PhD funding

 I am happy that I invested in a PhD. I am better off because of the degree program (You may know that I wanted to join a program in Florida. I ended up in another). Funding it (tuition, expenses such as food and transportation) was a challenge.

Funding for a PhD and finances during the program is an issue for many. I remember my struggles during my PhD program. I had several "side jobs" but still had issues. I missed my regular paycheck from an IT job. I sought funding from different sources.

There is good information out there on the finances of PhD students. I was piqued by a website on Personal Finance for PhDs. There were different experiences.

All Me

There is so much of me in my work. Even the course blogs I created for personal tracking of my PhD course activities say a lot about me. For example, the blog I created for the Research Methods course (http://fmooresignatureassignment3.blogspot.com/?m=0) includes images that say a lot about my background, such as the UG dorm, a red and white flute phone, and a photo of a presentation on Guyana. I stayed at the UG dorm during my first year at the university. I was given a red and white flute phone at Watooka Day School so I could play in the school band.

Online Comments

There were interesting comments to the second video included in yesterday's post "Living On $27K A Year In Seattle, WA", including a video commentary by GP Stephan....

The video itself had 677 comments. Some YouTube users liked her attitude and that she has a plan, praised her decision to follow her dreams by switching to education from business, and were impressed that she saved so much money in four years. Some confirmed that income for PhD students are very low. Some were very negative. One user commented:
"At the end she says living on 27k/year in Seatle is doable, but she's spending $3300/month (almost 40k/year) plus racking up other CC debt. She's buying $300 perfumes and HelloFresh because she's somehow smart enough to get a PhD but can't figure out shopping on her own, WHILE owing her brother 15k+?  Doesn't sound very doable to me. You guys should have interviewed her brother instead."

And, there were 266 comments to GP Stephan's video. Some were based on his comments. 

I thought of the sacrifice needed. I found it interesting that she purchases perfumes. It is a lot like purchasing and enjoying ice cream.

 

 

 

 

 (Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znZCU6W3yBc or https://youtu.be/znZCU6W3yBc?si=W3qQxZGopzTcYaP_)

(Link to GP Stephan's video commentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c973JAK33_s or
https://youtu.be/c973JAK33_s?si=2cvlUkZSYtC96Nk2)

 

Academic Writing

Interesting post from LinkedIn.com....

(Link: Jason Thatcher on LinkedIn: Academic writing as craft)

The post included a link to a blog post on academic writing.

Excerpt from included blog post:

(Link: Academic writing as craft. As a graduate student, I never received… | by Julien Cayla | Aug, 2023 | Medium)

The blog post explained that it takes a long time to master writing. Deliberate practice can lead to mastery in a shorter time.

My comment:

Paper Submitted For Publishing

Today, I submitted a paper to a journal for publishing. I was happy to start submitting papers for publishing again. It has been a few weeks!

The paper I submitted today was inspired by a paper I prepared for one of my PhD classes. It is very similar to my PhD paper but includes new articles that fall under a different topic as well as changes/additions to make the paper more 'publishable' (or worthy of publication). I worked on the paper for quite a while.

I had trouble deciding which journal to submit to. The paper analyzes the results of a number of journal articles and also looks at issues/challenges related to the research method and design of the articles. The topic is technology-related and also retail-related so journals in those fields were options. The paper includes tips for novice researchers who may need to conduct similar research so a journal on research methods was also an option. I settled on a journal on qualitative methods. I await the decision of the editor of the journal.

And, of course, I will continue my work on preparing papers for publishing.

Update 6/2

For me, today is a typical day at home. I am working on modifying one of the papers I prepared for publishing months ago. The modification is going well. I have new and different ideas that I am incorporating into the paper. It will be much better. 

This week went by very quickly. Time seems to be racing by. They say time flies when you’re having fun so I must be having lots of fun. 

Pen And Paper

Sometimes, I just need to use pen and paper to jot down my thoughts or make edits to a document. Maybe you have noticed this in my other blogs - for example:

- In this post, I used my pen and a notebook to organize my thoughts and make major changes to my paper for the Research Methods course: http://fmooresignatureassignment3.blogspot.com/2016/08/rewrite.html. 

- In this post, I used pen and paper to jot down ideas for a presentation: https://bus7130phd.blogspot.com/2019/01/working-working.html.

- And, in this post, I started working on an assignment (a presentation) using pen and paper: http://fmoorephdbus7110.blogspot.com/2018/09/started-working-on-presentation.html. I had limited access to a computer then. I was stranded in New York at the time.

Sometimes I print the document and then make edits to it using a pen. I do this when I find it difficult to work on the electronic version of the document (on my screen). I also prefer to read some books in print. My background probably has something to do with this preference. I grew up reading 'regular' books and wrote in notebooks in school. Electronic books were not available then.

At UMBC, I recall reading research on whether it was easier/simpler/better to read from the screen or from paper.  I think it was the Readings in Human-Centered Computing course. Research shows people learn more when they read print rather than digital text.

Internet

I do not know what happened to the internet connection at home. I am currently using my phone. I guess I will be visiting the library or Starbucks soon. It has been a while since I completed a school assignment/paper in Starbucks. In the past, I sat in Starbucks and worked on important stuff.

Status Dec16

I did not work on my paper today. I was “out sick.” I will work on it again on Monday. 

I am thinking of recording myself finishing the paper. I will need a camera.

Primarily A Consultant

My resume/ LinkedIn profile shows a lot of titles, but my role/job is really Consultant. Here is a short summary:

Over her career, Fahmeena Odetta Moore has worked primarily as a Consultant. She has significant experience working as a Consultant for consulting companies such as ICF International and Grant Thornton on consulting assignments at US Government agencies. In recent positions, she has worked from home.

She has been working on various projects to help fund her PhD.

Next Paper

I am about to select the next paper to work on for publishing. I am not sure which paper I should select. There is the literature review that focused on online reviews. I was told the paper is too long. I still want to publish my decision-making framework though. There is also the paper I prepared for the same course that compared three related journal articles (An Annotated Bibliography).

I prepared a paper that looked at the designs of five studies to learn from examples (I believe it was the Research Design course). That would be a good one too. The topic for that one was social media.

Then there are the statistics papers. I worked hard on the assignments which I thought were very good. I could write a paper on methodology.

I will look into the statistics papers I prepared when I was vacationing in Maryland (from Florida) years ago. Those papers were very good despite the issues I experienced. I recall going to Starbucks to use their internet because my mother did not have internet service (I even tried to use my sister's internet but she was going away on vacation). My mother helped me out a lot. She dropped me off at the Starbucks everyday and picked me up when she was on her way home from work. I also had issues acquiring the statistical software for the course.

Organizational Structure Paper

I made a lot of progress on the organizational structure paper. I decided to include two examples of how companies are structured to compare to the theory. The findings are interesting. I think the paper will be accepted for publishing.

Still Working On Paper For Publishing

After reviewing one of my old blogs, I now understand why I selected the three articles included in the paper mentioned yesterday.  In the paper prepared the previous week (during the course), I noticed that the selected company - Google - was known for:

 "an innovation-oriented and change-prone top management and board;
an innovation-oriented and change-prone culture;
competent and committed individuals with a passion to innovate;
leaders that empower, coach and remove obstacles for innovation;
a semi-structured and ambidextrous organisation;
innovation-oriented performance and incentive systems;
continuous learning; and open innovation."
(From Steiber and Alange (2013))

I selected papers that included innovation and ambidextrous-ness.
Maybe I should include the Google example in the paper I am editing.

I read the descriptions expressing all the difficulties I was experiencing.
In the post on 09/10/2018 (https://fmoorephdbus7110.blogspot.com/2018/09/paper-finally-submittedreceived.html), I wrote:
"I like the course. I am learning a lot But everything feels rushed & I feel pressured all the time. This is because of the resource constraints I am dealing with right now (issues with my laptop - need to use library resources, need to read an entire book for the assignment, and so on). I hope it gets better. I am working on solutions."

I was reading the books and articles on the go.
The post on 09/12/2018 (https://fmoorephdbus7110.blogspot.com/2018/09/week-4-assignmentjournal-articles.html), shows that I checked out the book on Organization Behavior from the library. I read that book hurriedly and was not able to sit comfortably to read it. The included Facebook post shows me holding the book (with my face).

In the post on 09/14/2018 (https://fmoorephdbus7110.blogspot.com/2018/09/reading-articles.html),
the notes I scribbled on the printout of one of the journal articles is shown.

I guess I can handle a lot.

Asking for Feedback

I am finally getting around to doing this. I've been meaning to do it for a while.
I am asking for comments, feedback, suggestions, and concerns, pretty much anything you have to say on my new blog, my LinkedIn profiles, my PhD papers, or my life. Something doesn't look right on my resume? Then tell me in a comment.

I know the feedback will provide valuable input. I am hoping they will be like lessons for
my improvement.

I prefer comments in Facebook. Just add a comment to my post on the Inside Fahmeena Odetta's Head page or on my general profile.

Of course, if you have any job tips for me, send them my way.