Last summer I did research abroad in Rome, Italy for my dissertation. As you know from my post on accepting setbacks, I had a major dissertation topic change from focusing on the Roman Empire to focusing on Anglo-Saxon England. While the change is for the best and I’m really looking forward to this […]
KD Shives is a PhD candidate in Microbiology at the University of Colorado. During her free time she writes about microbes at kdshives.com and on Twitter @KDShives.
While my last post focused on the written aspect of comprehensive exams, for many graduate students there is another, […]
In a previous post, we explained you why cutting back on sleep is never a good idea in graduate school. Hopefully, you will take action and start protecting your sleeping schedule as your most important productivity-refreshing time of the day.
If all the stress of graduate school becomes too much, sleeping might become […]
Just reread that title, and let the idea sink in: Depriving yourself of sleep is a terrible idea.
Yes, you have tons of work to do in graduate school. But cutting back on sleep is never ever a good solution. In fact, the opposite is true: healthy, sound sleep can be your key […]
If you’re lucky enough to have a teaching assistantship, you know that summer classes can be an extremely rewarding experience. Here in mid-Michigan, the sunny summer weather puts everyone in a good mood, getting dressed means putting on a sundress or shorts, and the exodus of most students means ample parking […]
In a perfect world, I would grow and raise my own food and cook every meal that I ate from scratch. I enjoy cooking because it’s so rewarding to eat something you made and that you know all the ingredients that go into it. But grad school has challenged my love of cooking in […]
As I write this, I am stuck in a small town in Ohio after an accident on the freeway on my way home from a conference. (I hit a semi wheel that came off a truck and smashed my car’s suspension system. I’m fine but, sadly, my car is not.) Whether it’s a […]
I’m really bad at chess. My little brother was always amazing at the game, and was somehow always a few steps in front of me. I’d snag one of his knights, and this would cause him to capture my queen and put me in check. I had always thought that the reason he was […]
Andrea Zellner is a PhD student in the Ed Psych/Ed Tech Program at Michigan State University and a co-host of the GradHacker podcast. You can follow her on twitter at @AndreaZellner.
A few weeks ago I stumbled across this essay by Amy Boesky in The Kenyon Review that reflected […]
I can hardly believe it; after ten straight years in graduate school, I will be graduating. There were definitely times in my graduate career when I thought this day wouldn’t come, but it’s just a few short weeks away. Graduation is a special event that calls for a bit of preparation, including some things you […]
