By Francine Fluetsch on January 27, 2016
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If you’re in grad school, you made it to the big leagues — congrats! Now the problem is staying there and doing well, which might be a bit more challenging than you imagined.
After being in school for so long, it’s easy to think you need a break, or rather deserve a break, but you need to push on! It will be worth it in the end.
Here are some mistakes you definitely don’t want to make during your time in grad school.
1. Forgetting to network.
Grad school is going to be very stressful, and won’t even compare to anything you thought was hard as an undergrad, but you have to remember that a key reason you are there is to get that dream career, and in order to get there you are going to have to expand your networking database.
A good place to start would be to really get on the good side of the faculty you work with, and start talking to them about career advancements. The better relationship you have with them, the higher chance you have of getting referred to a company or someone that they know.
You can also attend job fairs as well as local events that might have people of interest in attendance. While you are in grad school, you can always pull the student card and suck up to them and tell them how you want to be just like them, and they will think back to when they were students, and if they like you, will help you out.
If you are getting so bogged down by all of your studying that you forget to network, you will be missing out on a vital period of time that you may never have again. Always be aware about events going on, talks your professors are giving, or internship opportunities so you can further yourself to the best of your ability.
2. Not focusing on the end goal.
Deciding to go on in your education means that you are agreeing to take on more stress, homework, long studying hours, sleepless nights, and everything else that goes with suffering through college.
If you don’t keep the end goal in mind, this may really drag you down and result in you dropping out. Do not let this be the case! Whenever you feel like you are overwhelmed, remind yourself where this degree will get you, and keep that in your head.
What might help is to make a collage board with pictures and words of where you want to be when you graduate. This will be a fun project, and will remind you again and again that all the hard work that you are putting yourself through is going to pay off.
Even though grad school can take a while, especially if you are a high roller and shooting for your PhD, you have to remember that this is a temporary state, and at the end of the day, you will be glad you stuck it through.
Think of all the time, the money, and the tears that you already put in. Do you really want that to go to waste?
3. Lacking passion for your field.
Grad school is intense, as in “hardest thing I’ve ever done” intense, so if the passion for your subject or intended field isn’t there, it’s just going to be that much harder.
Some people think grad school is the answer for putting off “adulting” for a bit longer or think they will be able to make more money that way, but these shouldn’t be your sole motivations for attending grad school.
Sure, getting paid more as a result of a higher degree is a plus, but you should be going to grad school first and foremost because you love your field and you know that you will love working in it. Most of us are going to have to work for the rest of our lives, so you might as well be doing something that you love.
4. Not bonding with peers.
You are going to be so busy that it may seem as though you don’t have time for friends, but you need to make time. 1) It will benefit your mental health since you will have some fun time and can vent to others about the coursework, and 2) you never know who you are going to work for/with some day.
As they say, you should always be careful not to burn bridges, and this is especially important with peers that are in the same field as you. Some day, you might need to call them for a favor, ask them for help with a connection, work with them, or even be getting their coffee, so the nicer you are and the more of an effort you make to get to know your peers, the more connections you’ll have when you graduate and the more likely it will be that your sanity will still be intact at the end of your journey.
Grad school is something that is going to take a lot of effort, but if you stay focused on why you are there and don’t fall into any of these mistakes, you’ll make it through with flying colors. Good luck!
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