By Rachael Cooper
Rachael is a 2nd year PhD Student in Water Resources Engineering at the University of South Florida. She is the FY21 Communication Mentoring Coordinator (CMC).
The flexibility graduate school allows can be a blessing and a curse for me. Depending on the day, hour, or minute I can be filled with gratitude or grumps that I am able to work on my terms and on my schedule. I always wished for such flexibility, in undergrad, and in industry, and now that it is here…I am not sure if it is what I always wished for. Without the imposed structure of a workday or the pressure of extensive coursework, I am left to my own devices to decide how to progress through graduate school.
Better late than never to bring mindfulness into another part of life, and I am embarrassed to say that before graduate school I was not mindful of how I best learn, communicate, write, or study. I just kind of … did it? I am now taking the time to reflect and dive into these questions almost as mini research assignments about myself to find what works best for me to work smarter and happier through grad school.
If you are like me and need an example to get started, here is an exercise: First, take a class, or topic, or task at which you know you excelled at. Then, try to remember what caused you to be able to excel. Here are a few example questions: How was information delivered? How did you complete tasks? When did you complete tasks? What was the content? What was the context? Did you work with others or yourself? When did you work with others or by yourself? [Sub-step if you are prone to forget: write it down!] Then finally, see if you can translate that success to another task or topic which you are having trouble with completing, or wish you could improve.
There are a lot of resources, knowledge, and ‘hacks’ for the best way to accomplish tasks such as learning, reading, and writing. These can be equally helpful and useless, remember everyone is different so what works for you may not work for others and vice versa. Friends, family, and colleagues that know you and/or your program well can also be great resources to ask for insight.
Rachael is a 2nd year PhD Student in Water Resources Engineering at the University of South Florida. She is the FY21 Communication Mentoring Coordinator (CMC).
The flexibility graduate school allows can be a blessing and a curse for me. Depending on the day, hour, or minute I can be filled with gratitude or grumps that I am able to work on my terms and on my schedule. I always wished for such flexibility, in undergrad, and in industry, and now that it is here…I am not sure if it is what I always wished for. Without the imposed structure of a workday or the pressure of extensive coursework, I am left to my own devices to decide how to progress through graduate school.
Better late than never to bring mindfulness into another part of life, and I am embarrassed to say that before graduate school I was not mindful of how I best learn, communicate, write, or study. I just kind of … did it? I am now taking the time to reflect and dive into these questions almost as mini research assignments about myself to find what works best for me to work smarter and happier through grad school.
If you are like me and need an example to get started, here is an exercise: First, take a class, or topic, or task at which you know you excelled at. Then, try to remember what caused you to be able to excel. Here are a few example questions: How was information delivered? How did you complete tasks? When did you complete tasks? What was the content? What was the context? Did you work with others or yourself? When did you work with others or by yourself? [Sub-step if you are prone to forget: write it down!] Then finally, see if you can translate that success to another task or topic which you are having trouble with completing, or wish you could improve.
There are a lot of resources, knowledge, and ‘hacks’ for the best way to accomplish tasks such as learning, reading, and writing. These can be equally helpful and useless, remember everyone is different so what works for you may not work for others and vice versa. Friends, family, and colleagues that know you and/or your program well can also be great resources to ask for insight.
