Things I've learned in Grad School
I've been a Master's student for a whole week now, and I've learned so many things already! For all you prospective grad students out there, here's some of my new wealth of knowledge.
1.) Be a morning person. I don't care what time you were in bed the night before; if you hit Nicholasville Road after seven o'clock, your morning will suddenly become worse.
2.) Bring a book. Nothing creates an instant vacation during that annoying useless half hour like a bit of Tolkein or whomever.
3.) Have patience! I promise, things will get lost, computers have viruses, new systems have snafus, and Murphy's law will reign supreme. Just get used to the idea now.
4.) Make the right kind of friends. This includes somebody who knows where they're going (a native guide is a must!) and people in the offices. Secretaries know more than anyone else on earth; be nice to them, and they'll be nice to you!
5.) Shake hands with the library ASAP. Your native guide (see #4) can be a big help here, too. Not only are libraries a wonderful thing on principle, what with all those books, but they also have computers in them, important for things like: registering for classes, contacting the professors of those classes when registration fails, arranging financial aid, reading assignments, listening to assignments, banking, and communicating with the outside world. My fine arts library will even check out headphones to me, so that I can listen to the friendly electronic audio reserves that one of my professors loves! They will check out my new piano repertoire to me and borrow from other libraries on my behalf. They will even get resources from one library on campus and bring it to my fine arts library, saving me a fairly substantial walk. Great place.
Keeping lesson #1 in mind, I think I had better go home. My useful work is done, and sleep is a good thing. In moderation, of course.
posted by Jeanine @ 8/30/2006 11:03:00 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I concur! For those planning "higher education" that may not be grad school, those same principles apply to law school as well. It is also a good plan to make contact early and often with the admin. types who do things like process your enrolment forms and financial aid. It is a bad plan to assume that if you have heard nothing, everything is fine. I've found it is necessary to check up on the status of such things as paperwork, or you can find yourself unexpectedly disenrolled or some other disaster.
Another thing I discovered early on in law-school is to find your personal special spot. It could be in the library, but I preferred mine outside, around a secluded corner or behind a tree. Somewhere you can listen to music, study, get lost in a book, take the occassional nap, and escape from the world for an hour or two between classes. Just a tip to keep sane...
Hmm, can't say grad school (or anything else!) has made me a morning person, but I do agree that the best thing a student can do is make friends with faculty and staff. And don't ever trust that anything will be done right...keep checking, always, till you're sure.
Another good piece of advice: don't pull all-nighters. They worked in undergrad, but if you try it as a grad (or as a grad who also works a full-time job, in my case), you will make your life a living nightmare. Sometimes sleep is more important than getting your homework done. (Can you believe I'm saying this?!?)
Ah, but you don't travel down Nicholasville Road every day. Though I must agree, all-nighters are never a good idea. Especially since none of us are getting younger... :)
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