Making sacrifices...

[zgotts]

I am very interested in going for a PhD in Neuroscience, and am currently working in a lab to prepare for that and to figure out what exactly it is that I want to study.

For me one of the major hangups about grad school is that I'm going to need to sacrifice most, if not all, of my other interests outside of science in order to succeed as a PhD. It seems like the people I work with in my lab are all singular-minded people who live and breathe science, and nothing else.

Personally, I love Neuroscience and am excited to attempt to answer some of the questions I have come up with over the years, but I also really love the creative/artistic/musical side of my life.

by no means do I expect to play in a touring/gigging band or even play/practice daily as a PhD student, but for me a life without creative activity, as in art, or in my case, music, would be pretty sad.

So, I am asking PhDs and PhD students, were you able to maintain any major extracurricular activities/hobbies, or did you have to sacrifice all non-science related interests?

Thanks!

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[erg923]

I see no reason why neuroscience, or neuroscientists, should be at odds with the creative arts. In fact, there is alot of interesting work being done in the neuroscience community on the effects of music on the brain. The cerebral organization of musicians is often different than non-musicians. In addition, one of the studies were are recruiting for right now is an fMRI study of the effects classical music in depressed subjects. The relationship between creativity, artistic abilities, and the propensity for schizotypy in this population is also of interest to neuroscientists working in schizophrenia research. I also saw a program on PBS not too long ago ago about the neurological substrates of various musical abilities. It was hosted by a very famous neuroscience researcher from Canada (can't remember his name, but I recognized the name when I saw it) who is quite the accomplished jazz saxophonist as well.

A Ph.D will keep you busy, no doubt. I'm in a Ph.D in clinical but, my wife and I have a decent social life for a married couple both in our mid twenties. We can still do fun stuff on the weekends and we see lots of movies. I think my program might be an anomaly though, as we are all very social for busy Ph.D students (not too many introverted "lab rats") and we have thrown quite a few themed parties on the weekends. We also got all the guys from all the years together and started an intramural hockey team, which is great way to blow off stress.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

You find time, but it can be tricky. I enjoy playing the piano, so it is something I find time to do.....but sometimes I go awhile and don't do it. I like the term "compromise" better....as it makes it sound less drastic.

 

[RayneeDeigh]

I'm an ex-nationally ranked musician (brag brag brag, it was my former life) and I've given it up cold turkey since starting grad school because it would just make me too sad to hear how crappy I sound now. But I can tell you that if I really wanted to keep playing, I would be able to find time. I toyed with the idea of joining the wind ensemble on campus but it's Thursday nights which is when we have to be in Proseminar.

It's basically all about what you make a priority. I like to eat and sleep and watch bad reality TV so that's what I do. You can make time for anything that is important to you pretty much.

 

[cara susanna]

I know that you mean. I really hope that I can continue to study singing on the side if/when I get to grad school.

 

[joetro]

I really don't think you need to sacrifice everything. A student a year above me is an accomplished actress and singer and often performs in plays, etc. She's definitely still able to make time for all of that. Other colleagues and myself often do little things like workout classes, book clubs, etc. I actually think it's better to balance work with play as it keeps you more focused on the work. I just don't think it's helpful to assume you have to work 80-hour weeks or give up everything else for any Ph.D. program. You'll be pretty miserable.

 

[myelin]

I'm in a MA program, not PhD but I can relate to this. This was personal choice, but I used to have a ton of hobbies and dropped most all of them for a lack of time and funds, two things that aren't readily available while in graduate school. In trade, I immersed myself within my studies and now find it difficult to take my mind off of them for even a second. In my spare time, I now work on research projects instead of working on a car.

A new hobby I've taken up is hiking which is relatively cheap. However, by the weekend I'm usually worn out and end up bumming around the apartment.

 

[PsyDr]

the more you put in, the more you get out. in neuroscience, your marketability upon gradaution will largely depend on your publication record.

i would imagine, based upon my own observations, that the competition for neuroscience jobs has increased over the last decade. i attribute this to the increase in the # of neuroscience students in the last decade.

i would investigeate what the average salary of a neuroscientist is at the BLS. i would then look at the sfn website and see how many jobs there are availble on their classified section. i would then look at the average # of publications required. and i would go to sfn (which, btw, is a GREAT time). and ask all the vendors about their hiring practices. then i would make a decision about how hard i needed to work to pursue this degree.

 

[Cosmo75]

It's important to maintain some balance in grad school, otherwise you have a high risk of burning out. Since it seems like you're dedicated to a neuroscience career take care of yourself during your training so that when you're done, you don't hate what you do. Keep some boundaries about "work-life balance" and learn how to say no. That was one of my hardest things to learn in grad school (saying no). Because you get so many good opportunities, you want to do them all. But there are only so many hours in the day, and at least some of those should be dedicated to what you enjoy. Schedule time in your calendar if you have to. But find some time.