our family, (some) friends and acquaintances will probably, at some point, tell us: "C'mon, don't be like that. Those will be the best days of your life".

How wrong (or not so guaranteed to be right) those words are... I have had the chance, even if for a short amount of time, to work in my field of study, and completely apart from it. Working in my field of study has been one of the best experiences so far, and one thing I'm sure of - I certainly DO NOT MISS being evaluated, the stress of close deadlines, exams, and the frustration and demotivation of not being able to study or lacking time to do so.

It's completely wrong to think study times are easy -  it's ridiculous. Some would say I am probably just being a lazy ass, but I'm not. I have tried very hard to exceed my own expectations, push myself to focus and keep working - but it's easy said. I get tired and sick of being demanded to write about things I don't know, understand things others explain poorly, and in the end (except in rare cases) being branded with a number. From 0 to 20. Even if it is a 20, it's just a number. Which does not reflect the effect it had on you - during the work, the almost sadness of wanting to spend personal time with those you like, but you can't because you sacrifice every bit of your time towards work; and after the work is finished, the relief - even if the work was poorly done, you still have the relief, for an instant, of not being burdened by the responsibility of work.

I am tired. I surely don't miss assignments. And, on another (but not independent subject) I'd like to ask Professors and supervisors a little respect for student who enslave themselves and allow getting used for benefit of others. Why do we do it? Because science! Because it's in us and it's who we are - we want to become researchers so badly we allow ourselves to go through every little shit we are told to do.

It's hard to find motivation in all this. But hey: better times will come, right? We do this for the relief and satisfaction after submitting assigned work. We do this because in the end (and in the process) we learn something. Even if we only see a mountain, we learn at every step.

So please, fellow students and researchers: since there is no elevator to sucess, we have to take the stairs. And many people will take them along with you.

Deciding on a Career - PhD or not to PhD?

Sometime in the life of a student fascinated about science, a question will come: go for a PhD or not? You may think the time for such decision has come for me, but in fact, it hasn't: I'm still half way in my Master's, so why am I making a post about this?

Truth is, I have given this question some thinking, but only now that other people ask me what I'll do it's become more serious. Partly because the outcome of my Master's thesis will influence my choice of  "if", "where" and "with who" I will do a PhD.

Some readers probably know I am a bit (a big bit) of a petrolhead. I like cars, but more importantly, I love to learn - hence my passion for restoration and modification. That's something I still have not had time to put into. Mostly because I'm not a very time-organized person. But it's definitely something important for me.

On the other hand, I am passionate about neuroscience. Sometimes the difficulties in a project make me wonder if I should be studying this, but fortunately I've had a recent conversation with a colleague. That conversation was a life changer. Right now I truly believe I will go for a PhD. And that's the result of never getting enough of science. I thing both my passions (cars and neuroscience, with everything attached to those two) are two sides of the same coin: looking to know how thing work.

The ideal situation for me would be to do both simultaneously: restomodding a Datsun as a hobby while doing the PhD. However... The ideal country for each of them is not the same. I hope I can find balance in the future.

I am thinking too much ahead. But thinking sometimes is good. I am grateful someone made me think and realise what I want. For now, I am happy with finding what I want!

Personal Status Update + a personal cheesy but caring message

In little more than a month I will be leaving my country to stay a few months working in an investigation project. Which sounds pretty cool right?

Well, on one side, of course. On the other, I have had little time for preparations since I am working to make some money during the day and only come to the PC at night.

Days go by without me noticing I'm running out of time for preparing my work abroad. I would like to  keep writing about cars, and bike riding, and Linux stuff I learn here and there... there are a few drafts of ideas I have for blog posts, but there is something much more important now.

When I look back at my life, I know I have not always been the disciplined person I wish I was (otherwise this blog would have much more contents, of course). I have not always been helpful to others when I should have, but more importantly, I have not been up to the person I love the most: my girlfriend.

Even though I am still a klutz, I am getting better over time because of her. And even though I still fail her sometimes, I wish we can both be happy together. So this post is dedicated to her.

To anyone who might read this: remind yourself who are the most important people in your life and make sure you tell them.

How easy is writing a blog post?

A few months after I created this blog to write freely and clear my mind, but after a while I started writing less and less. At first it was because I really had lack of time. But I guess that was the beginning of being lazy about it.

Not only lazy: I, somehow, lost interest. Probably because I did not have an idea of what this blog should be, so in the beginning I was only fuelled by the feeling of having something new. 

Because some posts are useful (such as in the Linux tab), I worried about keeping each post neat and informative. But that was not what I needed from this blog. I needed a place where I could speak my mind freely without worrying about what others might think. Having views made me very strict: I didn't want to disappoint those who read this blog.

I postponed some writing because I didn't think i would be useful to anyone. Except me.

I am a person without much discipline over myself, actually. Keeping restrictions over my writing made me avoid this blog.

It is as easy to write in a blog as much you allow yourself.

That's the conclusion to which I've come.

Maybe I mixed this blog too much. Maybe I should have started it with a single and exact purpose. But I didn't and it's who I am, I am a bit messy too (we all are, more or less).

From now on I hope my writing reflects more of how I think and less of how I make things rational and strict.

Post written under the influence of:

 From Youtube description: "The track is called "A Place To Hide" and its about finding home, whatever "home" means for you. It may be a person, a place or even a side of yourself where you feel most at home. Whatever it is, I hope this track helps you reflect on what it is and how to find it."

Mixed blog

Very quick post with a simple though: after looking at some pretty fascinating blogs dedicated to neuroscience, I'm thinking maybe it should have been a good idea to split the blog instead of running a mixed topic one.

Perils of blogging for the first time. Let's hope this blog doesn't become messy ;)

BTW: The awsome blog I found: Computing for Psychologists