Skip to main content

119. Ten Tips to Crush Your First Semester (R)

Daniel Leave a comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | Email | TuneIn | RSS

It’s that time of year again – summer days are growing shorter, your friends are trying to fit in one last trip to the beach, and the backpack aisle at Target is about to be cleared out to make way for the Halloween costumes.

Yes, it’s back-to-school time. From toddlers to teenagers, this time of year instills foreboding about the school-year ahead. But as a first-year graduate student, you may have other feelings.

For most, it’s the start of a new adventure. For the first time, you’re pursuing the one subject in the world you love best, surrounded by other equally brilliant and passionate people.

It’s the end of being told what to learn and how to study, and the beginning of blazing your own academic trail.

It IS a new experience – different from your matriculation in high school or college – and it may be difficult to know what to expect.

This week, we lay out a ten-ish step plan for putting your best-foot-forward in that first semester of your graduate journey.

Read More

179. Teaching Opportunities for Grad Students w/ Dr. Alaina Talboy

Daniel Leave a comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | Email | TuneIn | RSS

We’ve all met them – the unsung heroes of your Intro To (Biology, Psychology, History, etc.) class.

Sure, they don’t give the lectures, but that’s about the only responsibility they dodge. Instead, they’re leading lab sessions, holding office hours, proctoring exams, and grading papers.

They’re the Teaching Assistants, or TAs, and they’re a critical part of undergraduate education.

But who are these heroes without capes?

We learn more in this week’s show!

Read More

178. I Didn’t Even Know “Research” Was a Thing!

Daniel Leave a comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | Email | TuneIn | RSS

For some students, graduate schools is a foregone conclusion.

Perhaps they’ve wanted to ‘be a scientist’ since they were nine, and along the way, they learned that a PhD is a stepping stone on that path. Or perhaps they knew their career prospects with a Bachelor’s degree were thin, so they new an advanced degree was in the future.

But Josh wasn’t that student. He was a junior in college before he even learned that ‘research scientist’ was a career that he could pursue.

This week, we revisit his-story. (See what I did there?)

Read More

176. Stop Calling Yourself a ‘Grad Student’ w/ Dr. Alaina Talboy

Daniel Leave a comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Spotify | Email | TuneIn | RSS

Titles are a part of our identity. If you meet a school teacher, computer programmer, or rocket scientist, you will instantly form an impression of what kind of person they are without any additional information.

The bias we impose upon hearing a title can be good or bad, of course. But we all invariably take these mental shortcuts, and it influences how we treat the people we meet.

What’s interesting is that these titles reflect on us, as well. What I call myself impacts what I expect from my work, and how I expect others to treat me in my role.

This week on the show, we talk with a PhD who helps current graduate students as they explore careers outside of academia. And she has some advice on how you can reimagine your graduate title.

Read More