What My First Year of My Ph.D. Taught Me

It’s the end of August, and you know what that means. Students have been out of school, (hopefully) enjoying their summer that is quickly coming to a close. Perhaps you are one of those students, a post-secondary student—one who is looking to pursue graduate studies in the form of a Ph.D. Perhaps you are seeking real-life experience from those “on the ground”. If you are, you’ve come to the right place. Perhaps you are someone who is just curious about “what exactly does an academic do? “, because someone you care about is in a graduate program. If so, you’ve also come to the right place.

Here, in one of my longer posts, I will break down the structure of the first year of my program. While Ph.D. structure may vary across discipline and geographical region, and also whether you’re full-time or part-time, I must start somewhere. I am a full-time Theology/Biblical Studies Ph.D. student who studies in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Ph.D. structure in North America is much different than it is across the pond, and there are also differences in terms of who chooses your research project. Here, I will disclose expected time commitments, general expectations (from myself and supervisors), as well as, of course, the impact on my own well-being.

Structure of a Ph.D. program

My Ph.D. program is a minimum of 4 years long, and a maximum of 6. Many life events can extend out a Ph.D., including family and work responsibilities, or lack of funding, which means that in order to finish a Ph.D., you must have equal amounts of focus and support. Other Ph.D. programs in different fields and in different schools have a varying maximum number of years.

Full-time first-year Ph.D. students in North America largely complete course work, much like an undergrads or Master’s level students. Note that the expectations of these courses change significantly at the Ph.D. level, which I tackle in the next section.

In subsequent years, we are expected to write language exams and our thesis prospectus (second year), write comprehensive exams (third year), and write our dissertation (fourth year). My program requires us to take 8 courses. Two of these are pre-selected courses taken with our cohort—that is, the students who started at the same level as you at the same time. We must also take pre-approved (by our supervisor) methodology course. Depending on your program, the list of methodology courses may not be explicit, and will require input from your supervisor.

There is some flexibility in my program, but taking too few courses in a semester isn’t recommended. It will delay your ability to move to the next phase of your program. Naturally, I took the maximum number of recommended classes in a semester. This is 3 in the Fall semester (Sept-Dec), and 3 in the Winter semester (Jan-Apr), with the expectation of taking my final two classes the following Fall (Fall 2024). Though you can take summer classes, your selection will be limited because many professors also take a break from teaching. And, you will likely need the change in pace anyway. You will also need to fill out progress reports: one in the Fall, and one in the summer. For my program, these were due at the beginning of October and June.

So, to wrap up: first year Ph.D. students must: 1) take courses full-time, and excel in them, and 2) fill out progress reports. At least, those are the most basic requirements on paper.

How Did I Actually Spend My Time?

Coursework

You might be an undergraduate student who is used to taking 5 classes (the max of what is considered full-time in undergrad) a semester. If so, you might think that 3 courses gives you loads of extra time. Please don’t be fooled, because an undergrad class is not the same as a Ph.D. class.

The amount of work required by 3 Ph.D. courses is about the same as at least 4-5 undergraduate courses. In fact, I only know of one other colleague who did 4 Ph.D. courses in a semester—due to limited course availability—and they needed special permission.

I heard somewhere in my undergrad that with each hour of classtime, you should expect to put in 3 hours of study time. So for, say, a 5-course undergrad semester with an average of five 3-hour classes, that’s 60 hours a week. Of course, not all undergrads put in that time. While the hourly expectation at the Ph.D. level isn’t explicitly stated, you’ll be at least putting in the same number of hours as a full-time job.

One reason why 3 courses is considered full-time is because the expectations are much higher. Not only are you in a higher-tier program than an undergrad or Master’s program, but in my own program, our average grade cannot be lower than an A-. That’s right—grades still matter at the Ph.D. level. Each assignment requires more intensive deep-diving than it did in my undergraduate degree, or even in either of my Master’s degrees. To give an overarching summary: undergrads learn how to research. Master’s students refine these research skills. And Ph.D. students research with the intent for sharing their findings with the wider academic sphere. This means that a paper that would have received an A at the Master’s level may be receiving a B+ at the Ph.D. level.

Furthermore, in an undergrad class (or even a Master’s level class, depending on your school), you might be used to coming to class to just “show up” and have your head counted. This does not work for Ph.D. level courses. Though the professor teaches, you, as doctoral students, must—consistently—lead and foster discussion. There might be only 8 of you (or less!) in a class. You will give presentations on the papers you read, or give immediate feedback to your colleagues after they present. Though you may occasionally sit and absorb more than sharing, at any moment, your name could be called. And you must give a coherent response. We also must write weekly insightful reflections on our readings, and translate passages. As a Bible student in Old Testament, I had to translate passages of the Hebrew Old Testament and Aramaic passages into English each week.

A second, unofficial reason why 3 courses is full-time is because you will have other time commitments as part of academia yet outside of coursework. At least, I suspect that this is the reason. These commitments may not be stated in your student handbook, but they are very real. I address them in the following sections.

Applications for Funding

Your program might already provide you some funding for your program, but usually it’s not enough to actually live on. Many funding applications require you to submit essentially a computerized academic CV, a well-crafted research proposal, and reference letters. This means you have to plan way ahead, especially as some applications have early deadline dates. In other words, you might have to hit the ground running with a solid research proposal as the school year begins. In your first year, you might not know enough about what you want to research yet in order to write such a proposal! And that’s normal. Many students who think they do will find that their scope isn’t narrow enough. This is just part of the learning process. At the very least, crafting such a proposal will help focus you for the long-haul.

This being said, you can expect to spend 5–30 hours per funding application, so choose carefully. Most are competitive and are not guaranteed.

Conferences

If you’re in a Ph.D. program with the aims of staying in academia, conferences must be in your vocabulary. Exposing yourself to as much feedback, conversation, and even criticism regarding your research is invaluable. This feedback will help spur on new directions in your research. Conferences are also a prime way to network with other scholars, which could open job opportunities in the future for after you’ve finished your Ph.D.

And also, conferences are fun. If you’re a Ph.D. student, you probably enjoy listening to good presentations. Well, conferences involve listening to presentations from your colleagues, your mentors, and from well-respected people in your field. Surrounded by people in your field, you will feel like you belong from the get-go in all of your nerd-dom. In this past year, I attended four conferences and presented at three.

Yet, conferences do take up a lot of time. And expense! Booking flights, accommodation, and sometimes transportation takes forever and gets expensive, fast. This is another reason why scholarships are crucial. Many last for a few days and start first thing in the morning, so you’ll have to arrive the day before. Packing conference-wear with all your tech/notes into travel-friendly carry-ons is a skill. Pack light, and pack clothes that don’t wrinkle easily. This, along with the travel itself—expect a good 4 days minimum out of your otherwise available study time for each conference.

On top of this, adapting your papers to present at conferences is also a timesink. If you’re not used to presenting, this might come as a surprise. But often, adapting paper-writing to speaking takes almost as much time as writing a new paper, which you’ll have to incorporate into your tight schedule.

Back to Life Outside of School (Is there one?)

Completing course work, applying for scholarships, and attending conferences already sounds like a lot. But as a Ph.D. student, it’s very likely that you have even more hats to wear. Many of my cohort are spouses and parents. Some of us are multi-vocational. As for myself this past year, I was and am a Lay Minister at my church, which means that I teach weekly Bible study and sometimes preach. I was and am also on the Board of the Canadian Bible Society, which meant accommodating full-day board meetings regarding the administration of the organization, sometimes even across the country (which meant another multi-day trip, fortunately over reading week).

On a personal front, I am also a bridesmaid for two weddings this year, which has its own (though definitely more fun) responsibilities. Life doesn’t stop moving just because you’re in a program that demands much of your time, and it’s up to you to figure out how to keep up the pace.

Sometimes because of needing to prioritize school, I had little left to give to my life outside of school, and I know my loved ones felt that. I appreciate their picking up my slack. Even my daily Bible reading waned, and I found myself running on empty and burning out. I stopped my leisure reading and writing. Even playing Scrabble—my favourite game—hurt my head because I was just looking at more words.

So if you’re a graduate student, don’t neglect rest or life outside of school. I know you’re where you are because you love to research and you love to learn, but you can’t be any good at research or learning if you don’t let your brain reboot periodically. Just as a a professional athlete needs to take breaks from physical activity, your brain needs breaks from intense brain work.

Smell the roses. Bake some cookies. Clean the hallway. Talk to your family. You’ll feel better, I promise.

A Note For Christians

As this is Joyful for Jesus, and I am a Christian in a theology program, I must bring up the Lord, here, too. Because I truly believe that God brought me here, and He deserves all the glory. All the glory, forever and ever, amen.

As a grad student, even though I’m surrounded by scripture in my program, this is not enough. We cannot only study the Bible as a textbook.

True, there is a time and place for that. We can analyze scripture ’til our eyes go fuzzy. We can definitely make good content and sermons through looking at the Bible through such a lens. But the Bible is not meant to be just a textbook.

The Bible is not just informative, but transformative.

If we really want to practice what we preach, we must not look at scripture as a tool to produce something new, but to let God speak truth and life into our lives through His word. And it’s out of that fruitfulness, along with some biblical study, that we are transformed and can share our transformation with others. Reading the Bible, soaking it in—with no agenda, especially—is such a wonderful way to connect with God and give our brain that much-needed reboot.

This being said, here are some other lessons I’ve learned over this past year. That is, if you’ve read nothing above and just skipped to the bottom, you’ll still learn something.

A Recap of Ph.D. Lessons Learned

• Plan your semester in advance and start early. Papers take more time to write and to read than before. Even though you’ve likely already done graduate school before, don’t convince yourself that it’s “more of the same.”
• Treat conference & funding applications/as well as attending conferences as separate courses. That is, give them the same amount of time as a course. These fill up your plate fast. 
• Applying to speak at conferences gives you great experience with public speaking about your research and finding other scholars who can speak into your work and help you out of a rut. 
• Give yourself grace for when you mess up (because you will). Maybe you will misapply a methodology, miss a deadline for a conference, or even miss your alarm. These things happen, and the world keeps turning. Do what you can when you can, and let the Lord handle the rest.
• If you focus on your own efforts and what you feel responsible for, you will burn out quickly. Remember that it is not a mistake that you are here. Know that you can put down the pen if you need to. 
• Give yourself a Sabbath each week, because you need one. Remember that you have a job to do (your program), but you also have life to live and family to love.
• It’s rare for PhD students to get where they are merely on their own. Many have families they come home to and responsibilities outside of school and family. Loved ones are always picking up the slack, so make sure to recognize your loved one’s love and work.
• It can feel daunting to “just pick a topic”. You got here because you love to learn. Maybe you love to learn everything. But first, just write about what interests you, and go from there. There is likely a central theme around the papers you’ve written so far.
• When you’re feeling overwhelmed, unplug. Delete social media (even if it’s just for a day). Put down the phone. Feel the breeze on your face. Clean your bathroom. Water the flowers. Remember that there is more to life than just producing good research.
• Treasure your cohort classes. You might never see members of your cohort outside of these classes, but their input and opinions are valuable, even if you don’t agree. You’ll also feel less alone as you share (and commiserate) together. 
• Add your classmates on social media if they have it. Exchange contact info. This road is a lonely one, and you will need friends who “get it”.
• Talk to your supervisors. It is up to you as the student to arrange regular meetings. Ask for advice. Know that you’re not alone in this journey, and your supervisors are there to help guide the way.

Whether you’re an academic or not, if you’ve learned something from this article, feel free to comment below!

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