The Unbearable Lightness of Being…a Graduate Student.

First things first,and take this to be a general rule: DON’T PANIC.
(I don’t mean to confuse Kundera and Addams in your mind.)

You are here because, somewhere along the line, you impressed enough of the right people to the point that they vouched for your levels of motivation,critical thinking, communication skills, or research ethics sufficient to answer any questions as to whether or not you were deserving. You might see a peer forget this and voice an immediate feeling of inadequacy, or maybe notice their forgetting this manifesting as an empty melancholy in a few years—an angst about being out of place and not knowing what one is “supposed to do” as a graduate student. This note is as much for those looking to reassess their situation as it is for those who are new and maybe not sure what is going on,so if nothing else,remember that you got here for a reason.

So, after all that, we get to the point: what is it to be a graduate student?

In most cases, graduate students are paid to attend and contribute to the university: paid, especially if in the process they are doing research,and/or teaching. The overall educational goals for you are to “create” knowledge and extend the field (outwardly), as well as for you to to develop skills: critical and synthetic abilities that ought to help you in the future that you choose.

You show up to campus and what you do know, you will further develop,and what you don’t know, you will learn. This learning may involve some classes you’ll likely have to take anyway. Figuring out your department’s requirements is essentially phase 1. It’s easier than collecting underpants. The initial classes taking period of your time as a graduate student is also a good time to read papers in your field and study the methodology and challenges or opportunities that you’ll spend the next couple years analyzing. This will be assisted usually by an advisor or investigator of your choosing whose expectations areas important to figure out as those of your department. Arguably that’s where the “real” learning is.

Unlike most jobs, graduate students go through a process of picking an advisor or group. Think about it like renting out your skills. The good news about this is that you are picking your manger, and an “academic family”. If you want a distant advisor, those exist; if you want someone who will provide you with constant pressure, there are plenty of those too. Tenants come in all kinds. Other students in your department will be an invaluable resource for making this kind of selection, particularly in telling you how they deal with the workload and desires of their bosses. Priorities vary,but taking a quick look at the 4C’s (Concentration, Character, Confidence and Cash) will often be at the very least a good way to limit the 4P’s (Putrid projects, Personality clashes, Presumptions, and Prostitution). You’re looking for a project you feel passion about, pleasant personalities in the people you will be dealing with for the next 2 to n years, with open communications about expectations and,ideally,financial support. You’re getting paid to think about a topic for a while, you might as well enjoy thinking about it.

Your advisor will often have specific desires of you (often along the lines of “x papers in y years”,or “build this by next week.”). These vary based on field and boss and mood and planetary alignment. However,I think that there are some standard desires that the professoriate have, namely that you manage your time in an effective, efficient, and diligent manner. I have a policy of always trying to have something new to say when you see your advisor. The “something” means "I’ve been effective", the “always” and “new” imply that "I’ve been efficient", and the fact that he sees me means that I’m at least diligent enough to cross paths with him in a regular fashion.

Now, slightly further down the road are proficiency exams. When these are,with respect to the amount of research toward graduation you have done, varies depending on departments. In most cases,a committee of faculty will attempt to assess the breadth and depth of your comprehension of fundamentals in your field. By gauging your command of the practical aspects of your study area, they can figure out your ability to design and produce dissertation quality work,so this exam will help you to target your future activities and experiments for you to get or continue to get publishable results to garner you and your boss and the institution with visibility and grant money. That being said,if you’re reading this,you are new and the main point of bringing exams up is to remind to that you can tailor your classes to help you to be ready and really, the readiness is all. Good luck!