When I started graduate school in August of 2020, I felt so confused and unsure where to even start. As I look toward my last semester as a graduate student, I wanted to share some of the hard-earned lessons I’ve learned over the past 5 years. You’ll see that I’ve pulled a ton of blogs, either that I’ve previously written or from fellow ambassadors, that go into more detail on many of these subjects, so if anything catches your eye, please feel free to click away and read more!
- Set a schedule and stick to it, and find a way to organize your day/week! I like the app “Todoist,” which allows you to create tasks and organize them into projects. It allows you to keep a to-do list while still maintaining flexibility. There are, of course, other programs, but I’ll leave those to the experts (like Alan!).
- Read a paper every day. This means go through the abstract, skim the introduction, understand the figures, and read the conclusion. If you need more details, you can always go back later. Use a reference manager (like EndNote or Zotero) so that you can take notes and go back to refer to articles you’ve already read. Subscribe to journals relevant to your field to get a weekly update on recent publications. For me, this meant I got notifications from JACS, Nano Letters, ACS Nano, ACS Nanoscience Au, Nature Chemistry, Small, and kept up with Science and Nature for huge findings. If you want a social scientist’s perspective, read this blog from Emily.
- Explore areas that will improve your career outside of research. If you want to start a business, go to LILIE and explore your options. If you want to become a better leader, use the Doerr Institute (shoutout Michelle). If you want to learn skills beyond the technical, USE the resources available to you at Rice (courtesy of Robyn). Don’t let it get in the way of your research, but DO allow these programs to supplement your personal and professional growth.
- Prioritize your health: Don’t drink too much. Eat nutritious meals. Move your body for 30 minutes every day.
- Budget for your savings. If you’re able, open a Roth IRA. Putting away even $100 a month now will pay massive dividends for you later in life. Check out Manuel’s blog(s) on banking, which international students may find especially helpful!
- When you are about to embark on a new situation and you have a bad gut feeling, trust that feeling, take a step back, and reconsider. When you have a good gut feeling, lean in. Basically, I’m telling you to trust yourself. No blogs here, just hard-earned lessons.
- Graduate school is a time for learning. Yes, about your field. But also about a diverse group of people with varied interests. And about how to speak up for yourself. And about how to be a great communicator. And sometimes, about how to play Dungeons and Dragons or line dance (generally, not at the same time). Yes, you are building your career, but take this as an opportunity to grow personally as well.
- Keep a running log of everything you do. It doesn’t have to be pretty, but it will be so helpful when it comes to applying for jobs, fellowships, postdocs, awards, conferences, etc. That way, when you have to make a 1-page document to “advertise” yourself, you already have a list to choose from so that you can make your document relevant for whatever the application is. And here’s a bonus piece of advice for free: just apply! Daziyah has written two great blogs all about this information, and I highly recommend you check them out here and here.
- Get a life. No, seriously, get a life. Find friendships. Build community. Graduate school cannot be done in a silo, so make friends within your cohort. Make friends outside of your department. If you’re really brave, make friends outside of the university. Especially in a city like Houston, there is so much to do — find your passions outside of research and use that to decompress and be a whole human. Graduate school has its ups and downs. Find people who cheer you on in success and keep you steady when things are rough. But don’t take my word for it, read these blogs from Daziyah here (again, hey girl) and Sathvik here.
- Give yourself some grace. Again, no blogs here, just some hard-earned wisdom. Graduate school is hard, and it’s supposed to be! You’re literally creating new knowledge. Your job aspirations might change, and what you were once interested in may shift. That’s okay! Grad school is a great place to learn that. Take breaks as needed, do something fun, and don’t spend every waking moment in the lab. As I reflect on my last 5 years, there were definitely tough moments, but I also experienced great joys and met some incredible people along the way. For my parting thoughts, I’ll leave you with a quote from Henry David Thoreau.
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."
About the author:
Carly Graverson is from Milwaukee, WI, and is a current Ph.D. student in Chemistry. She got her B.S. in Chemistry from Lewis University in 2020. Read more.
Further Reading:
Grad School: Expectations vs. Reality
From Scholar to Startup: Navigating Entrepreneurship as a Ph.D. Student at Rice University
The Hidden Treasures at Rice that a New Graduate Student Should Know