Like a Smack in the Face

As I prepare to return to school this weekend, I feel like it's an appropriate time to look back on my first semester of grad-level academics. I had to take physiology, ecology, and a seminar. Overall, I learned many things

1. I like physiology much more than ecology...sorry, it's the truth. My mind is just better at working through equations. However, I do love field and lab work, which made both classes worth it.
2. Yea, you know how as you move up each level of education you're told that no one will hold your hand, but they really do? Yea...that actually ends at this level. There will always be people ready and willing to help, but not unless you reach out to them. No one will try to stay on top of your reading or problem sets - it's up to you to decide what's worth doing, especially if you have another job (teaching, lab work, etc). After failing both of my first tests, I definitely started studying for exams earlier and more often with my classmates. Which gets into my next point...
3. An F really isn't the end of the world....OK, an F in an entire class is, but one test or assignment does not define you unless you let it. If you continue to produce F work, then yea you're done. If you say "OK, I effed up, time to straighten up" then you'll be fine.
4. I became one of those people who studies for hours on end for finals...try 12 hours straight, with two breaks for food :/ And I came very close, but somehow managed to not pull an all-nighter....still all-nighter free! (OK, so I actually did try and gave up at 3am...whatever)
5. It really helps to develop a thick skin, so that when professors put you down you can brush it off and fix whatever is wrong and move on with life (or at least hold off on the tears until you're alone).
6. It helps to have someone/thing outside of your school life, otherwise you'll go nuts. For many of my fellow cohorts, it's dancing or working out or playing a sport...I'm working on making working out one of those releases. This past semester, it's been my amazing roommate who has absolutely nothing to do with my grad school life. We vent about our school/work lives and then bond over life stories and Jersey Shore. It's a beautiful friendship.
7. Despite all the crying, hair-pulling, and curses at various objects and people, it's all worth it if you truly love what you do. I mean seriously, I've spent classes at the beach and on boats, how awesome is that?! It has even led me to my new mantra/saying - "I play in the water like it's my job" :D

Benthic sampling in Ecology lab.