Graduate school is difficult. It is time consuming.
Sometimes you feel like it will never end. You may feel frustrated and totally
unprepared. Your friends may vaguely remember you after you finish. Okay, joking
about that last one :) But I, along with many of my fellow classmates, have gone through a lot of
these emotions. If this is the “mode” you are in 24/7, you will be super
overwhelmed. That is why it is important to take time to just RELAX. Even if you’re
a workaholic, this is essential. There are things you can do for the classroom that will result in less stress
overall. Here’s some general advice in order to decrease stress:
-Do not
procrastinate
I have heard this mantra in high school and college, but
managed to get away with putting things off then. In grad school…not so much.
The work will become overwhelming, you will be super stressed, and there will
be a lot of sleepless nights. I recall a particular semester in which I had two
big reports (one was HUGE) due and two finals in a four day time frame. It was practically impossible to do
well on all those assignments and exams if waiting to start on them the weekend
before the due dates. So, it’s better to
develop good time management skills early in your graduate school career and
plan ahead. People vary in how they prefer to split up their time. One method
is writing down what you want to complete each day of the week (ex. Monday=read
chapter 1 in Child Language Disorders, write outline for Voice disorders paper,
etc.) in a planner (or your
phone/device/etc.). If you don’t need to budget your time quite so
specifically, another method is to make a checklist of everything you want to
get done by the end of a particular week.
-Use
a calendar/white board
I use a regular calendar that hangs on my closet door.
It’s great for writing in important assignments because you can visually see
what is completed/what needs to get done each month. The calendar gives me a
more “big picture”, long-term perspective than a planner, which I use for
weekly reminders.
-Get
to know your classmates
Study buddies/friends/company for all-nighters are a
necessity.
-Look
over the lecture slides after class
Simply flipping through the lecture slides after class
and reading over topics that were unclear will be a big time-saver before
exams. You won’t think “What was this again?” quite as often :)
-Be
organized
Binders and bins are great organization tools. I tried to have a binder for each course throughout grad school. You will also accumulate tons of great resources/materials, so keeping those in specific bins/binders will be very helpful for future clients.
-Use online resources: Pinterest, SLP blogs, SLP online resources, Teachers Pay Teachers
There are TONS of amazing resources and materials!
-Take time to relax
Relaxation is ESSENTIAL!
RELAXATION
IDEAS
-Spa Day -Get
away for the weekend
-Bubble Bath -Read
a good book
-Movie -Go
shopping
-Drinks with friends -Catch
up on your fav TV shows (w/cookies)
-Movie at home
-Non-speech related hobby
-Go out to eat
REMEMBER: You're not alone, take it one day at a time, and you will get through it!
