Anyone else feeling overwhelmed?

[Adelaide9216]

Hello,

we're midway through the semester and I am starting to feel overwhelmed. I manage and I cope, but it's a lot, I wasn't expecting it to be so much especially considering the fact that I have a few extracurricular commitments. Plus, I handed in a 50% paper in one class today and I have no idea if what I did was okay, the guidelines weren't pretty clear.

Anyone else feeling the same? 

[Adelaide9216]

I got an A on that paper. Phew.

One month left to this semester. Anyone wanting to chat about their experience as a first-year graduate student? 

[rheya19]

Yes.... but I'm so busy right now that I can barely go into detail about it. Plus I was sick all weekend when I really really needed to get a ton of stuff done. >:(

[dr. t]

Sorry to not have seen this when it was first posted, but I was too overwhelmed.

[TheWalkingGrad]

I'm under the impression that if you're not feeling overwhelmed in grad school you're doing something wrong  (I laugh but I'm worried)

[dr. t]

That's the Catch-22. Either you're stressed because you're overwhelmed, or you're stressed because you're not and so clearly aren't doing enough work.

[Adelaide9216]

I see that I am not the only one who feels overwhelmed. This forum is like self-care to me at the same time. I'm one of the two students in my master's program to be doing a thesis option, so I barely see any of my class colleagues. We're definitely going to debrief at the end of the month.

I feel kinda bad because I had a meeting with a professor this morning to discuss a potential Ph.D. partnership, and when she realized that I am a first-year master student, I could sense some surprise coming from her. The meeting was still helpful and she was very kind to answer my questions and talk about her discipline (which differs from social work) but I feel embarrassed to be thinking about a Ph.D. so early. When I contacted their department, I was told to contact professors to discuss my ideas of topics for a Ph.D. but I feel like I should have waited a couple more months. 

[Adelaide9216]

The worst part is that I am doing this research assistantship that I have little time to devote to in reality. But I am still doing it because it's a great experience, especially if I am thinking of doing a Ph.D. afterward. It's an amazing opportunity that my supervisor has provided to me. The thing is that the literature review that we were supposed to complete in four months has now turned into an 8-month thing and we're going to produce this article for Christmas. It took longer because my supervisor and the research coordinator were very ambitious and when they both realized that I struggled with the whole process because it was entirely new to me, they decided to expand it so I could just go through this "learning curve" you know. At first, I was even asking myself "Why did she give me something to do that is so challenging intellectually speaking?" I could tell that she has a LOT of faith in me, and I feel afraid to dissapoint her. Now we're analyzing some articles, doing some triangulation (two people looking at the same articles and then comparing what we understood/got out of it critically speaking) and I don't know if I am doing this right. I'm the type of person who needs a clear A to Z guidelines whenever I do something, otherwise, I feel like I am not in control and start to get anxious. I'm realizing that research is always like that and I have to get used to it if I want to apply to a Ph.D.

On top of that, I am the co-coordinator of a program at my uni and we are struggling with the funding of it because the past coordinators have literally left zero info for us on how to carry the program along in terms of funding. I'm trying to remain calm, and my colleagues are remaining calm (which is extremely helpful for me) but I am starting to get worried about it.

And I am doing a lot of talks, speeches and media interviews while being in school. I get more and more public exposure for the activism and the volunteer work I do and I expect that someday, I will receive some hate (which I haven't so far, very surprisingly). But I need to get prepared for that, people are going to get tired of seeing my face on TV and in media.

So far, I manage all of this pretty well, but I feel a little bit of pressure, even though it's tolerable. 

 

 

[Sigaba]

3 hours ago, Adelaide9216 said:

The worst part is that I am doing this research assistantship that I have little time to devote to in reality. But I am still doing it because it's a great experience, especially if I am thinking of doing a Ph.D. afterward. It's an amazing opportunity that my supervisor has provided to me. The thing is that the literature review that we were supposed to complete in four months has now turned into an 8-month thing and we're going to produce this article for Christmas. It took longer because my supervisor and the research coordinator were very ambitious and when they both realized that I struggled with the whole process because it was entirely new to me, they decided to expand it so I could just go through this "learning curve" you know. At first, I was even asking myself "Why did she give me something to do that is so challenging intellectually speaking?" I could tell that she has a LOT of faith in me, and I feel afraid to dissapoint her. Now we're analyzing some articles, doing some triangulation (two people looking at the same articles and then comparing what we understood/got out of it critically speaking) and I don't know if I am doing this right. I'm the type of person who needs a clear A to Z guidelines whenever I do something, otherwise, I feel like I am not in control and start to get anxious. I'm realizing that research is always like that and I have to get used to it if I want to apply to a Ph.D.

On top of that, I am the co-coordinator of a program at my uni and we are struggling with the funding of it because the past coordinators have literally left zero info for us on how to carry the program along in terms of funding. I'm trying to remain calm, and my colleagues are remaining calm (which is extremely helpful for me) but I am starting to get worried about it.

And I am doing a lot of talks, speeches and media interviews while being in school. I get more and more public exposure for the activism and the volunteer work I do and I expect that someday, I will receive some hate (which I haven't so far, very surprisingly). But I need to get prepared for that, people are going to get tired of seeing my face on TV and in media.

So far, I manage all of this pretty well, but I feel a little bit of pressure, even though it's tolerable. 

 

The following questions are rhetorical.

Of your three central activities, which is the most important to both your personal and personal professional development and should receive most of your time? Which activity, while equally important, if not more, takes up time that might be better spent elsewhere? 

What nightmarish scenario could result from the information provided above? What are two things you could do to make that scenario avoidable?

[Adelaide9216]

Hello, thank you for your reply.

In terms of speeches/interviews and conferences, I already turn down a lot of the requests I get so that's fine. I always do a couple of those however because I am starting to get paid for it and that's helpful for a uni student.

For the project I am co-coordinator, I cannot give up at this point, the project is ending at the end of this month and two other coordinators are relying on me for this.

I have a lot of my plate, but the fact that I am able to say "no" to a lot of the requests I get helps me to manage most of it. 

[Maura N.]

I started my PhD program about 4 months ago, and it's been a wild ride. The first month was awful with orientation, new classes, and the chaos of starting a new project (I had absolutely no clue WHAT I was doing). I didn't get home till around 8 on most days and had to come in for a few hours every Saturday. But now - it's the exact opposite. My project is stalled as I am waiting for my cell lines to grow, as, ehem ... one of the technicians somehow mixed two types of cells lines and we had to start all over again. I'm getting used to the classes, and I feel like it's not as overwhelming as it used to be. The biggest problem I am having is feeling isolated. Everyone in my cohort is close to their 30's, and they aren't really interested in making long-lasting friendships. They are cordial and friendly, but I can tell we aren't relating to one another in conversations (for example, I have no clue about mortgages or kids or anything like that). They already know what they want to do, so they are putting 10000% into their projects. Which is a good thing, but as a girl who just graduated from undergrad and lived through hell I wish I could find someone I can have a little more fun with. 

[meep95]

my first year (quarter) has been rough (for me and my cohort as a whole). I had to move several states away, and on the 2nd day of class my grandmother died. One of the people in my cohort was very toxic and created a bad environment (she would tell professors they were wrong in class, be rude when people were sharing something emotionally vulnerable, etc.). she has since been kicked out, but it still started things off badly. Other cohort members have also had family members die or get diagnosed with terminal cancer this quarter, someone else dropped out, and the work load in general is just crazy. also i am being a terrible procrastinator and have huge amounts of projects piling up, and am struggling with doing long distance with my boyfriend of 3 years for the first time. i am counting the days until winter break for sure

[hopefulPhD2017]

Yeah. It's super hard. I love it and feel crippling fear all in the same day.