You know that feeling when you are so close to finish your PhD, you just need to write your thesis, the light in the end of the tunnel comes closer, you can start planning your Summer vacation…and a pandemic starts!? Well, now I know! 🙂
I spent five months almost completely alone, without traveling (quite weird for an ESR!), without seeing my family, my boyfriend, my closest friends, my colleagues…I was not very optimistic in the beginning! My body was in Norway, but my mind was in Italy, where the situation was quite dramatic. Cancelled flights, uncertainty, homesickness…everyone knows! I thought I would never be able to resist and to be enough concentrated on writing my thesis!
BUT
I think that as human beings we end up adapting to every situation…and if we are lucky (and motivated) learning something! In hindsight, my “Norwegian lockdown” taught me many things. I have understood and accepted that life is very unpredictable, even for control freaks!
I dedicated time to myself going for long walks smelling the Spring that was coming, I started practising yoga and listening to podcasts for the first time, I learnt how to be more kind with myself when the productivity was low and nostalgic thoughts crossed my mind…and I wrote one paper and submitted my thesis, yes! I would say that the balance is overall positive!
…and now, let’s wait for the thesis defence in November…and the unpredictable (and hopefully exiting) future!
Vittoria
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