I found this article from ProfHacker to be a helpful list of suggestions for any grad student; many of these things I found true for my first year and some I want to start implementing (for instance, developing a “personal research library” where I make notes of the things I’ve read). What do you guys think? What advice would you give to first-year students?
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/An-Open-Letter-to-New-Graduate/26326/
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Great find, Dallin. I thought the article had some sound advice. I’m definitely feeling the impostor syndrome a little bit right now. Ha. Good to know I’m probably not the only one.
How are you all feeling as you gear up for year two? What adventures have you had over the summer?
The personal research library (I use EndNote) is a fabulous habit to begin. I also think dropbox is phenomenal when on campus and in a bind. But, the best that has helped me is : treat it like a profession. Strict hours, hard labor, and genuine passion? A girl from my cohort commented in the tweet feeds and I liked her comment very much: shut up if you haven’t done the reading. But she also says that if no one cares, make them– e.g. be passionate and do quality work. I think this is the advice I’m taking for this upcoming year. After I’ll do a thorough review of my labor and judge accordingly whether or not I’ll last the rest of my years.