Reflective Practice

Students didn't always realize how much the classroom experience meant to their professor. One day the professor walked home in the rain after a difficult day in class. Thinking "I don't know if they learned anything. I don't know if I taught anything," did not make the walk home go any faster.

The professor got even more depressed remembering the drive to work that morning. And that the car was parked on the other side of campus. 

Dogs

Sometimes when you get some time off, it's good to spend that time with dogs. They reduce stress and live in the moment and are great role models. They can help us disengage from the stress of graduate level work. 

Unless one of the dogs tries to get you to go to an abandoned amusement park or a construction site after dark or somebody's uncle's ranch. If you get sucked into that, it will NOT decrease your stress. Trust me.

Fitting In

There's always that one grad student who feels like they don't quite fit in. And by "that one" I mean all of them. They all feel that way sometimes. 




Gardner, S. K., & Holley, K. A. (2011). Those invisible barriers are real: The progression of 
first-generation students through doctoral education. Equity & Excellence in 
Education, 44(1), 77-92.

Gibson‐Beverly, G., & Schwartz, J. P. (2008). Attachment, entitlement, and the impostor phenomenon in female graduate students. Journal of College Counseling, 11(2), 119-132.

Lane, J. A. (2015). The imposter phenomenon among emerging adults transitioning into professional life: Developing a grounded theory. Adultspan Journal, 14(2), 114-128.

Idea

The professor had some BIG IDEAS for the course this fall...

Feelings

Reese knew that they had to put their feelings about undergrad behind them now that they were in graduate school.

But they were such happy feelings...

Of course ultimately they were just feelings. Nothing more than feelings.

Vin

A lot of grad students turn to Vin Diesel for advice and insight when they get stuck or are struggling. Not a lot of people know that. It is probably because Vin Diesel says things like this: 

It is insecurity that is always chasing you and 

getting in the way of your dreams.

~ Vin Diesel

So, on behalf of graduate student almost everywhere - thank you, Vin Diesel.

Giraffe

In many graduate student cultures, the giraffe represents an ability to rise above - to rise above challenges, to rise above pettiness, to rise above the drama of others. In other graduate student cultures the giraffe represents a toy giraffe someone found on the ground.