You will have to create your community over again.
Laugh at least once a day.
Don’t take any of it too seriously and have fun.
That's what I wanted to say almost immediately. Starting with the first point, realize your community doesn't start nor end with your mom and dad or guardian, but started with theirs and theirs and theirs. One thing my undergraduate institution taught me was that there are different people to link up with, not everyone wants to be your friend, and you don't need to be everyone else's. Okay. I learned that in elementary school, but something changes when you put something you learned early into practice over and over again. It has "been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and I became an alumni" energy, but the shirts are different fabrics and sizes and cuts.
Graduate school tries so hard to give you stuff to be stressed about: progress with research, what your eating, your weight, what your reading, who you are networking with, etc. While all that will be important to different people, it's never that serious. Write out a couple of semester goals, write for yourself, and find things that you want to be a part of. Find things to laugh at. Some days you do need to be horizontal (laying down) and some days you might want to tap in to a rat-race type of energy. Just remember that it's all in flux and to not compare yourself to anybody else. Yes, it's so cool what so-and-so did and what what's-their-name wrote, but where are you at? Did you shout yourself out in that big brain of yours? Let's start there. Make grad school fun and totally your journey. I went through so much during my first year, but having a community behind me like I did: I got back up more than I fell.
All the Best,
CLG (Clarreese La'Nay Greene)
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