Responsibilities of a Grad Student

Being a paid student has lots of responsibilities.

1) Research - primary research and lit review
2) Publish - to get grants and job next time
3) Grants - no money no talk
4) Teach - part of scholarship and experience for job next time
5) Conference - present papers and network for jobs
6) Coursework - still must attend classes
7) Write - at the end of the day still must write the damn thesis
8) Future Career - Must apply for PHD before finish masters

The worst part of all this is that there's an expiry on all the good things in life. Some grants and scholarships have age limit. Even money expire. Damn ageists!

Often, 25 years old is the limit for certain grants and the PHD overseas scholarship from NUS is for those under 30. If I take 2 years to do Masters, I will be 28 when I graduate. That only gives me 2 years leeway for the PHD scholarship from NUS. I think I must apply ASAP.

No wonder people "behind" like me feel the need to expedite matters. Maybe I should do the same too! Perhaps I can finish in one year!