You've already overcome the challenges of navigating your undergraduate degree as a first-generation student - go you! But that doesn't mean that graduate school will always be easy to figure out. Here's our guide to thriving as a first-gen graduate student at UCR.
Our annual summer PhD Spotlight returns! This week we are chatting with Jessica Tingle, who is just completing her PhD in Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology.
Are you working as a teaching assistant or graduate student instructor this summer? Read on for resources to support you this summer, whether this is your first time teaching or your fifteenth!
Balancing parenting with your graduate studies is certainly challenging. One of the best pieces of advice I was given as a pregnant graduate student was that because parenting and graduate school are both jobs without clear boundaries balancing the two requires lots of patience and chocolate. While I cannot share chocolate via blog (sorry!), here...
Keeping your momentum going into summer can be hard, but here are a few suggestions to help design a summer writing plan that will work for you. Step 1: Make a plan. Some people look to summer as a time to relax, wind down and forget about academia for a little bit. Others see summer...
Looking to improve your summer? Here are fifteen ideas that are low commitment and low cost. Consider giving one a try this summer: 1. Get up early and watch the sunrise. As a bonus, it’s often the coolest time of day during our Riverside summers! [ Image Description: A large orange sun moves slowly up...
Planning and carrying out an informative, successful seminar takes a lot of organization, time, and--most importantly--planning. Holding a meaningful seminar is always a big challenge while being a compulsory course for graduate students at their early academic stage. Whether it’s your first or hundredth seminars, a few pieces of advice will help you to achieve...
As with all things great, After Grad: Teaching Careers Week (TCW) sadly had to come to an end. This week aimed to cover a variety of ways for you to think about and prepare yourself for teaching now and for when you're ready to pursue a teaching-focused career in the future. To accomplish this, TCW...
So much has changed in 2021 compared to 2020 – new vaccines, new President, new Provost, new Netflix obsession (remember Tiger King? That was like a Bridgerton and two British Baking Shows ago, right?). [ Image Description: Joe exotic, from Tiger King, removed his sunglasses and squints out at the viewer.] Pictured: You, taking in...
Do you teach? Do you want a career in teaching? Are you looking for ways to become better at teaching? Look no further, After Grad: Teaching Careers Week is here to help! This is a week-long series of panels, workshops, and presentations all centered around teaching! Teaching Careers Week takes place between May 3rd and...
Lots of universities have announced plans to reopen their campuses next fall after more than a year of virtual instruction amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes the University of California system; with COVID-19 vaccines available to students, faculty, and staff, our campus also announced that it plans to bring most students to campus for in-person...
Unclench your jaw. [ Image Description: Pumba, from The Lion King, drops his jaw.] Pictured: Pretty much every time I ask myself, “Is my jaw clenched?” – the answer is yes, yes it is, relax that jaw right now… While you’re at it, you might use your fingers or knuckles to give yourself a face...
In social support literature, there are three types of social support networks: informational, instrumental, and emotional. 1 All networks are reflective of relationships. Informational social support networks are relationships through which information is disseminated. Instrumental social support networks are relationships that provide direct and tangible support—whether that be through actions or physical resources. And, emotional...
Do you read the student evaluations of your teaching at the end of each quarter? If you said no, I’m here to convince you otherwise! First, student evaluations are a key part of how we are assessed as TAs at UCR; low evaluation scores can have consequences for future TA appointments. Also, student evaluations are...
Conferences are one of the most important ways to make human connections within our fields. But getting the most out of a conference requires us to put ourselves out there in a way that can feel awkward, intimidating, and downright uncomfortable. For introverts and extroverts alike, having a conference strategy can greatly improve one’s chances...
After Grad: Academic Pathways Week came and went like a high-speed train, but the lessons it imparted will last forever. Join me as I give a short summary of what I and other graduate students learned from this week-long series of panels, presentations, and workshops designed to support graduate students and postdocs who are taking...
COVID has spread and cause lots of tragedy in the US and around the world for almost a year. While the situation is difficult for everyone, things are particularly serious for international students who are studying abroad and far away from their families. The pressure not only coming from the living landscape but also from...
In this time where we are all working from home, being mentally and physically present with yourself is important. It is also crucial to recognize when zoom fatigue hits. I highly suggest reading my colleague’s piece on boundary-making for her advice on self-care, which touches on these very topics. What I want to add to...
Are you interested in pursuing a career outside of traditional academia? Do you ever wonder what kinds of opportunities there are outside of the confines of the campus? Do you want to understand more clearly what “transferable skills” you have attained by earning your degree? Then After Grad: Career Pathways Week is for you! CPW...
