I had my first ever supervision Team’s meeting today with both my supervisors wherein we discussed:
How the induction went last week
Me starting to fill in my York St John Postgraduate Development Needs Plan which will help me identify and fill skills gaps in order to become a good researcher
Me getting my PhD Distance Learning Commitment Statement signed off by the three people who need to sign it off. This is to make sure I have the right equipment to do my PhD and also so that I can have things like actual copies of library books and post-grad booklets sent to my home address.
Working out how writing as a researcher is different to writing as a practitioner
How useful the online lecture I attended entitled Writing not Reporting was (spoiler alert – very).
Getting au fait with one of the referencing programs provided by the Uni as soon as poss so I don’t lose track of what I’ve read
Starting a notebook where I document insights that occur to me as I both read and write creatively so threads of understanding don’t get lost. I’m very keen to do this as when I read, ideas keep zooming into and out of my head To this end I’ve decided to get myself a mahoosive hardback notebook and take it with me everywhere I study and create. I’m also going to do this blog which will give me the bare bones of what I think and do
The flood outside my house (the tiny thatched cottage on the right of both these photos). The WiFi connection went weird in the meeting which I put down to the flood being up. I live in the Fens on a flood plane which as you can see is pretty watery at the moment. We still managed to cover everything needed though so all good.
I took these two photos after the supervision, half an hour apart going to and from the doctors to pick up a prescription. It’s mad how fast the sky moves round here. Blue and thistledown on the way out, a whole spectrum of grey on the way back. Thought I’d capture it to mark today because doing my first supervision seemed like a quantum leap and therefore worth marking somehow. It makes it feel like the PhD is really happening. Like its moved, just like that, from my imagination into reality. I’m off to Poland again tomorrow and I’m looking forward to reading on the journey. I love studying when I’m travelling. You can get a lot done in the limbo that is an airport. Hope the sky’s a wee bit stiller tomorrow though. Fast moving’s fine when you’re down here – but up there – whole different perspective.
Jan Kaneen Creative and Other Writing 