Lectures, lectures, assignments, lectures, mid-terms, lectures, assignments, lectures, finals, finals, GRADES, GRADES!
Lectures, lectures, assignments, lectures, mid-terms, lectures, assignments, lectures, finals, finals, GRADES, GRADES!
Badgers badgers badgers badgers badgers badgers badgers badgers…
Oh the sweet predictable embrace of undergrad! Sometimes I miss you!
Anthony - "Tell me I'm good! And smart! And doing all the right things in life!"
University - "Well Anthony, here are your grades this term. You're dreadful at stats, but your average is respectable. Thumbs up buddy!"
Anthony - "Thanks friend!"
Of course undergrad was never this easy. Though I’ve tried to block them all out, I can still recall many nights working on assignments that ended with me rocking back and forth in the fetal position wrought with existential angst and a growing inferiority complex (the early warning signs of a future grad student?).
However, a key challenge in graduate school is the transition to an entirely new milestone and reward structure. In undergrad, milestones are laid out for you. Everything is modular and progression (or lack thereof) is usually pretty clear when you receive grades at the end of each term. You never go more than a couple of months without being provided with some sort of external validation. High grades are the reward for your hard work and dedication.
So what is the milestone and reward structure in a research oriented graduate program? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Lets take a moment to think about it. In research oriented graduate programs grades fall by the wayside. You may take some courses and receive some encouraging marks but in your heart of hearts you know what truly matters...
It's-all-about-the man-u-scripts baby!
Feels great to submit one, feels even better to receive a review for one that doesn’t contain the words,“Dear so and so, we regret to inform you that we cannot accept...etc...etc...Kind regards, Satan.” Each published paper is like successfully completing a year of undergrad, except it can often take much more time than a year to accomplish.
Therein lies a big problem. I believe that people tend to need MUCH more validation than this. I know I certainly do. It’s very hard to continue diligently working on a piece of research for one or more years without any indication that your efforts will lead to meaningful progression within your graduate degree. This can be extremely demoralizing, assaulting both your productivity and your mood.
To make up for this discrepancy I think that graduate students need to actively seek out and create additional situations that might lead to feelings of accomplishment or validation. Things that can keep you happy and motivated during the long and dangerous march between publications. What might qualify? I’m sure there are many different tactics that can be taken, but here are some that have really helped me out.
1. Conferences
Therein lies a big problem. I believe that people tend to need MUCH more validation than this. I know I certainly do. It’s very hard to continue diligently working on a piece of research for one or more years without any indication that your efforts will lead to meaningful progression within your graduate degree. This can be extremely demoralizing, assaulting both your productivity and your mood.
To make up for this discrepancy I think that graduate students need to actively seek out and create additional situations that might lead to feelings of accomplishment or validation. Things that can keep you happy and motivated during the long and dangerous march between publications. What might qualify? I’m sure there are many different tactics that can be taken, but here are some that have really helped me out.
1. Conferences
If you do not currently have enough to put together a full paper, find a conference that you can submit your interim work to. If possible, find one that involves submitting a “mini-paper” that might go through a simple peer review process and eventually be “mini-published” online. While these mini-papers are not generally regarded as true publications, they are FAR better than nothing. They are a way for you to stake an early public claim over your research ideas. They help you to summarize and clarify your thoughts about your work. You can list them on your CV. If you get to give a talk on the work, all the better! That can go on your CV too! They are somewhere in between a published abstract and a full publication. Later on they can form the foundation of a full paper. They are an intermediate milestone, exactly what we’re looking for!
In addition, if you are the proactive social type, you can get a tonne of feel-good vibes from the conference itself. I don’t believe that I currently fall into this category but I am trying to try. If you initiate or seek out conversations with successful people who do similar work you can get their opinion on the validity of your methods and suggestions for future research directions.
2. Committee meetings
I believe that the potential value of committee meetings cannot be overstated. They are all about you - you finally get some attention! However, like so many things, you often only get as much out of them as you put in. So it’s important to carefully plan what you are going to do with all that attention. Committee meetings are like a job performance evaluation where you have to guide and direct the evaluation yourself. Straight-up ask your committee if they think you’re on track or how they think you are doing. This is not a sign of weakness. You are simply leveraging their expertise which is exactly what they are there for. Be honest about your concerns regarding the project and its direction and make sure to directly engage everyone in that discussion. “Dr. Smith, what do you think about this?...Dr. Smith 2, I’d love to hear your opinion on this, Dr. Smith 3...” Since the majority of your time is spent dealing with the intricate details of your research it is crucial that you dedicate a substantial portion of the meeting towards discussing the big picture.
I believe that the potential value of committee meetings cannot be overstated. They are all about you - you finally get some attention! However, like so many things, you often only get as much out of them as you put in. So it’s important to carefully plan what you are going to do with all that attention. Committee meetings are like a job performance evaluation where you have to guide and direct the evaluation yourself. Straight-up ask your committee if they think you’re on track or how they think you are doing. This is not a sign of weakness. You are simply leveraging their expertise which is exactly what they are there for. Be honest about your concerns regarding the project and its direction and make sure to directly engage everyone in that discussion. “Dr. Smith, what do you think about this?...Dr. Smith 2, I’d love to hear your opinion on this, Dr. Smith 3...” Since the majority of your time is spent dealing with the intricate details of your research it is crucial that you dedicate a substantial portion of the meeting towards discussing the big picture.
3. Receiving simple compliments
During some of my darker days I unexpectedly received some compliments from a colleague that I respect. It was just a small thing, but it made all the difference. Grad degrees require you to put a lot of faith in yourself and in your abilities. When times get tough your faith is naturally shaken. It’s nice to know that someone else has faith in you too!
I would be a total ass though if I suggested that we should all fish for compliments. So instead, I suggest that if you ever see a fellow student’s work and think, “hey that’s pretty sweet” or, “I wish I had something that good,” tell them you think they’re doing a great job! There is absolutely no drawback to this. It is one of those rare opportunities where the world can simply be better at no additional cost. Chances are, whatever you say will be dearly appreciated by the student because they are probably being validated just about as much as you are. Maybe your compliment can be one of the things they're grateful for that day. At any rate, it’s a pay it forward system and with a little luck it will come 'round to you!
During some of my darker days I unexpectedly received some compliments from a colleague that I respect. It was just a small thing, but it made all the difference. Grad degrees require you to put a lot of faith in yourself and in your abilities. When times get tough your faith is naturally shaken. It’s nice to know that someone else has faith in you too!
I would be a total ass though if I suggested that we should all fish for compliments. So instead, I suggest that if you ever see a fellow student’s work and think, “hey that’s pretty sweet” or, “I wish I had something that good,” tell them you think they’re doing a great job! There is absolutely no drawback to this. It is one of those rare opportunities where the world can simply be better at no additional cost. Chances are, whatever you say will be dearly appreciated by the student because they are probably being validated just about as much as you are. Maybe your compliment can be one of the things they're grateful for that day. At any rate, it’s a pay it forward system and with a little luck it will come 'round to you!
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