Graduate School Mindset

It's no secret that one of the best parts of my job is working with our students, but of course. I love keeping in touch with alumni and I love getting emails, calls, texts, etc. and hearing about their latest adventures and accomplishments. So, besides getting a text message from Sam with a photo attached - a photo of her new "grad student id card" at the University of Illinois....I've been going back and forth with Sam on the email about the acclimation process and her experience so far. She actually just found out that besides her fellowship, she is going to get paid an additional stipend for her research assistantship - how cool is that? So how is Sam doing? So far she loves it. This is what she wrote to me and I think it speaks volumes on why pursuing your Ph.D. is a rewarding thing to do.

"The workload. It's a lot A LOT of reading, but I don't feel overwhelmed. I just got out of one of my classes and I really learned a lot in that class just in the last 3 hours! So I am loving this. I also noticed a shift in my everyday thinking. I don't leave class and talk about random shit, I leave class and talk to my friends about the information we learned. We have more in-depth discussions and I think that really contributes to my breadth of knowledge about everything. It's just a totally
different academic atmosphere, but I like it."

--Sam, McNair '09 (you guys met her this summer)

Can't wait to hear more about Sam's adventures in her Ph.D. program at Illinois! And, I can't wait to hear about each of yours! :-)