Science Magazine has a category of articles called “Working Life,” which covers the “meta” things we talk about for some position, like work-life balance, people’s experience in some role, general advice, etc. I read two this morning that I found to be well-written, conversational, and much in line with my own experiences:
Fighting through the gray, by Stepfanie M. Aguillon
Stepfanie discusses mental health in grad school, with a focus on seasonal affective disorder. I relate to this a lot as I love the sun and warm weather and am not a fan of cold, drab, snowy winters.
When the trail gets steep, Leela Dilkes-Hoffman
Leela discusses the mental markers for progress with an analogy to trail running. This paragraph in particular resonated with me, as I’ve talked about this a lot with other grad students and my advisors:
Similarly, as an undergraduate I had thrived on continuous feedback, usually in the form of grades. I had grown accustomed to getting constant assurance that I had done a good job, as well as having a set of discrete, manageable tasks. In my new life as a Ph.D. student, there was no obvious to-do list, and I didn’t receive regular, standardized feedback.
Ah, the pains of transitions and of grad school. The life in grad school, specifically PhD school in the sciences, is interestingly obscure from the general public. People don’t realize that it’s like having a full time job (and sometimes requires more hours than a full time job) but with subpar benefits (if any at all). I am at least fortunate to not be forced to work during late nights and weekends, though I’ve witnessed such mandates from my undergrad research advisor (directed to his grad students and postdocs) as well as from friends’ experiences in grad school. Not that knowing this makes much of a difference to anyone. It might just mean fewer times being asked, “What are your plans for the summer?” Because it’s always research.