Life as a Ph.D. student?

Well, it's been quite a long time since my last post. I was very busy with a project that I did for my co-worker. Not just that, I've been busy doing small research on apartments in Richmond, VA, cars (I'm planning to buy a car by August 2006 when I come back from Jakarta), and of course, school and courses that I'll be taking for this Fall 2006. All of these were done during my breaks. Besides, I'm also taking care of my new laptop that is getting on my nerve lately. I have to return this thing to the manufacturer, Sager Notebook. This gadget is suffering infinite reboot every time I turn it on. Every time the Windows XP logo appears, the laptop will restart by itself, the same thing goes whenever I load it using Windows Safe Mode. I tried to reinstall it using the Windows Recovery CD, but the system fails to recognize the hard drive. What more can I do besides returning it to the manufacturer? All in all, no time to blog anyway ;-)

As I'm preparing my life as a Ph.D. student for this upcoming Fall 2006 until the next 4 to (probably) 6 years from now, I begin to wonder, am I ready for this? I don't care about the living though cause I don't mind living solitary as I'm not the kind of person who needs constant companions even during my breakdown times (a call to some of my closest friends is enough for me). But what scared me the most, is the rigorous, tough nature of the life of a Ph.D. student that awaits me in 3 months from now. I've been browsing these websites, ISWorld Ph.D. Page and IceWorld. The first one is sort of a portal that contains lots of useful resources for I.S. Ph.D. students and researchers while the second one is a blog written by various I.S. Ph.D. students around the world as a medium to share their experiences. All of the information I read kinda overwhelmed me. Am I really ready for this? The classes are not those typical classes you take even in the graduate (masters) level. I contacted my academic advisor, Dr. Gurpreet Dhillon, a well-known scholar in information security, to ask for the pdf or word file of a doctoral seminar course he'll be teaching this Fall 2006, yet he insisted me to visit him at VCU to talk about this face to face. His reasoning was that I will have to choose courses wisely cause these courses will greatly affect my research expertise and my future dissertation (these are not similar to the typical courses that I took in the past). Wanna know what kind of courses that I will (might) be taking this Fall 2006? Don't ever think that it will be one of those introductory to e-commerce, management information systems, database practical approach and such, these courses are seminars and research method courses such as:

1. MGMT 691 - Advanced Research Method (3 credit hours): Semester course; 1-3 lecture hours. 1, 2 or 3 credits. Study of current topics. Topics may vary from semester to semester.

2. INFO 691 - Doctoral Seminar in Information Systems (1 credit hour): SCHOOL OF BUSINESS STUDENTS ONLY; GRADUATE STUDENTS ONLY; PHD CANDIDACY REQUIRED; Semester course; 1-3 lecture hours. 1, 2 or 3 credits. Study of current topics. Topics may vary from semester to semester.

3. STAT 643 - Applied Linear Regression (3 credit hours): Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: MATH 200-201, STAT 212 and MATH 310 or equivalents. An introduction to the concepts and methods of linear regression analysis. Topics include simple linear regression, multiple linear regression, the impact of model misspecification, model selection criteria, residual analysis, influence diagnostics, diagnostic plots, multicollinearity, transformations and response surface methodology. Applications involve the use of a statistical software package.

4. GRAD 602 - Seminar in College Teaching (1 credit hour): Short course (eight weeks); 1 lecture hour. 1 credit. Prerequisite: GRAD 601. Focuses specifically on the act of teaching. Graduate education in this country has only recently begun to address college teaching issues. While mastery of the discipline and of the research skills necessary to contribute to that discipline have long been a staple of graduate training, mastery of the knowledge and skills necessary for teaching the discipline are often neglected.

Notice that doctoral seminars and research method courses apply less than 3 credit hours and do not have detailed course descriptions. I'm like walking in the dark, I don't know what I will be facing. If it's not seminars or research methods, it will be math or statistic courses. Plus, I will be working for a Professor to pay for my school and earn my money. Being a planner, this sort of freaks me out. During my undergraduate and MBA programs, I could always ask those who had taken the courses that I would be taking. But who am I gonna ask for suggestions this time? Ph.D. program is highly individual, specifically tailored to match with your research interests, plus the size of the class is very, very small, up to 6 students at most. Besides, I've heard creepy stories about those who are facing the comprehensive exam, how some (or even most of the time) time you will feel like throwing up whenever you see a pile or a stack of research journals lying on your desk. I could end up having no life. The thought of me giving up most of my wushu training has already made me sad. I'm also sad thinking that I won't be able to see and train with my wushu friends as often as I do now (I'm planning to visit Fairfax, VA to train at O-Mei every Saturday, starting this August 2006). Am I gonna be able to finish these courses with satisfactory results? (I prefer to get at least a B of course) Am I gonna be able to give huge presentations in major conferences or consortia, in front of hundreds of other I.S. Ph.D. students and scholars? (the thought of these people giving critiques and asking difficult questions after I give my presentation has already freaked me out) Am I gonna be able to produce quality research journals and publish them in top I.S. academic journals? (such as MIS Quarterly or Communications of the AIS) Am I gonna be able to sit for the 6 to 8 hours comprehensive exam and pass the comprehensive exam? Am I gonna be able to teach, to become a good teacher? Am I gonna be able to finish my dissertation in less than 2 years? Am I gonna be able to become a Professor with good rating (such as those listed in RateMyProfessors.com website) or a well respected I.S. scholar just like my academic advisor? Or am I just being over-excited? God, please help me get through this. I must earn the title Ph.D. at the back of my name, 4 to 6 years from now!