Surviving the PhD grind: 4 lessons I learned the hard way
All of my classmates laughed loudly. My teacher was pissed off. I felt my face turn red and just wanted to run away. It was during my mathematics class when I was a 10-year-old elementary student. The teacher posed a question about the multiplication method. The classroom was silent. I thought for a while and decided to raise my hand. After my answer, the entire class erupted in laughter because I was incorrect. The teacher came over with a ruler and struck my palm as a punishment. Ever since that day, I have had a fear of making mistakes. 1. Doing research is making mistakes (again and again). The academic system penalizes mistakes, reinforcing the idea that they are unacceptable. As I aimed to be the top student in every subject and to get an A+ (or a 10 on the Vietnamese grading scale) on all my exams, I pushed myself to finish every question on tests flawlessly and try not to make mistakes in any answers. Although my pursuit of perfection helped me succeed i...
