Before I could fathom entering into graduate school, I needed to graduate. I wrote about forming community, being honest, and doing your best during that process already. Read more on How to Graduate.
Graduate School is a realm of higher education also referred to as: Master's and PhD.
It's a realm of misery, hardship, tough advisors, and loneliness. Or so I had heard. Somehow, I flipped it into one of the best years of my life. I reflected on my first year in graduate school in a prior post. I wrote about the reformation of community, the need to laugh, and taking yourself (even) less seriously. Read more on my First Year Reflection on Graduate School here.
I write here today to tell you that graduate school is ultimately what you want it to be and it is about how you curate that experience and the intentions you have behind it. When I stepped on campus to begin the first year of what was meant to be my first year as a matriculating PhD student, I slapped nothing on it but fun and learning. Depending on your goals and interests, you can curate your lab, conference, tasks, and courses to fit that life which you are building for yourself.
In order to get to the build, I had to apply first. What prepared me to apply?
I met and got to know the professor through a virtual conference that the university put on for undergraduates that wanted to present research that they were a part of. I scheduled time to meet him and ask questions about graduate school. Read more on Questions That You Want to Ask Your Potential Advisor here. I met him in person through a campus program to visit campus and meet potential colleagues. I wrote essays and did peer reviews on them to make sure I sounded as well as I thought I did. I communicated my interests and needs just as much as I asked for that of the lab, department, and university that I would be joining. More than anything, I stress you research the area you are interested in settling in.
Whether you are an HBCU student interested in staying around more people that look like you, or not interested in sharing your living situation with another person, it is important that you see if your expectations match the reality of things. What is a non-negotiable for you? What do you really need? One thing I noticed more than anything between undergrad and graduate school was the fact, I love and appreciate having community or a support group, and how valued (however suppressed) that is for any and everyone. I talk about it in both posts linked above. The significance of community is more than having space for chisme and karoke nights. Community is about someone who can remind you to focus on the assignments needed to attend dance practice in a more mentally present way. I attend university in a town that, in terms of things to do, is smaller than my undergrad institution while the population and campus size is almost tripled during the school year. For me, it's never been about what I do in the area, but how I am doing something. I prefer spending time with friends via movie nights, long walks, and volunteering. If you're someone who needs to be in the vicinity of a good party every so often, that'd be important to look into on your search as well.
In terms of the process of research, I've been told and I recognize that I am in a unique position. Many times, students are coming into graduate school leaning on a professor's project and coming up with something to focus on within it. Few get the opportunity to focus on their own interests in their studies, as I did, with funding that didn't come from a larger outside source such as NSF, Quad, or NDSEG. As the days go by, I'm still realizing how to study my interests. I talked a bit about my research interest in the post WWWWWH: Environmental Reciprocity. Most of the time, I give myself goals and tasks and share that with my advisors who chime in support, advice, and critiques which I then use to rework my approach to what I am looking into at any particular moment.
Like with most things, it's important to ask yourself why you are doing something and who you are in the moments that you are asking. It's important to ask over and over again and re-evaluate the 'why,' because it might have changed. Intentions and goals change and it is important to allow yourself to change with it.
I hope you learned even more about higher education and graduate school.
All the Best,
CLG (Clarreese La'Nay Greene)
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