Too Cool for School

What drives people to go to graduate school?  Off the top of my head, I can think of three reasons:

1. to delay having to enter the "real" world,
2. to be trained for a career that requires an advanced degree or to improve one's salary,
3. and/or to learn more about a field that interests the student.

No doubt, these are all fine reasons for attending graduate school.  I would hope that the one thing all of them have in common is number 3.  But why is it that I have only met a couple students who seem to be interested in our field at all?

I don't recall ever noticing this issue when I was an undergrad.  My science TAs often would geek out about their research and the interesting things they were learning in class.  And while I never had any TAs or met any graduate students in the humanities, all of my cohort who were planning on going to graduate school for the humanities couldn't stop talking about their field.  What is it about my grad cohort that is so different?

My wife tells me it's probably just a phase.  STEM students are used to being the "nerds" of college and many of them try to build up a "cool" image to hide behind.  That could explain why very few of the other first-year grad students ever show up for the department colloquia or research presentations.  But you will see plenty of more senior grad students in the audience.  So perhaps those who don't wash out after a year will begin to open up a bit about their interest in my field.

Another theory I have is that many of these students haven't accepted the unwritten rules of graduate school.  In particular, I refer to the level of involvement expected of graduate students.  Several of the first-years still wait to do their homework until the night before it's due, go drinking several nights a week, and likely spend less time on campus now than during undergrad.  I'm sure that if they don't make grad school a significant part of their life, their advisors will force them.  Right now, most of the students don't have any research appointments and are riding on a guaranteed first-year funding.  I know for a fact that if I avoided school and work like many of these other students, my research advisor would have fired me a long time ago. 

It felt good to rant a bit.  I understand that perhaps I am more passionate about my field - or I show that passion more obviously - than my cohort and that there might be nothing wrong with them, but is it so much to ask to be able to geek out with other grad students?

Sink or Swim

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post.  I'm going to stop saying I'm going to update regularly.  If it wasn't obvious, I've been neglecting this blog because I've spent the first half of this semester in that sink or swim phase of grad school. 

Near the beginning of the semester, I had a conversation with another first-year grad student about the workload of grad school.  He asked when we were going to get a break from the homework.  I told him that we probably won't get a break until after comps in two years.  When he asked how we are supposed to have any life outside of school, I jokingly replied that we won't, but that it's okay because we will get used to having no life.  Obviously even grad students have lives outside of school, but for a few weeks, I started to question if there was more truth to that joke than I had imagined.

Fortunately, I can report that I'm getting used to the grad student workload and can squeeze in time to have fun and relax.  The biggest difference between grad school and undergrad that I've noticed is that in grad school, nearly every activity needs to be scheduled in advance.  Even if I were to work nearly continuous on homework and research, it will never be caught up to the point that I can take a day off without having anything that I could be working on.  This was a major mental hurdle I had to overcome.  The never-ending work stressed me out more than I expected.  But I learned that by scheduling in time to walk away from work, I am able to handle stress much better.  My wife and I went hiking for the first time here last weekend and I would like to make that a regular Saturday activity.  The hike made me feel much better and, because I scheduled time for it, I didn't feel like I was falling behind schedule.  I can already tell that my time management skills have improved, which is great since I'll never be able to succeed as a professor unless I can manage my time very effectively.

I know it's still pretty early for me to claim that I've gotten used to grad school work, but I can gladly say that at least I'm keeping my head above water!