It is still winter here in the United Kingdom. However, signs of spring have started to bloom. To be very honest, experiencing all the four seasons is perhaps one of the best parts of my stay in the UK. It’s such an amazing experience to note the beautiful transition from one season to another. Every season and the period preceding it, has its own unique impact and beauty.
Being from Saudi Arabia, a country with only two seasons i.e. summer and extreme summer, I appreciate these seasons even more.
As far as my Ph.D. thesis writing is concerned, I am doing just fine. Unfortunately, due to the rift with my previous supervisor — details of which are already part of a previous article — I had to work on a new research proposal to start working with my new supervisor. Ph.D. scholars are fully aware what does that mean and how long it takes? It is a cumbersome process to convince one’s supervisor about the proposal.
Needless to say, with the changed proposal the whole research approach changes and forces the scholar to start all over again.
My supervisor and I are working overtime to make up for the lost time. Initially, I thought that I would be able to submit my thesis without the need for any extension but now I am beginning to realize that I might need a little more time so as to come up with a solid thesis free of errors or flaws. For that one has to struggle with the university. Recently, universities in the UK have become under great pressure to ensure that Ph.D. students submit their thesis within four years and any requests for extension will affect their submission rates. Therefore, the university, despite the great support I received from them when I had problems with my first supervisor, was very weary when it came to the extension. We are working toward the resolution of the issue. I have a small piece of advice for students: Never settle for solutions before understanding all the consequences in the long run. I was satisfied when I officially reported the incident with my previous supervisor and then allocated another one. I worked really hard to avoid the need for any extensions, and now I am thinking that I could have dealt with the issue differently to save my rights. I should have explicitly talked with my department to ensure full compensation of my lost year; I should have done it at that time. It is a fact of life that issues fizzle out when you don’t tackle them when they are still hot. It is not fair that we have to bear the consequences of our own victimization. But at the same time, it is our responsibility to ensure that our rights are preserved because no one else will stand for us if we decided to let go or settle for unsatisfactory solutions.
