You don’t get a PhD because you are especially intelligent or have some sort of unusual powers of insight. You get a PhD because you are stubborn.
There was a story at my school (maybe apocryphal) about my boss firing an under performing student but the dude just kept showing up everyday and eventually they let him defend and get his PhD. Getting a PhD is all about getting knocked down 10,000 times and getting back up.
PhDs aren’t born, they’re made. It’s not a feat of intelligence, it’s a feat of endurance.
A policy of bloody minded optimism is key… and the support of my (also PhD student) rather later wife (our eyes met across the test tubes)
Read the rest at Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/chemistry/comments/12r43xl/how_did_you_survive_your_phd/