Surviving Graduate School

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!