The story
I started my Masters in Computer Science after doing a Bachelor in Mathematics. I loved Maths, but I wanted to apply it to Computer Science. So, I chose a domain that seemed to bridge my two interests : Theoretical Computer Science. The supervisor that I chose worked on, what I still think today, are really interesting problems. Moreover, my wife just had a baby, at the beginning of it, and he was really comprehensive, by letting me a month off to be with my new family.
When I came back from my paternity leave, we started working together on what would be my masters thesis (while doing few courses on the subject). At the beginning, I was pretty much motivated and interested. As the weeks and months went by, I realized he was very very comprehensive and would set broad vague goals. I learned quickly that even if I don’t do anything, he won’t mind. He was just keeping with its vague instructions, even when I was asking for more precise answers.
What finally happened is I dropped the research masters (but after approximately already two year into it) to go do a professional masters (only courses and an internship), which I finished.
**What could have been done
**I think the demotivation of that masters degree could have been avoided by a few things :
1) If my supervisor had given more structure, I would have been more motivated. However, I think it is in its personality to be that way. For a student that lives well in working by himself and drive its research, I think it would be a great supervisor. However, for me, who need more structure, it was deadly. I realized at that point that maybe research (and incidentally, a Ph.d) was probably out of question. In my teaching, I try to make sure that my students feel at least a little bit (but not too much) structured and that they know where we are going.
2) I could have asked more explicitly for concrete steps and hints about the next steps, where we were going, and how. Or I could have realized earlier that we weren’t a good fit and find another supervisor that would be a better fit for me.