Lessons to Learn in Graduate School

Time Management is essential in graduate school! As an undergraduate student, we all should have had some sort of time management skills or we wouldn't have made it to where we are. As an undergraduate student I was able to take 21 credits, have an officer position in the OT club and Equestrian club, all while finding time for fun! When I got to grad school, it was a whole new lesson I had to learn all over again. You have to find time for when you are going to do homework, readings, papers, meet with classmates for group projects, meet with professors, do field work hours, and somewhere in between have time for friends and family. It may seem like a lot but you can do it! It will just take some time to adjust to. Everything will get done. With careful planning and less procrastination, everything will get done. It might mean some late nights or early mornings. It might mean working ahead. It might mean doing homework on a Friday night. It will get done and it will be worth it. Everything will turn out alright. I cannot tell you how many times I said, “I’m going to fail this ___” to my family and friends. In the end, I ended up doing great! You will pass your classes and move onto the next semester and year. You just might need some reminders that it will all be okay. Take time to learn and observe. You can only learn so much from graduate school. When you’re out in the field, carefully observe others and take notes. Additionally, attend conferences and lectures if possible because research is constantly evolving and changing! You don’t have to be perfect. No one expects you to be perfect. Being perfect is an unrealistic expectation. You will make mistakes and you will learn from them. You will love what you’re doing. Just look at the number of different classes you will have to take and how different they are from each other. Take as much as you can in. Personally, I love what I’m learning and doing in graduate school. It makes me so excited for what the futures holds for me. Find that spark and passion and you will soar!

- Michelle