How it all started?

Smart phone is a really useful thing and most of people of this generation can’t live without. That’s right guys and girls, you know what I am talking about. It all started when I started my A-levels (2006) in England. I’d first had access to broadband and I was hooked on internet straight away. I was using Facebook, watching Youtube videos, binge watching movies. Luckily at the time it didn’t really affect my academic performance but I knew I could have done better. The bad habits carried through University, where I was even more addicted to Facebook…..you know….keeping up-to-date with the world and show off my perfect University life. I was also binge watching YouTube videos for hours on end. The bottom line is I was so addicted to it that I spent most of my free-time, time that I could have spent studying, researching and writing my essays and learning useful soft skills.

Postgraduate studies: the addiction continued

Thanks to my short-term memory, I was able to get an overall 2:1 in BSc Biotechnology from the University of Manchester. However, I knew that I didn’t realise my full potential. I was able to enter the University of Oxford to study Immunology and passed my degree with a decent enough mark.

My CV was good enough to get accepted onto a PhD position with a very good research group. However, the addition didn’t stop. Facebook and Youtube were killing my study. The thing is….I knew that these things are bad for me. My brain had been wired to use social media. I could have failed in my first year of my PhD. But I was able to do enough just to get good results and pass my PhD.

Now: The New Beginning

I’d been dealing with my addiction. I’d quit Facebook, Instagram, limited my time on Youtube – only watch videos that teach me new skills that I need. No more binging. I’d started running again after a long time and had ran a marathon. I am now a regular gym goer. So things were moving in the right direction. However, the moment that changed everything was when I came back from my holiday in Italy. I don’t know how, must be the magic of the country (I went to Florence, Sienna and San Gimignano). I made a pack with myself after my holiday that I will come back a changed man. I will focus on my career as a postdoc, make great discoveries and become a PI.

I don’t know what happened to my head in Italy, perhaps things just came together at that moment. Anyway, who cares? Now I’m getting my life and career back on track and I will do my best from now.

Perhaps you have a similar experience or going through something similar? My advice to you is get rid of your social media accounts. Whether by deleting or deactivating. Trust me, life will never be the same….in a good way.

Peace

Baby Immunologist