She's going to be the world's first 12-year-old retiree.
Ruby Granger #49 At this point, she’s having a gap life
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If you’re bored (and I mean really truly bored to the point where anything will do), may I recommend Roobee’s video on the history of Moleskine on her other channel? It truly has everything - over-the-top pretentiousness, blatant angling for a sponsorship, grabby consumerism, claw, freckles, and Roobee trying to pronounce a few words of French. I couldn’t quite make it till the end, but maybe someone has a stronger stomach?
(I thought her second channel was going to be for educational content, not free advertising for overpriced stationery, but I guess it’s all the same to her.)
(I thought her second channel was going to be for educational content, not free advertising for overpriced stationery, but I guess it’s all the same to her.)
I like Moleskine as much as the next person, but did we really need that? Also, I love the bizarre b-roll intro. No notes.
I winced a bit seeing a reel discussing Moleskine's recent controversy for using Gen-AI for a Tolkien collection and then seeing Rube's video gushing about them
World's first 12 year old retiree should be the new thread title
Thank you for that, wow. I no longer buy Moleskine much because the prices are getting silly but AI art? Hard pass from now on.
Something I want to add, having done a PhD myself, is that Ruby is right to avoid the self-funded route. In academia self-funded PhDs are generally really frowned upon and sneered at because you're viewed as having essentially bought yourself a spot on a PhD program. And to a certain extent that's true because you haven't had to compete with any other candidates or secure funding. (As a comparison I had to go through something like 5 rounds of interviews and compete with 30+ other candidates to get my spot). Of course, you still have to pass the 2 main PhD milestones on merit, those being the upgrade viva when you're approximately half way through and then the final viva. You're not going to get any special considerations or leniency just because you're self-funded, so in that respect the research you will have produced is just as valuable as that of a regular candidate. Academia is incredibly elitist though so this still won't matter, if you want to become an academic a self-funded PhD is a no go and it could kill this career route in its infancy.
Moreover, as far as I'm aware taking on a self-funded PhD candidate is at the discretion of the supervisor. I did my PhD at an institution that has equal global prestige and recognition as Oxford and I only knew of one PhD student who was self-funded, my supervisor refused to take them on for instance. It's very possible that Oxford tutors have the same kind of attitude and refuse to take on self-funded candidates altogether or do so in only very small numbers and/or for exceptional cases.
Of course, ultimately it wouldn't matter in Ruby's case as I doubt she has the desire or capability to be an academic, and you wouldn't really have to specify on your CV that your PhD was self-funded, nor will you ever be asked this in a job interview outside academia. She said in the video she doesn't really understand the funding process herself so I don't think she's aware of how inferior self-funded candidates are viewed, but in the end she'll be glad she didn't go down that route.
Moreover, as far as I'm aware taking on a self-funded PhD candidate is at the discretion of the supervisor. I did my PhD at an institution that has equal global prestige and recognition as Oxford and I only knew of one PhD student who was self-funded, my supervisor refused to take them on for instance. It's very possible that Oxford tutors have the same kind of attitude and refuse to take on self-funded candidates altogether or do so in only very small numbers and/or for exceptional cases.
Of course, ultimately it wouldn't matter in Ruby's case as I doubt she has the desire or capability to be an academic, and you wouldn't really have to specify on your CV that your PhD was self-funded, nor will you ever be asked this in a job interview outside academia. She said in the video she doesn't really understand the funding process herself so I don't think she's aware of how inferior self-funded candidates are viewed, but in the end she'll be glad she didn't go down that route.
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Are there teaching/tutoring requirements at oxford for PhD candidates? Will she have to TA a class
It's not compulsory in the Oxford DPhil. This website has more info on the degree and mentions students can take on some teaching as long as it doesn't impact their progress. https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/dphil-english
I see in the video info she added some more about the funding situation:
1. Despite having money she doesn't want to use it as it would change the way that she approaches the PhD and therefore would still impact her decision on whether she wants to take the spot or not.
2. To the people who even suggested starting a GoFundMe for her so that she can do the PhD is just wrong on so many levels.
Honestly, I really do get the impression that she doesn't want to do this PhD.
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It's egregious for people to suggest a GFM, she has plenty of her own money. Also, you only normally do a part-time PhD if you have real world commitments, such as a full-time job, raising children etc. There's no reason for her to go part-time when the only other thing she'd be doing is lounging around in her room and garden all day. Although I suppose if she wants to delay going into the real world, a part-time PhD (which would be around 10 years considering full-time PhDs at Oxford are in the region of 4-5 years) would be perfect...
It has become normal for well off people to start a gofundme and what's even more irritating is that people like Ruby or other influencers or celebrities that start a gofundme to fund things that they do actually have the money for but do not want to put out for is that because they have a following their gofundme gets much more traction compared to regular people who need support and do not have connections to people with money or a surplus of money they are choosing not to spend
If she does it part time and doesn't move out her parents house... I will have no words
I honestly believe that she is sorry she even tried to get accepted. I don't think she wants to do a PhD and is struggling, yet again, with the possibility of "saying" you have a PhD from Oxford, as opposed to actually committing that much time and energy, considering she was flat on her back, halfway through doing her Masters. She isn't as academic as she thinks. Holding on to academia, for her, is like sucking her thumb and carrying a blankie. She can't imagine doing anything else. But now she is in heavier waters and it is pretty easy to drown with the workload. Part time would be ridiculous, as well. Don't even get me started with the Go Fund Me. Seriously? The woman effing lives in a manor. Get a reality check, people! When it all comes down to the finale, what is she going to do with this doctorate? She couldn't even last a year working in her school library as an assistant. How can she manage teaching or research? Role playing is one thing. Doing an actual job, with hours, living away from home, driving, being completely independent, is an entirely different thing and she isn't any way near that level. She did a lousy job of covering her time in Oxford beforehand. I don't expect much this time around, either. But if she is doing it part-time and living with her parents again, for the next 10 years??? Forget it. I'm bored to death of her!
omg She totally butchered French in her latest video on her second channel. Woman. Don't even try! Tu es absolument incapable de parler français!
The longer she prolongs getting a job the harder it will be.
If I were to choose her career for her I would say she should go into heritage tourism. She loves twirling around old houses and gardens and loves regurgitating facts, so surely working in heritage tourism or history archives would be up her street? Go work as a dress up Victorian guide at a museum or similar? Or help with historical artefacts? Surely she'd have fun... But oh that would mean not living at home... Ah. The crux of it.
If I were to choose her career for her I would say she should go into heritage tourism. She loves twirling around old houses and gardens and loves regurgitating facts, so surely working in heritage tourism or history archives would be up her street? Go work as a dress up Victorian guide at a museum or similar? Or help with historical artefacts? Surely she'd have fun... But oh that would mean not living at home... Ah. The crux of it.
From https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/dphil-english:
"Part-time students are required to attend course-related activities in Oxford for a minimum of 30 days each year. The part-time course is studied over six to eight years. If studying part-time, you are expected to submit your thesis six, or at most eight, years from the date of admission.
Part-time research students are not required to live in Oxford but must attend the University on a regular basis (particularly in term-time: October and November, mid-January to mid-March, and late April to mid-June) for supervision, study, research seminars and skills training.
The faculty appreciates that part-time research students will have non-standard attendance and work patterns. There will be some flexibility in the dates of term-time attendance, but part-time students are expected to spend some periods in Oxford in at least two terms per year in the first two years in order to participate in key faculty activities, which will occupy on average 20 days per term. Attendance during and outside of term-time is determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor.
Part-time students are expected to be present in Oxford for faculty induction, college induction, and an initial meeting with supervisors in order to decide upon the programme of study for that term and to develop a plan for the coming year’s work. These are usually all held at the beginning of the first term of the first year.
To ensure a comprehensive integration into the faculty's and University's research culture and with full-time peer groups, a pattern of attendance at training events and research seminars would form part of the general study agreement for part-time students, alongside the individualised arrangements between supervisor and student. Part-time students are expected to attend at least half of the faculty's (usually weekly or fortnightly) research seminar meetings in their subject area and to contribute to them as much as full-time students do over the length of their course."
Frankly, since this is really just a hobby for her, why not go for it? It will get her out of the house, meet other people, engage her brains beyond making lists and reading Wikipedia, and still leave her plenty of time to write and make YT videos. It's not like she has other prospects right now.
"Part-time students are required to attend course-related activities in Oxford for a minimum of 30 days each year. The part-time course is studied over six to eight years. If studying part-time, you are expected to submit your thesis six, or at most eight, years from the date of admission.
Part-time research students are not required to live in Oxford but must attend the University on a regular basis (particularly in term-time: October and November, mid-January to mid-March, and late April to mid-June) for supervision, study, research seminars and skills training.
The faculty appreciates that part-time research students will have non-standard attendance and work patterns. There will be some flexibility in the dates of term-time attendance, but part-time students are expected to spend some periods in Oxford in at least two terms per year in the first two years in order to participate in key faculty activities, which will occupy on average 20 days per term. Attendance during and outside of term-time is determined by mutual agreement with your supervisor.
Part-time students are expected to be present in Oxford for faculty induction, college induction, and an initial meeting with supervisors in order to decide upon the programme of study for that term and to develop a plan for the coming year’s work. These are usually all held at the beginning of the first term of the first year.
To ensure a comprehensive integration into the faculty's and University's research culture and with full-time peer groups, a pattern of attendance at training events and research seminars would form part of the general study agreement for part-time students, alongside the individualised arrangements between supervisor and student. Part-time students are expected to attend at least half of the faculty's (usually weekly or fortnightly) research seminar meetings in their subject area and to contribute to them as much as full-time students do over the length of their course."
Frankly, since this is really just a hobby for her, why not go for it? It will get her out of the house, meet other people, engage her brains beyond making lists and reading Wikipedia, and still leave her plenty of time to write and make YT videos. It's not like she has other prospects right now.
By the way I know these roles are more serious and skilled than my flippant depiction here , but it does seem to be an avenue that might feed her curiosity much better than dragging herself through am Oxford PHD just for the title
She can't drive yet so she'd be relying on her parents to get her to and from oxford.
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