By Dalia Gala
Having joined Oxford as a DPhil student in 2019, I didn’t expect my time here to pass so quickly. Because of the pandemic and huge workload, I feel like my degree was much shorter than I expected. I guess the feeling is the same for those who do the undergraduate degree here. 3 years is not that long after all!
I wanted to reflect on what I experienced at Oxford and take stock of what is still ahead of me.
Within my time here I have:
· Matriculated and attended a ceremony at Sheldonian
· Met my lab, my cohort and my fellow Clarendon scholars
· Made lots of friends in my college
· Experienced the pandemic and helped with the research efforts into covid-19
· Done my transfer of status, which is a 1st year milestone for PhD students where you have to present your research proposal
· Tutored students and done demonstrations for labs to learn how to teach at university level
· Attended many formals and sat at High Table with professors from my college
· Joined rowing, a choir and dancing society!
What is still ahead of me:
· Conformation of status, which is a “half-way” point of your DPhil where you show you’re on the right track to finish in the time you are given
· Writing my thesis and the viva! These are scary and I have to start soon, as I just started my 3rd year
· I also would like to attend a ball at Oxford and go to more events, including May morning, which didn’t happen for the past 2 years
Overall, even though the pandemic changed my time at Oxford, I am grateful for everything I am doing and learning here! Wish me luck for my thesis writing and defence!
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