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Graduate Student Bucket List


Miro

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what are five things that you want to do before getting your PhD? mine are:

1. academic- publish 4 papers

2. social: make at least four lasting friends and g o to sky diving, madi grass etc

3. emotional- learn to love whole heatedly ( even if i get hurt at the end) 

4. physical: run a marathon ( in the process, loose 40 lbs)

5. Faith- read the entire bible from cover to cover.

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My bucket list for grad school.

1. Don't fail out
2. Read at least one non-science book
3. Don't hate everyone and everything when I'm in the abyss of graduate school despair
4. Travel at least once (conferences don't count, but it can be before/after a conference, I guess)
5. Please don't fail out??

I don't have the highest standards.

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what are five things that you want to do before getting your PhD? mine are:

1. academic- publish 4 papers

2. social: make at least four lasting friends and g o to sky diving, madi grass etc

3. emotional- learn to love whole heatedly ( even if i get hurt at the end) 

4. physical: run a marathon ( in the process, loose 40 lbs)

5. Faith- read the entire bible from cover to cover.

Ooh good list.

With regard to #5: Last year I did a Chronological Bible in a Year on Kindle: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/02/01/170863255/an-oscar-nominated-guacamole-your-friday-visual-feast?ft=1&f=1001 . It seems silly, but I had much more success with it broken down and dated for me, rather than just a reading plan of verses that I used with my regular Bible. They have a cover-to-cover version too, but I liked doing the chronological because it was easier to keep track of who's who in the OT stories found in multiple places. (It also broke up the "A begot B, B begot C and D, C begot..." because you read the genealogy bit by bit as you read the actual lives of people, which made it less dry.) You could start in February, then cycle back to Genesis next January?

My list:

1) Make good contact with profs/researchers from other schools interested in my sub-field

2) Publish a journal article (hopefully more) and also a less academic piece that museum educators would actually read and find useful

3) Teach a class. (Typically TAs at my school just hold office hours.)

4) Get better at identifying the difference between things that don't go as planned because of poor decisions/attitudes on my part, and things that don't go as planned because "that's life" and things never go as planned.

5) Teach "Little Sister" (mentee) to drive. (She is currently twelve, so the thought of her driving -- not to mention the thought of me still being in grad school at that time -- is terrifying!)

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what are five things that you want to do before getting your PhD? mine are:

1. academic- publish 4 papers

2. social: make at least four lasting friends and g o to sky diving, madi grass etc

3. emotional- learn to love whole heatedly ( even if i get hurt at the end) 

4. physical: run a marathon ( in the process, loose 40 lbs)

5. Faith- read the entire bible from cover to cover.

 

I love this, and I love your attitude about grad. school.

 

I have one big goal on my bucket list, and your post is emblematic of it:

 

1. Thrive. Don't just get by...but thrive.

 

I can't pursue grad school (and thus a whole 5-7 years of their life) as though it is something to merely get through or survive. Life is too short. My goal is to find a way to truly thrive academically and personally...by my own standards of course, not anyone else's.

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what are five things that you want to do before getting your PhD? mine are:

1. academic- publish 4 papers

2. social: make at least four lasting friends and g o to sky diving, madi grass etc

3. emotional- learn to love whole heatedly ( even if i get hurt at the end) 

4. physical: run a marathon ( in the process, loose 40 lbs)

5. Faith- read the entire bible from cover to cover.

 

OP, I really like your bucket list. I've skydived last summer, and I really really recommend you do it. You free fall for a bit and come down on parachute, the view underneath your feet is awesome! It's something I'd remember for the rest of my life. I've done a half marathon so far, although I didn't really lose any weight (but instead, I gained weight - muscle weight), the sense of accomplishment is addicting. 

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Academic: Have at least 3 first-authored papers at least in press by the time I finish.  (This is easy, as I have one published already and two more in the pipeline).  Win an award for my dissertation, maybe.

Social: Make friends.  (Accomplished!)  Go out twiceish a month.

Emotional: Learn to balance my academic life with my social and personal one, and feel happy and fulfilled - busy without being overwhelmed.  I'm getting there.

 

Write every day - not necessarily academic writing, but personal writing.  Get back into fiction writing.

 

 

 

I love this, and I love your attitude about grad. school.

 

I have one big goal on my bucket list, and your post is emblematic of it:

 

1. Thrive. Don't just get by...but thrive.

 

I can't pursue grad school (and thus a whole 5-7 years of their life) as though it is something to merely get through or survive. Life is too short. My goal is to find a way to truly thrive academically and personally...by my own standards of course, not anyone else's.

Edited by juilletmercredi
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Love this thread. I can't stop trolling Gradcafe, even though I'm past the admissions hump. And all the thread about quitting make me sad :(

 

My Bucket List:

 

1. Get $8,000 into savings before I finish (prob impossible, but it doesn't hurt to try)

2. Read widely in my discipline, especially in these first years.

3. Take on a PhD minor that will truly expand my thinking

4. Leave the country at least twice during my grad school years

5. Don't neglect fitness

6. Publish at least 1 paper and get dissertation data that speaks to my multiple interests

7. Complete a collaborative project with another grad student

 

Now that I look at them, those are pretty boring goals! Oh well.

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My bucket list for grad school.

1. Don't fail out

2. Read at least one non-science book

3. Don't hate everyone and everything when I'm in the abyss of graduate school despair

4. Travel at least once (conferences don't count, but it can be before/after a conference, I guess)

5. Please don't fail out??

I don't have the highest standards.

 

^^ I literally LOL'd! Mostly because it's what I was thinking!

 

 

My bucket list...hmmm...honestly, I think it depends on the day..so here is today's bucketlist!

1. Attend a TEDTalk

2. Meet and shake hands (while making googly eyes) with one of the foundational researchers in my field

3. Have my supervisor say my work was outstanding

4. Have a student be excited about my research (this kind of happened today, I did a presentation to the class I TA for about my work...she came up to me and was all like "Oh my gosh! Your research is so exciting! I loved the articles you posted! Can I get a copy of your presentation to read?" ...I kind of got warm and fuzzies, and my head grew just a tiny bit!)

5. Fully teach, plan, and succeed in my own course.

6. Talk to the hot guy in the library I've been oogling and silently objectifying for the last year.

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^^ I literally LOL'd! Mostly because it's what I was thinking!

 

 

My bucket list...hmmm...honestly, I think it depends on the day..so here is today's bucketlist!

1. Attend a TEDTalk

2. Meet and shake hands (while making googly eyes) with one of the foundational researchers in my field

3. Have my supervisor say my work was outstanding

4. Have a student be excited about my research (this kind of happened today, I did a presentation to the class I TA for about my work...she came up to me and was all like "Oh my gosh! Your research is so exciting! I loved the articles you posted! Can I get a copy of your presentation to read?" ...I kind of got warm and fuzzies, and my head grew just a tiny bit!)

5. Fully teach, plan, and succeed in my own course.

6. Talk to the hot guy in the library I've been oogling and silently objectifying for the last year.

 

I think you should start with #6 :)

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