Hope the year has been treating y’all well! Super late introduction but I’m Hanna, your Postgraduate Representative! For those who don’t know me, I’m a first year PhD neuroscience girlie looking at how the brain processes rewards and how our day-to-day social interactions would change if our response to rewards is dampened.
Anyways, enough about me, let’s cut to the chase. I’m obviously here to convince y’all to do postgrad. Duh. Surely you’ve all had at least one lecturer that you like a lot, right? Maybe it’s their teaching style, their passion, or they’re funny, or they just make those elbow pads look so chic (whatever floats your boat). How cool would it be to have the chance to work closely with these lecturers, while also boosting your résumé?
Postgrad study can lead to so many different places. Research and an academic career is one, which is obviously the path that I am choosing to take, but many postgrads at Otago go into industry work (this is where the big bucks are made) in the public sector, consultation or otherwise.
If you do choose to do postgrad, you should know that it’s not just sitting in a dark room with a lab coat on. It’s about asking the questions that matter, solving real-world problems, and discovering new things that no one else has.
Like with anything, exposure and asking questions is key. And hopefully now that I’ve made you somewhat curious (fingers crossed), it’s time for a sneaky plug. For the past wee while, I have been organizing a Postgrad Open Day event. This event will take place in mid-September and you should see these advertised in your lecture slides in the weeks leading up to the event. There will be talks given by a variety of postgraduate programmes and an expo in the Link where you can ask all and any questions you might have about postgraduate study at Otago. The event will end with a mix ‘n mingle between current postgrads and y’all future postgrads.
Like many of you, my parents wanted me to become a doctor, so they pushed me to do med. If any of you are struggling to figure out what to tell your parents, you tell ‘em what I’m telling you now: “Doctors save people, but researchers save populations.”
p.s. I have heard that postgrad entry into professional programs is A LOT easier btw ;)