When you hear the words “graduate school” what are the first words that come to mind? For me it used to be things like busy, stressed, and intense. This made me really anxious about starting school again, and my hope is that those reading this will feel a sense of peace and even excitement as you all begin this new chapter.
After completing my first year, I would say those original thoughts of graduate school can be true at times but also missing a lot to see the full picture. I remember feeling surprised by how fun school was! After taking some time to reflect on what made the year fun for me and others, I found it usually came down to two things: the learning and the community.
After spending time in undergrad and talking with classmates, I often found a common frustration with the requirement to take classes that seemed to be unrelated to the careers we desired. This would result in less of a desire to actually learn and much more burnout. Thankfully, many students in graduate school are not left feeling this way. Instead, students are often filled with a desire to master the knowledge and skills they know will impact their future career. Although there is a lot of material to learn in a short amount of time, this relevancy of the material helps give fulfillment and excitement when learning new things.
While I really enjoyed my time in undergrad, I struggled to find the community of friends that I was looking for. It was difficult due to these schools having thousands of students with lecture halls filled with hundreds of students. And when you do become friends with others, it is rare to share more than 1 or 2 classes with them due to the differences in majors or career paths. What I loved about graduate school is how the class size has been reduced to a number where it gives you a chance to meet and know people. The lab sizes are even smaller giving you the chance to have a relationship with the doctors and students that will last beyond the classroom. It is also nice because the friends you will make can have the same or similar schedules which helps foster this bond that leads to lifelong friendships.
Although graduate school can be busy and stressful, there is so much fun and excitement that comes with it, and I hope that this can serve as an encouragement for this new year.