Tag Archives: graduate school

The Benefit of (the Many) College Expectations

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Hi everyone! I wanted to start today’s post by thanking not only CP&R for the incredible Life After Scripps week, but also all of you that attended the events. I know that I was so pleased with the turn out at the Create Your Own Adventure seminar, and I hope that for those of you who attended, you learned something new and beneficial! Just a reminder that October 22nd and 23rd are the dates of the next two seminars. While the one last week was more informational, these next two are very interactive and fun!

I also really want to encourage you all to take advantage of the incredible opportunities Scripps provides. With the creation of every event, club, speaker, class, etc. comes the intent to benefit the student in some way. One of the women I interviewed, Clara, spoke to this point. While she was a busy student, she made sure to take advantage of all the opportunities she could, whether it was an extra class, joining a club, or going to a speaker event. The amount of activities she put on her plate “prepared me when I went to get my masters, because I was on it…I went into a very intense program, but I was actually prepared for the workload itself.”

Clara now teaches at a high school. However, not only does she teach English, she also is the dance teacher, a spin class teacher, one of the main program coordinators for the school, and is the faculty member that always volunteers to take on that extra assignment. While some people may look at her like she’s crazy, this is nothing new for her. Taking on all these tasks not only gives her something to do, but also provides more income.

I know for me that this semester I have been quite a bit overwhelmed with the amount I put on myself. Not only am I a blogger for Beyond the Elms, but also I still am maintaining my internship, I am a BOT student representative, the music director of Ninth Street Hooligans, and I am taking five academic classes. I also know I chose to do all of these activities for a reason: I wanted to blog for Beyond the Elms because I wanted more writing experience. I knew I wanted an internship this summer and I knew that the one I ended up with was going to be an incredible experience, even if it did go into the school year. I really care for Scripps and wanted to be more involved in its potential to grow, so BOT immediately caught my eye. And as for the class load…I wanted to finish all my GEs this year and also wanted to get a head start on my major.

I also know that I have learned a lot of skills from taking on this many activities that will benefit me later, whether it be I decide to go to graduate school or look for a career. I am learning how to make a (very intense) schedule and stick to it in order to get what I need to do done. I am also learning how to figure out what my personal priorities are and how sometimes making tough decisions is necessary. For example, until recently I was a member of the Chamber Choir. However, because of the amount of work I have taken on, I knew it was necessary for me to drop. I have been singing in choir since I was four years old, so this was not an easy decision. Honestly, I still am a little bit upset with myself, but I know I made the right decision.

As college students, a lot is expected of us. We are supposed to take classes, stay healthy, make friends, all while keeping in mind where we want to be after our four years at Scripps. However, I don’t think any of us should take this for granted. While it may seem overwhelming and stressful, we are learning to challenge ourselves in so many different ways. With every new assignment, we learn to balance and schedule—two very important skills that will go a long way no matter where you end up after Scripps.

Have any of you ever felt overwhelmed by what college expectations are placed on you? If yes, how did you deal with that stress? Have you ever thought about whether these expectations have benefited you?

What It Means to Be a Senior

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You might have noticed that it’s getting a little tense around campus right now. Midterms have descended upon us and finals don’t seem far off either. On top of all that, it’s almost summer meaning it’s time for everyone to solidify internships, volunteer work, and summer jobs and seniors have to come to terms with the G word (Content warning: DETAILS YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW. SENIORS DO NOT CLICK THE LINK). While I know everyone is stressed, I’m going to be selfish and focus on the seniors, but hopefully everyone can learn a little something about what seniors are dealing with right now. It’s hard to understand until you’re in it, but I’ll do my best…

Countdowns and LastsI took what is probably going to be my last exam in college last week. We’ve completed our last spring break. We’re working on our last research papers. We’ve attended our last Wedding Party. We’re counting down until thesis is due (and hoping time will slow down), until we get a job (and hoping time will speed up and bring that offer sooner), until Senior Week (and hoping thesis will be done and jobs will be acquired by that point), and finally until Commencement. Even though we try not to think about these things, we still do. About 20 times a day, at least. So if your senior friend is staring off into space with a terrified look on her face, don’t ask what they’re thinking, it’s so hard to say out loud.

Plans (ahem… Plans to have plans… or Plans to make plans to have plans…)

Don’t ask what our plan is for after graduation. Yes, it is a better question than, “Do you have a job?” “Have you heard back from *Grad School Name Here*?” “So, you should hear back from Fulbright soon, right?” But asking about our “plans” is not much better, because our plans never really feel like enough. We plan to get jobs, go to grad school, or get a fellowship, but until we hear back, this plan feels really flimsy. We plan to live in the city of our choice, BUT THAT DEPENDS ON THE PREVIOUS PLAN DOESN’T IT?! We plan to stay in touch with all of our current friends, but when they aren’t 30 seconds away… what do we do then? Seriously. Someone tell me what to do about that.

Classes

Somehow, despite daily existential crises, we’re supposed to write papers, finish problem sets, do readings thoroughly, attend labs, and uphold our GPA while simultaneously dealing with everything you’ve read above. But if seniors are asking for extensions, they’re probably just being lazy… Let me tell you, senioritis is much more than not wanting to do work, it’s not having time to do work because of everything else we are expected to accomplish.

Life

Seniors have all of the above on their to do lists, but there’s one thing we desperately want to make a priority: our lives, not the future grown-up lives, not the past student lives, our current lives. We want to make the most of the time we have left with our friends, because after May 16th, we might not be in the same country, let alone the same state or city. We want to get two-hour dinners reminiscing about the fools we were first year. We want to sit out on Jaqua and admire that we might never live somewhere this beautiful again. We want to talk to our professors about more than the subjects they teach because this could be the last time we’re surrounded by so many intelligent people in all disciplines. We want to run to our mentors and ask, “WHAT HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN TO TEACH ME?! TEACH ME NOW BECAUSE YOU ONLY HAVE 6 WEEKS LEFT.” 6 weeks is nothing.

So go hug the seniors in your life, because they don’t know if you’ll be close enough to hug them after May 16th, take advantage of it now.

One More Required Step Forward

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I don’t know about the program requirements for all Beyond the Elms readers or fellow bloggers out there, but I know that in order to graduate from my program, there are numerous requirements (such a terrifying word…requirement) I need to fulfill. One of these wondrous requirements being the *dun dun dun* Capstone! I’ve heard of this mythical creature from many fellow colleagues and friends who have had to take on this beast during their previous or current academic programs, however I’ve never come across it myself, until now.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Capstone, it is what they consider a culminating experience. That is where a student will combine the knowledge they have acquired during the course of the program, the learning experiences they have had, and prove their understanding of the theory and principles of your field. Basically, as I understand it, the capstone is an end project that outlines the competencies you have successfully mastered.

Granted I am only in my first semester of my program, as I look at the requirements of my Capstone and all I need to scrape together a surge of panic crawls over me every single time. It’s not that it looks hard by any means; it’s more of what it represents. I look at the Capstone outline and think to myself “how am I ever going to remember all of the competencies covered over a two year period!” It’s a little overwhelming, yes, overwhelming is a good word for it! I start to second-guess myself, to wonder if I am really cut out for this program, for graduate school life in general.

But then I get over it.

Because I’m in graduate school and that’s freaking awesome.

The point of my incredibly dramatic entrance was so that I can brag about the awesome time I had this weekend! One of the key requirements of the Capstone, as mentioned in my student handbook, is to attend a professional conference. Lucky for me, I happen to have a conference that I have already been attending every year since 2011. My personal main focuses of my studies are eating disorders and co-occurring disorders, which is why I have continued to be a loyal attendee at the Annual National Eating Disorders Association Conference.

Though I have enjoyed myself numerous years before, taking in all the information and finding areas that I am less aware of felt like a new treat this year. I’ve always been a student while attending, so why would this year feel any different? I think the difference this year is that I finally feel that I am going to be using the tools I am learning about in the near future. I feel that I can start to make a difference immediately in my environment and I can integrate these ideas into my professional degree, whereas in undergrad I knew I had more school left leaving me to feel that I couldn’t make much of a difference yet. Perhaps it is my change in location, being in Montana it was definitely a challenge to spread the message I was trying to send about the dangers of eating disorders and how common they actually are, but being in a much more populated area with open ears helps to make it feel like the information I am taking in isn’t going to waste inside of my brain.

Though the Capstone does still feel overwhelming at times, there are times where you get to take part in something that even though it’s a requirement, turns into an experience you will take with you forever.

Maybe my point from all this mumbo jumbo is that requirements don’t have to be scary.

Or maybe it’s that you can always put your own twist into your education.

Take from this whatever you need.

 

feeny6

 

Taming the Beast

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Six weeks down, ten weeks to go.

I think it’s just about that same time of year for all of us at this point, no not fall (that doesn’t exist here), MIDTERMS. The time of year where we are all so hyped up on coffee and delirious from sleep exhaustion that we don’t even know our own names.

Usually I like to stay pretty cool and collected when it comes to midterms, but I’ll admit I was a little nervous this year. Even though I had midterms when I was in undergrad, my previous graduate school courses in NY didn’t (not even tests). So as you can imagine I was feeling a little nervous about what to expect from my first set of midterms, as I am sure many of the first year students at Scripps are feeling too! I’m happy to say I’m feeling pretty confident after my first midterm and even though it’s still a little nerve-racking, I think I’ll survive!

Here are a few tricks of the trade for those suffering from a little thing I like to call “midterm mania:”

  1. Keep your friends close, but not too close. At least for your first few days of studying! We all know by now that “studying” with a group of friends is actually code for “lets go to Starbucks with our backpacks, drink coffee, and not talk about anything related to learning.” Lets be real, we all do that. So take a few days in the beginning to make your notecards, get a basic knowledge of what you need to know, and then start accepting group study invitations. This will keep you from panicking last minute because all you did was drink coffee with your friends for a week.
  2. Ask questions. The professor is there to help you, not to trick you or fail you on purpose. Chances are your professor may have a review day a week or so before your midterm. Make sure you take that time to ask about any theories you may not understand or how to do certain math problems you are struggling with. This is what the review day is for.
  3. Stop freaking out. Granted, midterms are pretty important and we all want to do well, but I like to remind myself that the midterm is not the only thing that I will be earning points for in class. There are finals, papers, projects, homework, and attendance points to take into account. Yes, attendance points do make a difference. Just remember that though the midterm is important, it isn’t the end of the world if you don’t do as well as you would have hoped.
  4. Relax. Life is about balance, so make sure that you take some time in between studying to do something enjoyable. I’m sure there is some study somewhere that states happier people do better on midterms. Take a few hours or even a day in between the coffee drowned madness to go on a hike, out to pizza with friends, or just spend the day alone watching Netflix in bed still in your pajamas. Whatever makes you happy!
  5. Social media. Get off it. Now.

No matter what year in school you are, don’t forget to have a mini celebration in honor of your midterm mania survival!

Good luck this midterm season, everyone!

midterms2

Everything is Not How it Seems

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Well here we are, the beginning (kind of) of yet another school year. For me, this has been a pretty special beginning. This is the year that I finally feel like the pieces are all falling together. If you couldn’t tell from my bio, I’m a little bit of a nomad, especially in the past 8 years. Before I dive too far into details of my new experiences, let me catch you up on my life thus far. As long as I can remember I dreamed that when I grew up I was going to be living in a big sparkling city, with all the twinkling lights, and all the beautiful people. New York was my ultimate dream. Spoiler alert: I made it; but not without a few adventures along the way that helped shape me into the person I am today.

If you’ve ever heard that Montana is filled with the friendliest people (aside from Oregonians), then you are correct! If you’ve ever heard differently, well then you’re wrong. Montana became my blessing in disguise. I spent all four years of undergrad at a small private university in the middle of Montana, where I was given opportunities beyond what I ever envisioned for myself. These opportunities didn’t always come in the form of a special internship or a large array of class options, but rather I was given opportunities to help me gain confidence in my own abilities and in myself as a young woman. I was held accountable, I was pushed, and I was given personal attention; all of which I needed in order to continue to push myself through not only my undergrad, but through the next journey I would embark on: graduate school.

So I spoiled it before, but yes, I did end up “living the dream” for about two years. You see this is not my first grad school rodeo. I’m a bit of a seasoned veteran. In 2012, I was like many of the seniors at Scripps: dreading the GRE and suffering through the pain of individualized personal statements for each school you plan on applying to (but totally worth it!). But also, just simply trying to figure out where I was going to apply and what I wanted my focus to be. With Connecticut and New York being my main contenders my ultimate decision landed with New York (leaving none of my friends or family surprised in the slightest). I spent two bright-eyed years in New York where I was so very lucky to experience Broadway, the Feast of San Gennaro, New Years in Times Square, and working the Macy’s Day Parade. Oh ya, and I was going to grad school too! I was studying Media Studies at a small school on some prime real estate in Manhattan. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), my interest was short lived and after one year of the program I decided that it was no longer what I wanted to do. I definitely had a hard time accepting that. It took me quite a while to stop feeling like I had failed and that I had let down those who loved me. I learned a lot from that. I came to realize that sometimes what feels like a bad experience is actually a good one because it teaches you not only what you like, but most importantly what you don’t like and I actually think that’s even more important.

Fast forward through another year of the working world, and then another 8 months of bumming in the sun at my parents in Arizona and here I am. Here I am and I’m happy to be here!

Don't you mean do well? No, I mean do good.

Don’t you mean do well? No, I mean do good.