{"id":33562,"date":"2021-10-25T15:45:23","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T20:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/?p=33562"},"modified":"2021-10-25T15:45:23","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T20:45:23","slug":"rebranding-your-relationship-with-graduate-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/2021\/10\/25\/rebranding-your-relationship-with-graduate-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebranding your relationship with graduate school"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Here is some advice I\u2019ve gained prior to and during my first year of graduate school:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Choosing a PI\/thesis advisor<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before I started my graduate studies, the single piece of advice that I heard the most was: \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Finding a research advisor that you like is more important than the topic itself.\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I\u2019d like to make a slight modification to that statement, and say it&#8217;s a good idea to pick an advisor that you could see yourself working well with. You will be spending the better part of the next few years with this person so it\u2019s quite the commitment. Of course, it\u2019s also a good idea to stay in the general field you\u2019re hoping to study. (E.g., I was extremely interested in mathematical and computational applications to neuroscience\/cognitive science, and that led me to study the neural correlates of spatial navigation with an advisor who I have a great rapport with.) <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Especially in programs that don\u2019t require rotations throughout your first year, find advisors you think you\u2019d like to work with and ask them to connect you with their current graduate students. Then, you can meet with them and find out everything you need to know. When you meet with the grad students, ask them to please be open and honest with you so you can ask the hard, nitty-gritty questions too, such as, \u201cWhat\u2019s your least favorite thing about the advisor\/lab?\u201d You\u2019ll be surprised about what the happy <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the miserable graduate students have to say.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Make lots of friends<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Befriend the students within your cohort, the older graduate students in your program, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">definitely<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> your program&#8217;s administrative coordinators. They will be the people that have your back when you\u2019re stuck on a problem and\/or when your whole life feels like it\u2019s crashing down. Get their numbers and emails ready so you can reach out when you need to.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the age of \u201cZoom University,\u201d it&#8217;s been really helpful for my cohort to have our own <a href=\"https:\/\/discord.com\/\">Discord<\/a> server. We\u2019ve created separate channels for each class, planning (safe outdoor) gatherings, and of course, memes! These channels allowed us to post questions regarding specific assignments or general course material and also came in handy to reference later. We set weekly meeting times for each class to work on assignments together as well, so we could chat and solve problems in real-time instead of through text.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The more senior students and staff generally have a better idea about the in\u2019s and out\u2019s of the program\u2013they\u2019ve been in it longer. Let these people be a resource. Don\u2019t be afraid to send them a brief email, or ask the students if they are available to meet with you for a 30-minute chat over some coffee. In my experience, everyone I\u2019ve reached out to has been more than happy to help. Further, I\u2019ve heard stories of program administrators <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">refuting parking tickets for students.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Now that\u2019s just an example, but being friendly can literally pay off.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Prioritize your self-care<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Seriously. I\u2019ll openly admit that I\u2019m still working on this, but ideally, you should prioritize your own self-care as much as (if not more than?!) prioritizing your research and\/or classwork. Find a hobby like painting, hiking, or reading (for fun\u2014put the textbooks down) and make plans to do these things with others if you\u2019d like. Not only will this give you something to look forward to as the week goes on, but you can use this to incentivize yourself to quit procrastinating and finish your work. Think to yourself, \u201cI\u2019ll let myself watch an episode of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">after I work on research for <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">x <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">amount of hours.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Celebrate your small wins too! Treat yourself to ice cream after making it through a tough exam or submitting a grant proposal. Find little things that bring you joy and reward yourself after all of your hard work.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Self-care also includes: eating well and exercising. Increase your energy and get your cognitive juices flowing by taking care of yourself. You are not just a brain. You have a body too, and it\u2019s important to take care of it.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Quit the competition<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Drop the cutthroat competitive attitudes. You\u2019re here; you\u2019ve made it. Professors will think you\u2019re even more impressive if you can work effectively with others (if that\u2019s what you really care about). Find validation in your own accomplishments without comparing them to others\u2019. It\u2019s ironic that while math and science are progressively becoming more collaborative as fields, we (the students and professors) still hang on to this idea that \u201cwe have to be the best.\u201d Whatever that means. The difference in a class grade of 96% and\u00a0 94% is 2%, but guess what, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">both end up as A\u2019s on each of your transcripts.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> You\u2019ll get much further in life by making allies instead of competing against foes.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Asking for help is a skill in and of itself<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Embrace your own humility. The worst thing that can happen is you ask someone a question, and they don\u2019t know the answer. Then, you can either: figure it out together, or you can continue asking around to find the answer. Either way, you\u2019re closer to the solution than you were initially. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The questions you have are quite likely to be burning a hole in someone else\u2019s brain too. Be brave and ask. If someone has a condescending response, that\u2019s their issue, not yours. Keep your head held high. (Which brings me to my last point\u2026)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Have confidence in yourself<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You must be doing something right to have gotten this far. Remind yourself of your wins when you\u2019re feeling down, and know that if you\u2019re doing the best you can, that you should be proud of the end result, regardless. You don\u2019t have to always know the correct answer; in fact, learning from your mistakes is even more effective. Try not to feel too embarrassed if you say the wrong thing. Do your best to just laugh it off, and know it happens to everyone. There is much more value in contributing <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">anything<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the conversation compared to being too timid to contribute at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Remember that we are all human (professors too, haha), and as humans, we\u2019re bound to make mistakes. What is science, if not a compilation of mistakes that we call \u201cexperience?\u201d Collectively, we have an underlying responsibility to define the culture in each academic setting. Let\u2019s lead it in the right direction, shall we?<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is some advice I\u2019ve gained prior to and during my first year of graduate school: Choosing a PI\/thesis advisor Before I started my graduate studies, the single piece of advice that I heard the most was: \u201cFinding a research &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/2021\/10\/25\/rebranding-your-relationship-with-graduate-school\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" data-url=https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/2021\/10\/25\/rebranding-your-relationship-with-graduate-school\/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":12094,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,353,139,351,223,170],"tags":[173,122,120,189,52],"class_list":["post-33562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advice","category-first-generation","category-grad-school","category-grad-student-advice","category-grad-student-life","category-starting-grad-schol","tag-advice","tag-diversity","tag-first-year","tag-grad-school","tag-graduate-students"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3gbww-8Jk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33562"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33566,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33562\/revisions\/33566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/mathgradblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}