Danger_Zone

The only thing(s) I'm doing are:
1. Making a 5 year plan (as suggested in "The Professor is In"), which basically tracks deadlines of important research proposals/funding opportunities.
2. Some light reading regarding a core class I'm taking in the fall. (Reading the assigned texts / articles, so I have more time to devote to other things once I'm in the program.) 
3. Brushing up on my foreign languages. 
But really, nothing major. I'm just enjoying my last summer (except I also work) before my Ph.D., so I don't burn out and don't hate my life.

Well... it's all over now. I said good-bye to my professors/friends, graduated (and just found out I officially have a 4.0!), drove to Ithaca and got all moved in, and my parents just left a few minutes ago to return home after helping me move. Everything went smoothly - on a scale from 1 to 10 in apartment niceness, mine is like a 12, DEFINITELY an upgrade from my previous place! I got a washer/dryer, Internet hooked up, and insurance/license all figured out, and even picked out a cat yesterday (though he's a bit sneezy, so it will be a few days before he is medically cleared).
Honestly, I really hope that moving goes as well for the rest of you as it did for me! It definitely helped ease the homesickness which is what I was most worried about. Cheers to all of you!

That's definitely true. By no means do I think I'm a great writer, but I've had the opportunity to read papers of other students in my class and have realized that a lot of perfectly intelligent people don't know how to express themselves clearly in writing. I still struggle with this sometimes but I think I've improved a lot. I recently found a paper I'd written from one of my first history classes and I was actually kind of embarrassed at how poorly it was written. I think one thing that helps though is that I love writing. I feel like a lot of the people who don't write well just don't enjoy it enough to improve.
I also agree with you about published sources being poorly written as well. Another great way to improve writing would be to read other written works, but really how helpful is this if our sources of information aren't written well either? I think I'm fortunate that my faculty advisor has one of the clearest and most pleasant writing styles I've encountered.

Okay so do you ever have odd dreams? I had a very strange one last night. We (random academic-y people) were at a conference in Ancient Greece, but in modern day clothes with powerpoints, in an amphitheatre and a friend (who did my undergrad course) is presenting her paper. Along the row from me and my  best MSc friend is our most notorious and scary lecturer. He starts asking questions of the presenter, while she's presenting and she's getting visibly more flustered. Then she snaps and asks the audience "I can't be the only one noticing that I'm being grilled right?" Everyone looks at each other and we start to "oooohhh" (you know, like teenagers do when someone does something wrong in class and gets called out?). The scary lecturer turns to me and my MSc friend and gives us the "you understand, you get why I do this" nod. Then my alarm woke me up. 
I'm not too sure what this says about me, except maybe coconut water and rum before bed isn't the best idea. Anyway, thought you all might get a giggle from my weird brain.

I think this would be a great opportunity to really take the time to edit down your paper to the appropriate length. I've had papers I felt were the perfect length and I couldn't possibly take anything out, but I think one of my issues was I spent much more time picking out grammatical and spelling errors, rather than being really thoughtful about the significance of each sentence. So you could try to look through your paper and really ask questions like: what is this sentence saying, and is the sentence after saying something different or am I being redundant? Could I merge sentences together and would they still convey the same meaning? Are there any particularly "flowery" sentences that could be shortened? These are some things you could think about when writing/editing!

Thanks! I've gotten only one B in a history course.  I'm not a brilliant student, but I'm tenacious with my studies. History courses are courses in which one can reliably do better with more effort. You can continually polish a paper, but once you take a test, it's over. I'll work 30 hours on a 6 page paper in order to make it perfect, but no matter how much I study for a Spanish test, I still might get a low B.  I think I'm a bad test-taker.
I'm not sure how history courses are at other universities, but undergrad courses here almost always have a component that's nearly exclusively awarded through effort and preparation, not performance (such as discussion participation). The rest of the grade in the course will be through papers, but as I've implied, I aim for 100% on my papers, not simply good marks. I know it's silly, but it's just the way I am.
My capstone adviser is British, and I got at vague jist of the UK system through him. It does seem quite a bit different! However, as noted above, history course assignments are "polishable," and I spend an excessive amount of time doing so. I've actually gotten close to 100% in history courses when the class average is probably a B, for no other reason than because I put in five times the effort (the near 100% 3-credit-hour course probably demanded 20 hours a week; I reread the entire course materials three times). That specific professor would fully-critique papers if you put in the effort, and I did so with every assignment. Most students were too lazy to do it because she only provided the prompt a week or so in advance. In order to receive a critique or two, you had to instantly write the paper, a week or more before it was due.
I'm living proof that effort can overcome mediocrity.  

shellac is great, so long as you get it taken off professionally. Sorry to hear that it's not been good for your nails.
 
I should not be allowed to live by myself. I just burnt peanut butter.

I say the only treat worth treating oneself too is booze. 
At least you tried something new. That's pretty brave!

I GRADUATED!! Now I just want to take a nap. So far I have a C and an A, waiting for my last two classes. I'm expecting As in those. I'm freeeee. Until August haha

Wow I don't think we ever were given this sort of leniency in terms of font, margins etc. It was all prescribed and you were penalised for changing any element. All work was given a word count (I'm talking undergraduate and masters here) and you were allowed to go 10% under but not a word over. The advice @Danger_Zone gives with things to consider is important, but also see if you repeat ideas (but have phrased them differently). To you, the author, it may seem like a good piece of work, but is there someone you could maybe discuss elements with? I have a good critical friend who crucifies all my work, and it's made me much more concise (though not on these forums). Remember, while depth is important, you don't need to cover EVERYTHING in one essay. Key information, key texts, key theories (I'm not sure exactly about history in general) are great, as are more minutiae but not every i needs to be dotted and every t crossed. Be harsh with yourself when you read back over the work. Instead of thinking "Yes this is a good essay" think like the person marking it, or a journal reviewer. Mark it like you might mark other students (in your head). Use other feedback as a reference. Find the flaws. 

Yup, I'm pretty excited.  
It also means I'll have more time for reading. Because I work full time, my reading time is limited. I know I'll be reading a ton for school, but I like the sort of reading I'll be doing, so it's win/win, really.

It always feels awesome to be finished with your last exam! It feels a bit surreal to be completely done with a place you have spent so many years at. But it also means you get to start a new chapter in your life.

Finishing up my latest girly flowery art thing. My bf thinks its too girly. I might like, give it to my mom or something lol. 

My experience is that you prioritize what matters. It could be a hobby, family, friends, whatever. It'll have to come at the expense of some other things, but that is what life is all about. If you can do it in a way that doesn't disturb others, I don't think it should be a problem (so, if you have to leave the lab every day at 3:30 or everyone has to reschedule their life around your hobby on a regular basis, they might resent it more than if you step out early one day without bothering anyone -- obviously, those are extremes, but I hope the point is clear). At the end of the day, spending more hours at the lab does not necessarily mean being more productive. More often, taking time off to recharge is very important for our well-being and productivity. I would probably recommend starting with just one team, though, and seeing how it goes. You can always add the second one later. Especially if this is your first semester, there will be a lot to adjust to. 

May I give an advice to incoming students?
I'd bet all your schools have a lot of resources to make your graduate education richer, better, and tailored according to your interests. Many times, these resources are sort of "hidden" because it is really hard to spread the word about anything since everyone is advertising their own thing. Use this time to check on this: workshops, free tutorials, library services, health and wellness options, etc. 
From my experience, many things are listed online, but I had to ask for final details to other grad students, especially regarding intramural sports. Remember that grad school is what you make of it, it is not just a program that you follow (granted, in some cases it is!  ). But you have the power to make it your own experience. This is the time to scout websites and check what's going on!
All the best!!!
AP

My kitties XD

I'm interested in the representational bias of scientists and technical professionals, so I'm not completely far from your interests.
I'd probably take the class, too.  

@Neist luckily it is part of my focus! I wrote my thesis on gendered portrayals in comic book film adaptations, and have written on comics, so this course will help reintroduce me to current scholarship I've missed the past two years as an adjunct teaching Public Speaking instead of researching!
Ooh.....when we all start our semesters, how cool would it be to discuss what we're learning? We would have to break it down and make it simple as if we were prepping for a conference! (Maybe only I am excited by that?)

Oooooh I would love to hear more about this litter box! No, I'm not joking 
As for the work/life balance, there's the solid 50/60/80 hours, but some of it depends on how efficiently you work––I like to take breaks, grab coffee, and walk around; some of my classmates in grad school would just sit for 6 hours, not eat, not leave their desks, to write. So their 6 hours was more like 9 for me. However, making time for yourself is very important––cutting back on sleep, some form of relaxation, exercise, etc. can leave one feeling ill, which takes even more time away from efficiently working! It can turn into a vicious cycle quite quickly. Even though it seems most first-years are pushed to reach exceedingly high standards (sometimes impossibly high), be sure to carve out time for you even if you have to force yourself to take care of yourself!
On an unrelated note, a professor for my program emailed me a class recommendation....feminist comics and cartoons 1970s-2015! This prof saw it, knew I would be interested, and was kind enough to send me a note about it...it really made my day and made me feel like this program really cares about my academic area of interest. 

If you don't see the cat often, you should name it Schrödinger.  

@hippyscientist Are you from the US originally (if not ignore me)? I think they might sell crumpets in the US. Not sure about popular grocery stores, but if you can find an imported/global/international market then I'm sure they would be there. Either way you can find a lot of cool stuff there! (Also, if you like peanut butter you should definitely try a crumpet with peanut butter. It's delicious. )

It's okay! My working-with-customers experience actually contributed almost nothing to my ability to talk to other adults, because I've almost exclusively worked with children—I find that difficult, but not stressful, so it didn't carry over much. But I was thinking about the other half of the retail equation because it works for other people, because I definitely practiced "on" a lot of coffee shop employees, and most memorably because I read an article last year by a woman who happened to get over her own social anxiousness by working the counter in a sex shop. It was amazing: "you'll never be nervous about small talk again after you've spent a few months answering customer questions about [bleep bleep bleep] or [bleep]." Unfortunately I can't find it again, which I'm sad about because I thought it was laugh-out-loud funny, but googling it was only giving me only some rather, shall we say, sketchy? links.

@Danger_Zone, @knp, and @hippyscientist thank you all so much for your advice and kind words....having safe spaces and support systems is something I'm slowly building into my life, and I will have to try out hatha yoga! I had a really awkward fat-shamey experience trying a yoga studio out here in Los Angeles, so I may have to take it extra slow!  
I tend to be the person my friends and family go to when they are needing a safe space; I just seem to have a hard time extending that bubble of acceptance to my own self. This also means if I can bring any of you a thermos of hot tea and some cookies (or Digestives!) I'd be so, so happy to do so.

Of course! I think what has been helping me most is thinking of a long-term goal and how I can slowly work towards it.
I would really like to be able to teach one day, so I'm going to have to work on being able to talk to and be around others more comfortably to do this (of course being more sociable is a beneficial thing even if I didn't want to teach, but I gave myself a reasonable long-term goal to work with.)
So I do my best to just "put myself out there" more, even if I sometimes say silly things. I was always afraid that I'd say something stupid, so I'd never bother to try to talk in the first place, but the more I try to slowly work on this (i.e. trying to keep up small talk with cashiers, remembering to make better eye contact, smile, etc.), the more I feel like I have more things to say to people. I still get this "blank" feeling often (not knowing what to say to people), and I will probably always be kind of shy, but I love to be around other people and talk to them, so if I hold myself back I'm really missing out on things I want to do. I've also had professors/teachers tell me they used to be extremely shy, but are now completely outgoing! So knowing that other people can, and do, improve themselves is really self-assuring.
I hope that helps even though this is more applicable to social anxiety than anything. This is what I have struggled with most which has partly contributed to depression (and the other way around.)
 
 
 

I'm outgoing now, having made that transition, but I absolutely remember how revolutionary it felt to look up at the radio while ordering coffee and be like, "I like this song, huh?" (I assume you're not already working food service or retail? If you happen to, taking advantage of some of the low-stakes small talk opportunities is great practice.) A particularly helpful step, for me, was learning to be moderately interesting about the weather, which is the sort of thing one (me) pooh-poohed as "boring" and possibly "normie" in one's (my) teenage PITA phase. Really, though, you can go a long way commiserating or celebrating something common like that together. 
At parties, or other situations where you might have a five minute conversation, not a twenty second one, the more you ask questions, the less you have to talk. People love talking about themselves! "Oh, tell me more!" "What did you think of that?" "What did you do then?" "What was your favorite part of that thing you mentioned?" "Have you seen recent movie, or what do you think of the trailer?" That sort of thing; I find myself more likely to "blank" if I'm talking about myself than if I'm trying to learn more about the other person.
The last thing I did that helped—and this is premised on the fact that my basic affect/tone is/was kind of reserved or mean, depending on how generously you interpreted—was make a point of smiling at the end of sentences or questions. I definitely used to get too freaked about talking to do anything with my face, so I'd be talking in this kind of odd tone with a weird affectless expression on my face, which didn't help me come across as friendly. I was the opposite of a nervous smiler! Turning that around and making a point that I should smile at the end of every third question I asked (or whatever) helped a lot, too, I think. And now maintaining a friendly tone (based on American cultural norms) is just habit for me, so I don't have to think about my presentation so much any more.