I have been in graduate school at CBU for a year now and scholarship has become an "adult" thing for me. What I mean by this is everyone in the graduate program is at least 20, most of us have at least one job, and all but a few are married. The majority are parents. There is no more "pretending" to be an adult. In my undergrad years, professors would say we are a classroom of adults, and to an extent, we were. Not everyone in undergrad had jobs, not everyone paid bills, had a family to worry about, and tried to make ends meet. Some did, but the majority did not. In graduate school, it is the minority that do not have responsibilities.
Even researching, reading, and homework have become serious. I was always serious about schoolwork, but all the homework grad students do is up to them. The requirements are much harder than undergraduate work, researching is required for each book, author, topic, etc. so that one can come to class prepared and to enter the discussion of the class. One can even choose not to do any work, but going to class will prove difficult and one might even feel inexperienced, insecure, and out of their depth. I would not suggest showing up for class unprepared. Homework is completed on one's own, much like undergrad, but the sheer number of assignments and required reading is vast. I would say twice as much as undergrad, if not more. A novel a week is normal, plus the journal articles associated with it for discussions (research on your own time of your own accord), research for writing assignments such as the seminar paper or a manifesto, and then writing the seminar paper, conference paper, manifesto, and a presentation. All of this happens at the same time. Much of graduate school is about time management, not being the smartest person in the room. The students who make up the graduate program are all bright, determined, and filled with dreams of teaching and further education. Everyone in grad school is an overachiever. We were all the students in undergrad who talked in class, asserted outside research into the discussion, and received high marks. It is hard adjusting to an environment where everyone has something to say and must compete to get one's voice heard. At first, it is a bit unnerving, but once one adjusts to it, it becomes easier to find something to say and express views on a subject. Everyone is trying to add to their resume teaching experience, tutoring, publishing opportunities, conferences, and researching. It is expected that grad students publish before they get to the Ph.D. There are so many students in programs, those hoping to venture in have more to prove. They have to do more sooner. This puts enormous pressure on each student. We are all trying to be the best for a Ph.D program while figuring out what one likes to study. Is it mythology, theory, Narratology, creative writing, British literature, TESOL, or something else? Graduate students are all trying to become better adults, to learn more than we know now, and figure out the system we hope to get into. A lot is happening in grad school, more than just scholarship because one has to have experience in their field to know if they like it or not. Graduate school, for those of us who wish to teach at the university level, must learn to navigate “the system.” It is easier to understand the minutia of the academe the further into education one goes. Graduates are tuned into what the working environment is like, what are the relationships between the current professors, are they cordial or truly friends? How does politics affect what classes get taught, who teaches them, and how much money a department gets affects every student. These are things grad students have to keep in mind, even if they never verbalize it. I’ll say it again, a lot happens in grad school and your job is to keep up. A pivotal point to grad school is making connections. Most of the time, adjunct and other jobs are through who you know, not what you know. It is imperative to make connections with professors, students at conferences, and to know who is out there speaking. Who are the voices in the field you wish to enter? Have you read their works? Are you familiar with their style, could you pick it out from one line? You should be able to. You need to know everyone to that degree, to make connections, network, and keep those relationships active. They will come in handy in a few years. The professors are leaders in their field. They know so much and have so much experience it is a crime not to explore it. One learns so much from them because they push their students to read more than they thought they could, to write more than possible (or so it seems), to research and be the next leader with something important to say. Through this, one will learn more about themselves and their capacity to learn and will appreciate what the professor has done for them. Like I said, grad school is an “adult” thing because it opens your eyes to the world that academia is: the good, the bad, and the ugly. The small prospects of a job, of getting into a Ph.D program, and getting benefits. The knowledge one acquires, the possibilities of scholarship one can achieve, and the connections that are possible await the persistent. Before I end this blog post, the last thing you should know is that the first semester is the hardest. It is filled with dread, insecurity, doubt, and feelings of being out of the depth of the field you devoted at least four years to in undergrad. The key to the grad program is to stick with it. You are going to want to quit. You will think, "hey, I what if I don’t write this paper. I don’t really need to." Think about what you would do if you weren’t in grad school. Chances are you don’t have money lying around to travel, so a job really is your only option and it won't be in a field you love. So stick with that paper, stick out that first semester, and don’t quit.
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May 2015
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