How To Deal With Moving Away To Grad School

3 November 2010.  TalentEgg Incubator.

Now that you’re starting your master’s degree, you have to get used to a new campus in a new city, make new friends, find your classrooms, and get used to your department.

It’s almost like you’re an undergrad all over again. (Of course, this doesn’t apply if you are doing your master’s at the same school you did your bachelor’s degree).

Once you’re settled into your new place (which can be in residence or off-campus), you should take the spare time you have to orient yourself to your new surroundings.

Check out campus

Most of your time over the next year or more will be spent within the confines of your school’s campus, and it is best to find out what is available to you before you need it.

For example, looking for an on-campus location that serves coffee at 1 a.m. is much easier a) if you know which places on campus sell coffee, and b) which of the said locations are actually open at 1 a.m.

Some graduate student associations may offer tours of the campus, but if they don’t, arm yourself with a map and start wandering around.

Go to orientation

The purpose of your orientation is to acquaint yourself  with the campus, the school and your program, but also to meet other graduate students.   You will have the opportunity to meet people who are in the same situation as you – this is your chance to meet new friends early in the year.

If your school offers a graduate orientation week, go to the events. They will help meet people, get used to the school and see the city.

Explore the city

Almost every university town has a bunch of different hot spots: awesome places to eat, pretty green spaces, interesting history and a variety of cafés to get your caffeine fix.  Check out tourism websites or the local tourism office, or ask locals and fellow students what you should see.   Hop on a bus, grab your bike or set out on foot and start investigating.  You never know what you will find in a new place!

Expect to be home sick

If you’re moving away from home for the first time, it is normal to feel homesick and to miss your family, friends, pets, and even the barista that makes your 2 p.m. Wednesday latte.

If you already lived away from home, you may experience homesickness again.  Alternatively, you can also miss the school and the campus you left behind.  In nearly all cases, these feelings will start to pass once you get to know your surroundings better.

Should you go to grad school

TalentEgg Incubator. 26 July 2010

You’ve put in somewhere between four and six years into your undergrad and you’re now considering other options for the following year.

The educational journey for some students ends once they finish their undergrad. Others may consider completing a second degree or doing a post-graduate certificate. Others, though, decide that they haven’t had enough of the trials and tribulations of university life, and apply to graduate school.

The best way to determine if grad school is right for youis to talk to people—your family, your friends and your professors—to find out what their experiences have been.

Unfortunately for me, as a first generation student, there wasn’t anyone in my immediate family I could seek counsel from, and it was the same for my extended family as well. I did my research, talked to my profs, and asked people I knew who went to grad school. I applied last fall, and despite good grades and references, my referees and I were shocked by the fact I wasn’t accepted.

There are plenty of reasons why pursuing a graduate degree may not be a good idea for you, based on what you want to do afterward, and this includes job prospects, finances and your mental health.

Lars Hedlund, a masters student in English at the University of Calgary, says that grad school “…is by far the worst stress/life/work balance I have ever had to work through. At many points it is unbearable, at other points it feels manageable.

“I suppose it all adds to a greater sense of accomplishment in the end, but really, my advice would be, if you’re not sure if you want to do grad school DO NOT force yourself into it. It definitely requires the motivation and a little bit of time off before tackling. That isn’t to say you can’t be successful at it going straight in, I just wouldn’t recommend it.”

Similarly, Cam Mitchell, a McMaster University kinesiology PhD student, believes that “most graduate students…get some sort of basic funding support however, in most cases the level of support students receive is much less then they would receive in most entry-level potions. For a two-year masters, this may be a relatively minor consideration, but for a combination Masters, PhD, postdoc (seven-plus years) the effects of a prolonged period of “student living” must be carefully considered.

“Another disadvantage is the possibility of becoming over-qualified. Some employers may be looking for candidates with more hands-on experience and additional academic qualification my actually be a hindrance to employment.”

However, there are many reasons why grad school can also be a good idea: it can allow you to learn more about a specific area of interest, teach you better research and writing skills, and a sense of community with other students.

The University of Western Ontario student Marcus Callaghan, who is completing his masters at the Centre for the Study of Theory and Criticism, says, “One of the major pros of grad school (that is often overlooked) is that you have the opportunity to share in the knowledge and ideas of many other students in your field. If there’s an idea that you’re working out, or a source that you haven’t read, there is a great chance that one of your peers will be able to contribute some sort of helpful information to your problem. There is a lot of discussion and idea sharing going on in graduate programs.

“Along this same line of thought, having so many experienced students gathered together makes it easy to get help with editing, CVs, and scholarship applications.”

The bottom line: if you are considering going to graduate school give it a lot of thought since the programs are demanding and the application process is arduous and expensive.

Book review: “10-10-10: A Life Transforming Idea” by Suzy Welch

"“10-10-10: A Life Transforming Idea” by Suzy Welch", August 28 2009

Some of Gen Y has not grown up enough to realize that the decisions we make now can have a major impact on our lives in the present, as well as the distant future. Many of us haven’t got to that point when it comes to thinking about our future in a serious manner. Part of the reason is that we don’t know how: our parents have been and in many cases still are incredibly involved in our decision-making processes.

I was watching The Hour recently and there was a segment on this book called 10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea. I’m known as being somewhat indecisive (from my future, to what I’m going to wear or eat for breakfast each day), so I decided to get a copy of the book and hope it would help me out.

Suzy Welch, the author of 10-10-10 and the person who coined the term, promises to help you make decisions in a clear, transparent and straightforward manner by following the book’s philosophy. Whenever you face a dilemma, she says, you need to ask yourself three questions: How will this choice impact me in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years? But she also says it’s not as simple as asking yourself those three questions.

It is important to note that the 10-10-10 philosophy isn’t exactly literal: the first 10 is supposed to represent the present, the second 10 the not-so-distant future, and the final 10 several years down the road. 10-10-10 was just a means for Welch to conceptualize the idea in a way that could be easily remembered.

The book outlines how you can use the 10-10-10 philosophy to help you make major decisions in your life in regards to work, friendship, love, parenting and your career. Each chapter goes though a couple of examples of how Welch’s friends and family, colleagues at the Harvard Business Review, readers of O: The Oprah Magazine, as well as others she has come to know through various speaking engagements, have used the philosophy to solve their problems.

In nearly all of the examples she provides, the system seems to wrap up everyone’s issues very nicely. Interestingly enough, Welch claims that she doesn’t have everything tied up with a nice bow.

Perhaps the best piece of advice I took from the book was related to how we choose our professions. Welch states that people tend to gravitate toward certain professions because they’re good at them. She gives the example of English majors going into publishing, and math majors going to Wall Street. This is indeed true, and I’m sure you know lots of people who fit similar descriptions.

However, Welch states that “aptitude doesn’t always equal passion,” meaning just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you should pursue it as a career. That is definitely something we should consider as a generation when we are looking for work. Welch also provides an example of how a young business grad named Kristin used 10-10-10 to choose between working in a small start-up company with an unstable future and a large company with a great reputation and many opportunities for promotion. I’m not going to tell you what the factors were for Kristin making her decision or what she eventually chose, though. You’ll have to read the book.

If you feel that you need some help when it comes to making decisions that can really affect you in the future, this may be a good book for you to pick up. It goes through a framework that can help you evaluate your choices in a way that makes you consider yourself, and those who also may be impacted by your decision.