PhD blog: 29
Graham Foster
- February 2009.
The story so far… Graham is well into the second year of his part-time PhD in which he is investigating American literature post 9/11.
Panhandling at an academic level
It has come to that time again. The funding deadlines are imminent and I’m desperate. My academic pursuits have turned me from a man who was not really money-minded (in terms of interest in accumulating a vast amount for no other reason than to buy a German car and myriad designer appliances to surround my soul-free existence) into a man who will gladly turn rabid and ugly when the slightest possibility of late payment for freelance work is mentioned, or if I see an opportunity to access funding for study. You see, desperation has gripped me and I am less than broke. My account has been cleaned out as if with an industrial abrasive, and I divide my time between working on my PhD and weeping into my pillow with abandon (i.e. not even approaching any sort of social situation that could involve buying a round/taking care of the bill/putting coppers into a charity box next to the till etc).
Here’s the situation as it stands: I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford the self-funded option for another year. Actually, I do know. I won’t. At all. I have less than nothing in terms of personal finance. Savings are gone. Credit card is flexed. Bank is sending irate letters written in red ink (though secretly they enjoy a customer who gets into this situation. I’m single-handedly helping Britain out of the recession with interest payments on my overdraft. I’m a hero!).
I have to think about what’s important. That’s what people are telling me now. And, in preparation for being unsuccessful for fees a record three times on the trot (and I desperately hope this won’t be the case), I’m weighing up the options. Maybe a loan? Banks do both graduate loans and career development loans, but in the current economic climate this is a risky business - will I be able to get a job when I’m done in order to pay of a loan? I dread to think…
I have the option of suspending my studies for a year while I work full time and get liquid, so to speak. I don’t want to do this. I’m on a roll, excited about my project (which is mutating nicely on a daily basis), and I don’t want to stop (not that I have to ‘stop’ all together, but working full time sort of takes the option of in depth study out of your hands in a way).
I’m also applying for funding at other universities and, if successful, I will have the option of moving to where the money is. While this sounds all hunky dory, I don’t really want to move. I have an excellent working relationship with my supervisory team (who take my griping about funding with good grace!), and I don’t particularly want to be faced with a resetting of my minimum registrations time - I’m almost a year (of three) done (if you take into consideration I’m part-time and will have been studying for two years in June).
No, I want to stay on at MMU. I want to carry on as smoothly as possible, with funding - but that choice may not be up to me, it may be up to destiny or God or whatever you call the higher-up departments of higher education institutions…
Read my previous PhD blogs
Graham's other blog (on BlogSpot)
Suggestions to editorial@prospects.ac.uk
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