Excitement. Nervousness. Fear. Pride. These are just a few of the feelings that you may experience as you start your graduate program. New beginnings are always exciting and come with a feeling of relief from the undergraduate degree you just completed, or the decision to transition out of a job or gap year. But new beginnings also come with feelings of uncertainty about what the future holds.
New city. New friends. New campus. New advisor. New professors. New responsibilities.
There is a lot to figure out once you accept going to graduate school up until the time you arrive and especially in your first semester. However, there are two simple questions that you must answer to help you begin to strategically make the most of this chapter in your life: GRADUATE SCHOOL.
First, Why are you here?
Please be truly honest with yourself about why you have decided to go to graduate school. And you may wonder, why is answering this question really necessary? It’s necessary because you are an adult and what you are embarking on for the next four to seven (I know right, seven some eight, let’s not let that be your story if you can prevent it) years for the most part on your own. Yes, you will have family support, friends in your corner, mentors rooting for you, and new peers to cheer you on. However, the work that lies ahead of you beginning even in your first week of graduate school, is all on you boo! Yes you will put in the hours, work through your frustrations, feel the most pride with all of your successes, throughout this journey all on your own. You will dig deep into your intellect and deep into your soul in ways that sometimes will highly be uncomfortable. And you’ll ask yourself “Why am I here?”.
The important reason to address this out the gate is so that you know for yourself without a doubt why you are starting this journey. Some of you may answer that “it seemed like the next best thing to do”, “my parents wanted me to be here”, “it’s the only way I can save the world”, “I have to in order to have the career that I want”, etc. I don’t know what your why is (use the journal questions below to sort that out), but what I do know though is that you have to own this decision for yourself and stand behind your own why. This why is the one that will help you through this first part of your journey, and later we’ll ask this same question again. The why may change. This why is the one that will help motivate you this first year and help keep you encouraged and excited. This why, is only one that you can answer. And if you do and find out you’re not sure at all, let’s not wait too long before you ask yourself this question again. After the first semester. After your qualifiers.
Second, What do you envision about your life after graduate school?
This is what I believe most graduate students are not fully challenged with at the beginning of their journey. It is more of an after thought that can happen when you’ve become ABD (all but dissertation). However, what if you had a general direction of how you envisioned life after grad school from Day One? And what if we used that vision to help you strategically navigate your graduate training and do so in a way that allows you to ensure you gain the necessary skills, experiences, and training to ensure your success towards this next pivotal milestone. Your whole life doesn’t need to be planned or mapped out, that’s not the point. But if we can uncover some of what you want out of your future, then you can take more ownership of your journey and take full advantage of all of the resources you will have at your disposal as a graduate student. Having some direction or clarity here will also help you protect your own dreams throughout this journey. All too often, when we do not know what we truly want for ourselves we are easily swayed by others to pursue directions that are projected onto us. And that may not be in alignment with our own dreams. I want you to protect this vision throughout your journey and be open to when it may change. Let’s consider that the Masters, PhD, or other doctoral degree is not the final end goal; it’s the culmination of your graduate journey and the key that will open many doors, some visible some not so much until later in your path. With this in mind, let’s use this dream to help inform how to strategically navigate your graduate journey and to help fuel you along the way.
Strategy session next time. For now, take 5 minutes to answer the two questions below and tuck these responses away in a safe place.
Journal Entry:
Why did I choose to come to graduate school?
What is the vision or dream I have for my life after I obtain my doctorate degree?
Renã AS Robinson, PhD
