Frustrations of Starting Out

[roboticsapplicant]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, but here it goes.

 

I was excited to start grad school (CS student here) and dive into research. I had been in contact with a professor before I arrived on campus, and I joined his lab before classes started. I was eager to start contributing.

 

At first there was the hurdle of getting familiar with the lab, the techniques, the existing code base, etc etc. Now, there's the additional burden of classes. Especially now that midterm season is upon us, I feel like I have very little time to do research and make many meaningful contributions to my project.

 

Is this a common problem, or do I need to just suck it up? I'm enjoying my classes, and I'm taking what I think is a reasonable load (2 classes, plus 1 that's around my particular research project). I would enjoy my research more, except I feel like I've made very little progress, so it's more frustrating than I would have thought. Did I set my expectations of what I could get done too high?

[Cookie]

I've faced the same problem and it almost turned into a life crisis. I'm taking 3 classes, TA'ing 3 sessions, having 3 research projects going on, going to 3 different group meetings a week. It is a common problem.

Just do your best, and try to organize your time to take small breaks, do exercise, see your friends, cook a nice meal...

Good luck to all of us 

[roboticsapplicant]

I've faced the same problem and it almost turned into a life crisis. I'm taking 3 classes, TA'ing 3 sessions, having 3 research projects going on, going to 3 different group meetings a week. It is a common problem.

Just do your best, and try to organize your time to take small breaks, do exercise, see your friends, cook a nice meal...

Good luck to all of us 

 

While I'm sorry for your troubles, I'm happy to hear that it's not just me.

[fuzzylogician]

It's very common in the first year of graduate school. It improves. As you progress in your program, you will learn to organize your time better and to prioritize your obligations, and at the same time your course requirements become a less important component of the program and the emphasis shifts to research. As long as your advisor is happy with your progress, I wouldn't worry overmuch. If there are concerns from their side, then it's probably a good idea to ask for help on rethinking priorities and creating more time for work. From what your describe, you're just having a normal first year experience though, and it doesn't sound like there is anything to worry about.