If you ask me which was the most beautiful thing that happened to me
during my PhD, I will most definitely reply: Becoming a father! J Last year in
November I became father of little (but also big 😜) Benjamin Antonio.
In some
ways, it felt like starting a second PhD: you don’t know where to start, then
you are learning a lot of things and if you figure out something new you're
very proud of your work. I was getting a real crash course in patience (will he
ever close his eyes and sleep???), team work ("hes hungry!""no,
tired!"), finding solutions under pressure (how to make him stop
screaming) and generally staying positive while being stressed overwhelmed,
tired and exhausted. If you ask me, there are a lot of good skills for the CV
here 😀
Being a young parent is definitely challenging and time consuming,
and therefore not always easy to combine with PhDing. Some people told me, my
timing for having a baby was not so good, but I am glad that right now I can still
work flexible hours and that I was supported by my programme. This way I was
able to spend time with my baby but also keep on pushing forward my PhD. Plus,
having a child around and playing with him also helped me a lot with getting my mind off my Phd
challenges and prevented some over thinking.
Most importantly the support that I get from my family is
the best motivation to finish my PhD in time.
