This month’s blog is by Deepti KC, a new PhD student with the SHIP research group. She is supervised by Dr. Valerie Ness, Prof. Kay Currie and Dr. Jan Smith.
I vividly remember being offered a scholarship to commence a Ph.D. with the Safeguarding Health through Infection Prevention (SHIP) Research group at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU). I was happy and paranoid at the same time. I was thrilled because I was so excited to start my Ph.D. at GCU and hoped to learn so much from it. I was overjoyed because I was finally going to live my dream! And I was a little anxious because I was about to travel from Nepal to the United Kingdom and find myself in a foreign land. However, everyone embraced me with wide arms, so I soon realized that my paranoia was unwarranted.
I began my Ph.D. journey online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For me, the initial meeting with my supervisors was amazing. I work with an incredible group of supervisors and enjoy every minute of it. I consider myself fortunate to be part of a team that supports international students like me. I never expected a student from a small country like Nepal to be accepted and welcomed by so many people. My Ph.D. is challenging, and as an international student, it can be intimidating at times, but I’m navigating over those challenges thanks to my supervisors’ unfailing support. I lose track of what I’m doing at times, but they’re like my Stars, motivating and directing me in the correct way. I’ll never be able to express my gratitude to them enough!!
So far, I’ve been to two SHIP group meetings and one SHIP seminar. What I’ve learned so far from my supervisors, SHIP meetings, and seminars is how vital patience and perseverance are in completing a Ph.D. It takes patience to take things slowly and persistence to try again and again. And, more importantly, I must preserve these attitudes for the rest of my Ph.D.
GCU has taught me that it makes no difference where you come from or how big or small your dreams are. All you need to do is hold out for it to unfold.
To find out more about the SHIP team, head on to the GCU website, read the rest of our blogs and follow us on Twitter @SHIPGCU