Navigating Grad Life
鈥淟ive life, breathe air. I know somehow we're gonna get there. And feel so wonderful.鈥� 鈥�听
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Life as a graduate student does not consist of your typical undergraduate routine. In fact, it鈥檚 quite different. For starters, you can say goodbye to your traditional one-hour daytime classes and say hello to three-hour night classes after a typical nine-to-five workday. Over time, you learn to manage, and it becomes light work, but the adjustment between the two is tough at first.
Why I Chose Graduate School at FAU
I didn鈥檛 originally see myself in graduate school, but my professors and 麻豆精品视频planted the seed when they mentioned scholarships and the Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) program. Having the opportunity to teach while earning a degree tuition-free made the decision simple. What I didn鈥檛 expect was how much I would fall in love with teaching public speaking. Now, I can actually see myself continuing to teach and conduct research as part of my career.
The Transition from Undergrad to Grad School
If I鈥檓 being honest, the transition was rough. As an undergrad, I could skim readings or sometimes skip them entirely and still get by, especially in those larger classes. Grad school, though, demands a different level of discipline. Now, I read 4鈥�8 texts a week and write papers that can鈥檛 be put together overnight, but have to be built over an entire semester. Even with a 3.4 GPA across two majors, a minor, and a certificate, the workload here still surprised me.
The Most Rewarding (and Most Challenging) Parts
The best part of grad school? Getting to write about topics I actually enjoy. So far, I鈥檝e written on Kendrick Lamar鈥檚 Super Bowl halftime show, the film听 They Cloned Tyrone, Beyonc茅鈥檚听 Cowboy Carter, and Ryan Coogler鈥檚听 Sinners 听(2025).
The hardest part? Backing up those ideas with enough research to fill 15鈥�20-page papers. The writing process is no joke, but it鈥檚 shaping me into a stronger scholar.
麻豆精品视频Resources That Help
麻豆精品视频offers more resources than I realized at first. I鈥檝e found study spaces all around campus;听 the library, the Student Union, and the Business and Professional Women鈥檚 Scholarship House, where I live. There鈥檚 even a grad student lounge tucked away in the library, which is perfect for long study sessions.
Other resources that I鈥檇 recommend to students are the Writing Center and Speaking Center, both of which are great for sharpening the exact skills grad students need. On top of that, I鈥檝e leaned heavily on my thesis chair, who has been an incredible source of guidance.
Staying Involved
Even though I scaled back from holding leadership roles in undergrad, I鈥檝e stayed connected through organizations. My first year, I joined the Black Alumni Network as secretary, served as a GPSA College Ambassador, and continued as an Arts and Letters Ambassador. Now, I still do those, and I鈥檝e added Homecoming Chair to the mix. Being plugged into the 麻豆精品视频community keeps me balanced and connected.
A Day in My Life
My weekdays are packed. I usually wake up around 7 a.m., pray, refresh my Bible app, and try to start the day off without immediately diving into social media. On teaching days (SPC 2608), I like to vlog, especially if I鈥檝e got new ambassador giveaways or branded items to unbox.
From there, my day flows between teaching, work as a Marketing Assistant, classes, and organizational commitments. The evenings are often filled with long classes (sometimes running until 9:30 p.m.) or meetings. It鈥檚 busy, but it鈥檚 a rhythm I鈥檝e grown into.
Weekends are my reset: I hang out with friends, relax, do laundry, catch up on reading, and prep my bookbag for the week. I also make sure to update my daily to-do lists; those keep me sane.
Navigating grad life isn鈥檛 all so different; once you get into a routine, it becomes easier to steer.听