What is one of your biggest achievements so far?
One of the biggest things that I have achieved during my candidature so far is completing my proposal and getting my candidature confirmed.
What is a skill that you did not have before your candidature?
Something that I couldn’t do before was in terms of how I look for literature and include it in my writing. I am becoming more comfortable with progressing through my literature review which is quite complex and something that I have been working on for over two years.
Another skill that I have built is the act of reflecting and recognising the importance of documenting the process. I never know what might be relevant to keep track of and have made it a habit to keep going with it.
What is the evidence of the development of these skills?
How can you use different language to make these skills clear to someone who is outside of academia?
What made you feel happy, joy or excitement?
I have felt the most joy when I am working through how I would perceive something to look such as my methodology chapter which I had worked on without my supervisors for a large amount of time. Their feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
When have you been in flow?
Perhaps when I am reading papers that are really resonating with me and I can see the connections to my data or relevance to my research question. Sometimes these papers also tap into the rationale behind my own purpose doing this research and makes me excited to consider the contribution I will be making to my field.
What made you feel angry, frustrated, anxious or sad?
When I was unable to collect the data I had intended and communicated with my supervisor, it was clear that I needed to learn more about my methodology and gain confidence in it. I also need to recollect data which feels like a step back or a waste of time.
When did time drag?
Sometimes I have found it discouraging working on my own because this is a project that no one but myself will ever understand to this level of detail. I am someone who thrives off communication with others and it is challenging at times not having others to work with.
What opportunities do you have to harness the strengths/develop your weaknesses?
I feel like communication with my supervisors makes me comfortable and feel as though I am making progress, I am in the right place, this research is important/worthy.
I am doing a blog to try to keep my reflections progressing and also to help myself later down the track. I think having connections to my participants that allow me to collect more appropriate data has fed my strengths. I like to connect with people, understand their experiences and this is a major motivation for me to conduct this research.
What (threats) do I need to look out for?
I feel like I often get distracted or procrastinate because I can lose sight of my research when I haven’t seen my supervisors for a while to keep me on track. I sometime prioritise other things over my research and feel as though I could be doing so much more work because I chose to do other things with my time.
To combat this, I try to make sure I am doing a little bit of work each week, even if it is a little bit of analysis, attending workshops or reading.
What do I want?
In the next 6 months, perhaps I would like to be considering publications, teaching and finishing the data collection.
In the next 12 months, I hope to be completing most of the writing up of my thesis. Possibly have some papers written and be considering the next steps in terms of submission and leaving the PhD.
In the next 3 years, it's hard to say about where I would be. I want to be travelling and contributing research to various areas around the world exploring multilingualism and multiculturalism.
SMART goals before the end of 2021
Have a paper ready to publish by the end of the year.
Complete the last stages of my data collection by the end of the year.
Secure a position teaching or working at the university in some capacity that can contribute to developing my professional self.
What are five tangible things you can do now to get you closer to those goals?
Attend relevant workshops on publishing.
Review relevant information through the library about journals I could publish in and the guides on publishing.
Speak to supervisors about options (my next meeting is scheduled next week).
Begin writing an application/abstract draft for a journal that supervisors could provide feedback on.
Continue conducting my interviews in the time frame I had arranged (I have another interview scheduled this Sunday).
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