Gradlife

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Last night, I had the opportunity to join some grad students on a tour of the ROM, and our amazingly funny tour guide talked a lot about the power of names and of the individual voice, and of how we all have something wonderful to offer each other. This got me to thinking about how, over the past few months, you’ve all given me the chance to share my thoughts, opinions, and ideas about being a graduate student and what it means to me to be a graduate student at U of T.

Sometimes though, it can be refreshing to hear new voices, to recount the adventures of other folk excelling or struggling or grinding their way through graduate work, whether it’s at the Masters or PhD level. We also recognize that while U of T has some great resources available to grad students, there are other educational bodies that also have GREAT resources for us to tap…and we want you to be successful no matter where you’re getting your information, support, or daily dose of sanity and inspiration from.

In light of this, we thought it would be fun to direct you to some other great blogs about being a grad student, blogs that can help you with your thesis or dissertation, ones that offer you advice on how to maintain a life outside of research, on how to manage your time, on how to eat better, on how to write better, on how to generally be the awesome human being you are while still being a grad student.

Stay up-to-date on the latest advice from Stanford prof Michael Wurst; he offers tips and tricks on how to get through grad school, and actually do it well!

 

Ok, this one is seriously cool. Dartmouth has FREE (yup) online tutorials on excelling in your first year, assessing your learning style, getting to know your profs, and what learning strategies are going to take you from zero to hero (we know you’re definitely not at zero, but we just like the Hercules reference).

 

Need we say more? Journal articles, books, periodicals, and more on any and every subject you could possibly want…for FREE! So, if our handy Robarts or thousand other libraries somehow doesn’t have what you’re looking for, pop on over to Free Library for a browse.

 

 

A fairly short, totally worth it article on how to get the most out of Google. We know, as grad students, there isn’t always time to book a research appointment with our great librarians, so this can be a really handy “next best thing”.

 

A professional, legit, great site to connect with experts in your field, other grad students, and advisors on everything under the graduate life sun. Basically, it’s an online help forum from people who get it.

 

So, this site isn’t TECHNICALLY about grad life, but it does have the latest info about the newest, best (and worst) technologies and other websites that can either make or break your gradlife experience, definitely worth a look. If nothing else, it’s a pretty good “15 minute break” filler.

This site is the site for the everyday adult (didn’t anyone tell you? you’re a grad student, you’re an adult now!), on how to rid themselves of the physical and mental clutter that can otherwise impede your grad-like zen (coffee counts as meditating, right?).

Finally, an honest and down-to-earth blog from a just recently graduate student who has posts on how he got through grad school, the hilarity he found during his research, and the transition from school to the “real world” (it’s dangerous to go alone, take this).

 

Whether you’re tired of listening to my voice in your head while reading (what do I sound like to you, I wonder?), or are simply looking for some new sites to peruse that reflect your reality and day-to-day adventures, we hope that the above sites will give you somewhere to go when you need advice, are having a hard time studying, or simply need a laugh to brush off some data that just doesn’t support your theories (but of course THAT won’t happen!). Happy browsing!