Summer semester is just beginning! A perfect time to remind you about how to be a successful graduate student!
If you are a new student, congratulations. You are about to embark on a journey that will change your life, and change you. Learning good study habits early will mean the difference between an enjoyable, memorable experience, and a stressful one. Here are my best suggestions for becoming a happy, healthy and successful graduate student:
- Adjust your expectations of the work level. It probably isn’t news to you that getting a graduate degree is more difficult than getting an undergraduate degree. However, what you may not be prepared for is the degree (no pun intended) to which this is true. Graduate programs are like nothing else you have ever experienced. The level of intensity and sheer volume of the work you will need to do at times may overwhelm you, particularly in the beginning. Don’t panic! These feelings are normal and happen to almost everyone. Take a deep breath (literally and metaphorically) and take things one day (or one hour!) at a time. Eventually you will adjust to the workload and things will be much easier.
- Do not allow yourself to get behind. Create a plan and a schedule for school work, and work the plan. Stay on track. Trying to catch up after being behind takes significant more mental energy than simply keeping up! Try to do a little bit each day. Pick the time of day in which you are most productive. For some people, this is first thing in the morning, for others it is afternoon or evening. If you can manage it, try to stay about a week ahead. That way, if you have an emergency you will have a built-in buffer. At least in terms of your schoolwork, you can relax knowing that everything has been taken care of.
- Boundaries! Get some. Keep them. Need more specifics? After you have created your plan for the week, which includes regular time for studying, you need to stick to your plan. To inspire you, I will quote (well, OK, paraphrase) Pam Iorio, who is a former mayor of Tampa. Pam kept a list of five objectives for her political term. If someone came in with a great idea, unless it fit within her five objectives she did not alter her course. In this way, she did not allow others to derail her from her goals! In that same way, you need to not allow others to distract you. Set study hours and keep them. Take over a spare bedroom and close the door. Hire a babysitter. Drive to the library. Turn off your phone. Completely. Then put it away. Do whatever it takes to protect that space you have scheduled for yourself. Don’t worry, people will adjust. Eventually, your friends will know not to call or text you during “study hours”. Your significant other will stop asking to hang out during those times. Even your pets will get used to you being unavailable! Although, on a personal note, I have to admit that my Siamese-mix fur baby never really allows me to close my door. Still, I keep my hours, even though my office door is always open a cat-width.
Please stay tuned for my next post, which will give you the rest of my suggestions!
Yours in the Joy of Knowledge,
Dr. Barbara LoFrisco
