Graduate School is fabulous and exciting! But . . .it is also:
- Challenging both in learning a new discipline and developing balance; achieving balance among work, school, and life.
- It takes some letting go of perfectionism and developing perseverance.
- Sleep! You really will 'do' better when you get enough
- Self-care: What is essential to you? Exercise? Watching TV? Draw? Zentangle? Knit? Seeing friends? Schedule time for what is your essential for coping.
- Satisfying
- A sense of accomplishment in gradually mastering the depth of content
- When you feel overwhelmed remember everyone had to work to learn one's chosen discipline; no one knew the body of knowledge without your same struggle(s).
- Unwritten expectations
- Who knew all the other scholarly activities that are 'required': workshops, conferences, writing and publishing, networking, skill building
- Graded differently
- Usually fewer papers but each 'counts' more heavily.
- Hint: strategize to make each useful in other avenues: toward your literature review, for publication (or can be revised/added to), conference presentation etc.
- Social change
- Grad school can be lonely
- Financially worrisome
- Often are (or feel) 'poor' in that every penny must count