Category: Grad School

  • Giving and Receiving Feedback in your PhD

    Giving and Receiving Feedback in your PhD

    Giving and receiving feedback is a skill I highly underestimated I would be using before going into my PhD. I am not sure what I expected actually, was I expecting everyone to say, “this is fantastic” and me to fly through my PhD with ease? I think it mostly has to do with PhD students…

  • 10 personal reflections of a 3rd year PhD Student

    10 personal reflections of a 3rd year PhD Student

    It has become a tradition to reflect on each year of my PhD and somehow put my reflections to words in a blog post. You can read my reflections from my first year here, and from my second year here. This year, it has taken me a while to write this post. My third year…

  • My PhD Qualifying Exam: Part 1

    My PhD Qualifying Exam: Part 1

    I am excited to share with you today the first part, of a three part series, in my experience with my qualifying exam. This first post will share an overview of my story with the qualifying exam – what it looked liked in my department at my school, my personal journey with it and some…

  • Mental health and my PhD

    Mental health and my PhD

    DISCLAIMER: This is my story of anxiety and depression. Please consult a doctor or health care practitioner if you are seeking help for your anxiety or depression. Now entering my fourth year of my PhD. I sit here a bit stunned thinking “how did I get here”? Perhaps it’s because I am entering into my…

  • Life Happens Outside of Your PhD

    Life Happens Outside of Your PhD

    This semester, my life outside of my PhD has been pushing me to pay attention to it. Many circumstances have forced me to put my work aside and put my personal life first; planning a wedding, health concerns with family, moving apartments, and most recently a death.

  • Burnt out before I’ve even started? How I am putting myself before my work

    Burnt out before I’ve even started? How I am putting myself before my work

    After two and a half years of my PhD, my body feels depleted. Last semester, nothing went to plan, which has made January was one of the hardest months of my PhD this far. I didn’t feel like myself, my body gave up on me and my mind felt against me. How could this be?…

  • Mindset shifts for grad students

    Mindset shifts for grad students

    The end of a semester is often a busy time for most scholars. The past two months have been especially difficult for me. I am completing my qualifying exams, prepping to teach my first course, working on a research study, and other paid jobs. In times like these, it is easy for me to get…

  • Setting Boundaries in Grad School

    Setting Boundaries in Grad School

    I have recently started to prioritize boundary setting in my life – both in and outside of my degree. These boundaries started partly because I am learning to trust and care about myself more. But it is also due to the fact that I never thought I had the power to set boundaries. I never…

  • Tips for Working from Home

    Tips for Working from Home

    Hi Scholar Friends, I know it has been a while. I am deep in the midst of my qualifying exams and I am taking a break to write this important post. After finishing my coursework in the spring, I have officially moved onto the isolation component of my PhD. Everything I do from this point…

  • Career Conversation on YouTube

    Career Conversation on YouTube

    Last week I was featured on Career Conversations. I completed an interview with Stefanie and during we discussed everything from mental health, time management and blogging during my PhD. In this blog post, you will find a link to the full video, as well as an overview of the key takeaways.