Pink Fuzzy Bunny

@hippyscientist how long is your program? Aren't you a first year? also SEVEN DIFFERENT PAPERS?!!?!???!?!!? I can't believe you're looking at postdocs already, I feel so inadequate haha. Saturday I'm heading off to Switzerland/Austria for a week-long vacation. I'm ashamed to admit I've never been out of the country but I'm excited to be fixing that

Things are going well, I managed to pull off an A- in one of my classes How did things end up for you? I do plan on doing a lot of things differently moving forward, but those things don't seem to be academic - I want to keep going to the gym in the mornings, for instance (which I only started about halfway through the year), and I want to go to more talks. How about you?

No kidding! We made it! Congratulations, all.

I've gotta say, maybe it's because I'm somewhat "old-fashioned", but in my opinion a "don't ask don't tell" policy in marriage is a shaky foundation on which to build a relationship, but alas, this is not marriageadvicecafe, it is gradcafe. That being said, I wish you two the best. I don't regret my time in a long-distance relationship, but I don't think that it's for everyone. It's totally possible to make it work - we ended ours (~3 years) because we were long-distance indefinitely (both in 6+ year grad programs, and I decided not to go to the same university as him as it was not nearly as good as the one I wanted to attend), but I think we could've made it work otherwise. Sometimes it was easy. Sometimes it was hard. The decision to pursue one is an entirely personal decision.

That sounds pretty terrible, but it depends on how demanding your program is. I have about a half hour commute into campus each day, and I've been forced to spend the night more than I would really appreciate because if it's 2am and I'm still in lab and have to be back at 7, it's much more reasonable to just crash on a couch somewhere on campus.

Did one of those Sunday night. All-nighters for homework are the most discouraging experiences for me, but I think most people will resort to it at some point. I'm sorry

The homework assigned this week is the hardest assigned all semester thus far. I'm 10% done, totally stuck, and everyone I've asked for help won't respond because I bug them every week, and it's due tomorrow. It's amazing how one homework assignment can totally ruin you, eh?

For some reason PSU is far worse than Cornell for that it seems! I've been to State College a few times, and when with friends I always go to the Saloon to get a monkey boy (have you been there and had that drink? You definitely seem too classy to drink a pitcher of alcohol but sometimes I misjudge! ) and I've done so in the middle of July and in the middle of October. One was an enjoyable bar experience (if there is such a thing), and one involved being packed like sardines into an overcrowded bar full of undergrads who just wanted to get drunk.

Yes. Here we actually throw a festival to celebrate the undergrads leaving. I can't wait for campus to be as empty as it was last summer!

@MarineBluePsy I'm not sure how regular your sleep irregularities are, but you might want to see if your university health insurance covers (mostly) a sleep study! It's only a few hundred here ("only" ) so I know a lot of grad students who have done it and improved their sleep drastically. That being said, I hate when you can't sleep for no reason. UGH

I'm so glad I'm not the only one a little frustrated with things. Hopefully your coursework doesn't require group presentations (read: group grade)?

Am I the only one who has never really worked with other students in previous research groups? Previously I was just working with my professors (and profs at other universities) so I'm really struggling with group dynamics.

Taking time each day to pursue hobbies is one thing that I have noticed ALL "successful" PhD students doing. I've found that taking an hour or two each day to devote to extra-curriculars not only makes me a more "well-rounded" person (which has its own benefits), but the time cost gives itself back in the form of increased energy for studies. At the end of the day, when I still have some more work to do but am mentally drained, I can play piano for an hour and get some energy back to go for homework/research round 2. That being said, depending on the structure of your PhD program it might be wise to carefully consider options before accepting a leadership role. Having to make a time commitment to a hobby is a whole other ballgame - my first semester I signed up for an extracurricular which was somewhat organized (i.e., met weekly), but the nature of my research (which sometimes requires doing things like working all night) made me resent not having that little bit of flexibility in the schedule.

Wow, that's obscene. 30k for a masters/PhD?

I can't believe all that has happened in the past year! Anyone else feel like it was EONS since they were in undergrad?

I think you'll find (unfortunately) that when it comes to doing research (outside of class), disability accommodations can only reach so far - your best bet is to find an understanding advisor and coworkers. You are definitely not the only one who has had this concern when attending graduate school. One of my labmates with whom I work very closely has the same issue; she is very open about her depression with the necessary people - me, one other labmate (we're on the same project), and our advisor. For a long time, she was trying to pretend that it didn't exist; this culminated in a year-long leave of absence in which she recovered from this damaging strategy. It sounds like you know this about yourself, which is a huge step. From what I can tell being on the outside, having severe depression while in grad school looks immensely frustrating, but I encourage you to be open about it. If there are people with whom you regularly e-mail, let them know that due to an illness a task like an e-mail is more insurmountable to you than it is to most. One of the people on this forum has introduced me to spoon theory, have you heard of it? Keep careful track of your spoons, and don't work like you have more than you really do.

Generally, it's cheaper just to drive instead of shipping your car. Why not do that?

I went to visiting days with my hair dyed a fluorescent blue. I also wasn't sure how to act - I was a first gen college student from rural Illinois visiting an Ivy League, the stress of figuring out how to present myself actually made me nauseous. Looking back, I'm laughing at how much I overthought it. Just wear something comfy but modest. That's literally the only advice you need. Oh, and chill.

You'll be, what, a year younger than everyone else? Who cares?

That's a study I would support!

I've gotta say, every time the announcements come out and people read their reviews out loud to me, I'm just convinced that some of the GRFP reviewers woke up on the wrong side of the damn bed.

Okay that's just disappointing!! Not even enough for a snowman

29 inches of snow here Hope all of you other east coasters are doing okay!

You say your mother isn't paying much for you, but as fuzzylogician said, it kind of sounds like she's paying for everything I'm not sure how things are in Quebec, but it may be cheaper to live in a non-university residence.

There are a lot of "honor societies" that exist just to make money from membership dues, and it sounds like Golden Key is one of them. Don't join, it's just a waste of money - for all we know, they send emails to everyone. Deans' list is something most universities have - if your GPA is in the top 10% (or 5% or whatever, depending on the school), you are on the "Deans List". This is not really a society as a university recognition, you might get a little card in the mail or something. You can put it on your CV if you want, but in general your GPA speaks for itself.