I originally titled this post "5 Things I've learned in Grad School" and then I realized that my roommates would probably joke that I've only learned 5 things. So with that in mind, here are a few of the lessons I've learned after 22 weeks in graduate level courses.
1. Everyone matters.
No matter who they are or where they come from, the students I see in my office are the same. Now I'm not trying to generalize all students and the issues they face, because by no means is that the case. What I'm saying, though, is that all students are worth my time. All students are unique and that means that I should never treat them as if they are the same. None of their situations are identical to another students', so why should I treat each of my meetings with them as if they are all the same people?
2. My cohort gets it.
Holy wow, is this statement true. I never quite got what was so great about a graduate program with a cohort model but now that I have experienced it, I am forever grateful for the 15 other students walking through this thing with me. They are the ones that understand why I complain about this or that assignment. They are the ones who get that I really disliked reading our Birnbaum book, even if the content was really beneficial. The people in my cohort are the ones who I know I can lean on when I need some extra help and they'll be some of the first people I call when I need the help as a practitioner.
3. Drop your expectations, you're wrong.
So far in grad school, I've made a lot of assumptions. Assumptions on who the people in my cohort are, assumptions about what kind of a career I want, and assumptions on what people expect from me and every single one of the assumptions I have made has been wrong. I've expected things to be one way, and then they aren't. I've expected to follow a path to a particular job and now I realize it's not the type of career I want. I've made a lot of these assumptions over the past few months only to turn around the following week and realize I was wrong.
I've learned in grad school that I can't always expect things to go a certain way, because more often than not, I am wrong.
4. "Thanks and shit."
One of the first things Dr. Woods (my supervisor) did in my practicum was hand me a list of 8 students who were first semester freshman, told me to contact them, and set up appointments to meet with them in the office. This was my first time meeting one-on-one with students so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. After my first set of appointments, I made personal phone calls to the few who hadn't responded to my initial e-mail and one of the calls stuck out to me; after stating who I was and offering to set up a meeting, here's how the young man responded, "Nah dude, I don't really want to; but thanks and shit for asking me. That's really cool that you guys care enough to reach out to me, that's legit."
That was one of the realest things he could have said to me and I was so happy he did. I know that not all students are going to show appreciation for the work I will do as a practitioner, but I'm going to remember this young man's response to my request and know that no matter if they express it or not, the students appreciate what I do.
5. Give the period some space.
Bet you didn't catch what I've been doing here. Throughout this post, I've been switching between throwing one space after a period and throwing two spaces after. It's been a place of contention among members of my cohort as to whether or not you need one period or two after a sentence when writing in APA style. Our professors couldn't agree either, with some requiring one and others requiring two.
What we came to find out, though, is that the APA style doesn't declare one of these ways right or wrong. The APA manual states that it suggests putting two spaces after a period that ends a statement to aid in readability, however, this means that it is not a requirement. Felix is probably the only person who will care about this, but one space after a period is my favorite. :)
Bottom line, I've learned a lot in my first 22 weeks of this program. A lot of it has been practical skills that I can apply toward my career as a student affairs professional, but some of the most important lessons I have learned so far haven't been what I've learned in a textbook, but what I have learned from my peers and some of the experiences I've had so far. Here's to learning more in the coming 42 weeks!