Is Doing a PhD Hard? Why is Doing a PhD Difficult? Challenging? PhD in Hawaii PhD Students Advice

[@englishwithconfidence]

Very helpful.

[@alexusandmichi]

Happy to hear!!

[@VS-ku3xv]

Thanks!

[@alexusandmichi]

Thank you!!

[@kristiemars7747]

Thank you for sharing.

[@alexusandmichi]

Thanks for watching!

[@Dabblez]

Good Video, thanks, What's the average PhD salary for SOEST? Is there lots of opportunities for side hustles?

[@alexusandmichi]

No problem! Tough to say, depends on whether it’s a TA or RAship and which step you’re getting paid at, but maybe around $25-30k with TA and RA ships combined? RA ships are going to pay higher salaries and you just get to focus on your research. I think it depends, there’s some options to get paid to tutor or work jobs on campus. Also off campus side hustles like tutoring, teaching at other campuses (like community colleges), restaurants or bar shifts, and dog walking/pet sitting (very common among grad students these days)!

[@alexusandmichi]

People also do work at farmers markets, but do keep in mind that international students aren’t allowed to work jobs here (not sure if that’s relevant to your situation)..

[@Jefflagarde1991]

I love it ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@alexusandmichi]

🥰

[@mian5890]

PhD is easy! Plate Lunch Haupia Da Best

[@alexusandmichi]

😂😂😂

[@NurkaM-zb1ez]

Your video ignores many elephants in the room: quality of jobs in academia and sustainable financial stability after graduation. I understand your video is informative and you both mean well, but getting a Ph.D is probably one of the most unsavvy financial decisions an adult can make nowadays. Since you're both in academia, I know you're aware that a majority of Ph.D. graduates currently experience severe underemployment (aka adjuntification- 47% of faculty in the US are adjuncts and we know the number will only grow in the future), and great hurdles to land a stable job in a precarious job market for TT positions literally everywhere you go. Indeed, a Ph.D. is challenging. It's a great personal accomplishment but having the courage to remain in academia is not an easy feat. Even if you were to have a perfect life, and miraculously land two TT positions in Hawaii, the astronomical cost of living on the islands places a lot of additional challenges to junior faculty members to have healthy academic careers in the long run. If you were to land temporary positions, it would be almost impossible unless you're independently wealthy or work many different jobs. Also, you should come forward and talk about the complications people face when both partners are in academia. The two-body problem is quite real and affects the lives of many academic couples that have to decide to live apart for the dream job (if it ever comes) or live together often prioritizing the career of one of the spouses which often leads to straining relationships for an important number of them. Spousal hires may happen at times, but it's certainly easier to win the lottery. Not trying to mud your accomplishments, just make sure you provide all the different dimensions of getting a Ph.D. -especially when we all know that for most alt-ac (non-academic) jobs, PhDs end up getting, they often didn't need to sacrifice so many years of income and personal time to land such type of positions.

[@alexusandmichi]

Thank you so much for laying everything out in so much detail! This video is about whether doing a PhD itself is difficult. We have other videos that address some of the things you mention, e.g. how much graduate students make and whether that allows for a comfortable life (especially here in Hawaii).