Would you call yourself an optimist or a pessimist? Do you view the glass half full or half empty? Do you like to dream big, or do you keep your dreams simple? I ask these questions because I want to express to you the importance of challenging yourself in a balanced way, especially when it comes to making New Year’s resolutions. What I mean by balancing your challenges is not…

How do you react when New Year’s comes around? Do you see it as just another passing year, or do you see it as a fresh start? I hope you see it as a chance to set some goals and improve yourself in whatever way you see fit. Whether you look forward to New Year’s or would rather not be reminded that you’re another year older, you’ll benefit from my…

To continue with the subject of holiday breaks, I wanted to write about what could be seen as a touchy subject: contacting committee members during the holidays. Maybe you’re a person who is thinking, “Who would disturb their committee members during their well-deserved break?” Or maybe you’re a person who is thinking, “I plan to work on my dissertation during the holidays, so I expect my committee members to be…

As a graduate student, I know you have expenses that seem to come out of nowhere. From bookshelves to office supplies and learning tools, I have researched many popular gadgets that graduate students tend to need for their years in grad school. I divided them up by types of supplies, and I hope this blog will help you decide what should go on your Christmas list. Organization However many…

What do you do on holiday breaks? Do you veg out on the couch and watch movies, or do you not even realize you’re on a break because of how much work you’re doing? Maybe you’re someone who wants to please everyone by attending the parties, joining the trips, and visiting all the places to which you’re invited. Wanting to please everyone is already a difficult task, but the holiday…

It goes without saying that the holidays are fast approaching. Many different emotions run high during this time: happiness about breaks from school or work, depression about missing loved ones, and stress about hosting loads of people. Whatever holiday emotions you are experiencing right now, you are probably also feeling anxious about continuing your graduate and/or dissertation work through the holidays. This time of year is a good time to…

Your thesis and dissertation are really the launching point to your academic career, so it’s important to choose the topic wisely.  It’s a long and hard journey to complete the dissertation, so it’s important to be interested and excited by the topic at the beginning.  Don’t just pick a topic so you can “just get done.”  The jobs of creating thesis topics and choosing thesis topics come with a few…