Over the last three years as a Ph.D. student, I have learned some key lessons and points about what it takes to succeed in graduate school. So, let the list begin! You know when you are a dedicated (and fabulous) PR graduate student when:
- You schedule your comprehensive exams to begin right after Valentine’s Day. Yep – that is right! I will begin my comprehensive exams for the doctoral program this upcoming Monday. 🙂
- You keep working on multiple projects.. but there is always something else to finish and do! In graduate school, your work is never done. Ever since I have been at the University of Tennessee, I have definitely kept myself busy with working on research projects, teaching, and working on consulting and professional projects. When one paper or presentation is finished – it is off to the next one. I feel like I am working on a lot of things at the moment with research, teaching, and consulting – but I would not have it any other way!
- You go to conferences and get very excited about meeting other fellow PR professionals and researchers. Networking at conferences is key – and it is really neat to be able to meet and talk with some of the fellow researchers and scholars that we have discussed in our classes and referenced in our research papers. I am excited about the conferences I will be attending later this year.
- You are constantly asking questions and thinking – Hmmm.. this could be a great research project! This happens to me all of the time – especially when I am exercising or taking a kickboxing class. I am always thinking about research projects that would be interesting to work on. Two of my research projects developed while I was at the gym – my friend and fellow Ph.D. student Monica and I were working out one day, and we talked about how it would be neat to work on a research project together. She is in Information Sciences, and I am in PR, so we started brainstorming. Before you knew it – we came up with doing a case study on the Google Books case involving digitalization of books and its impact on academic libraries and Google’s corporate reputation. Brilliant! 🙂
- You know how to work hard and manage your time effectively. When I was in track, I had to learn how to manage my time effectively and proactively to make sure that I had time to study, work on papers, and be prepared for my competition. The same goes with academics – you really have to manage your time and structure your day accordingly so you can get your various activities and projects accomplished. There have been some long days for me, but usually – I do a little bit each day and it all adds up. 🙂
In summary, being a graduate student is an honor and a wonderful experience – and it has really helped me grow and mature both personally as well as professionally. Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
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