I've saved an scrimped for the last 3.5 years, so I'll manage through the first one alright before things get perilously dangerous, and there are more opportunities to apply for funding in the second year of a PhD.
It's a sad realization - but still, I've reminded myself that a PhD without funding for some people is an impossibility, as it was for me for the last three years. Now (thanks to a suprise success online jewellery business - see right hand side of blog), I'll hopefully be able to bumble through with flexible part time work.
Another cheer up tactic is that Southampton is a great university, I love the project I want to study, and Clive Gamble is an amazing academic that I have the opportunity to study with. No funding is the icing on the cake - and while cake without icing can be a bit dry and hard to swallow, it still tastes good! And I definitely wont be fat at the end of eating my whole cake. This analogy has to stop now.
But it is that time of year - are you, dear reader, waiting to hear about funding decisions? Have you been given the good/bad news? What are our thoughts about PhD funding in general?
