By Olivia Gacka, PhD Student
Happy first day back to all of you! As we start fresh with both the semester and the year 2023, I wanted to share some of my favorite pieces of advice I’ve given and been given about starting a new semester and year:
- A clean slate doesn’t have to mean completely clean. At the beginning of a new year and semester we tend to think about starting over, “new this, new that”. If that’s your style, great. But personally, I’m a big fan of taking the nuances and lessons of the past year or semester into the new one with you, even the hard ones. Instead of buying new notebooks, finish the old ones or repurpose the remaining paper. Instead of abandoning your entire organizational system in favor of a new one, try gently incorporating new elements to see what works. Completely wiping the slate can be dizzying, while dipping your toes in the water slowly can be more sustainable in the long term.
- Plan for change. Sometimes you set a schedule at the beginning of the semester but wish you could move things around after a couple of weeks. Don’t be afraid to ask about moving things like standing meetings, work hours, or office hours after the first month or so of the semester, especially if it makes things easier for you. Similarly, if you take on an extra task this semester but realize after a few weeks that it’s going to be unmanageable, reevaluate and either offload or reprioritize. It’s okay if things change. In fact, they almost always do.
- Break Boxes are your friend. I wrote about Break Boxes last year but it bears repeating. Take some time now to set aside some treats and goodies for Future You, the one who would love a piece of chocolate amidst grading papers at midterms, or the one who needs that pep-talk right before a big deadline at the end of the semester. Bonus points if you take some time to be creative and decorate the box you put it all in! The point is to invest in yourself and your mental health, however that may look for you.
Author’s note: This is my last Tips for Grads column, as I am moving on to a new assistantship this semester. Writing to all of you every week has been a true joy in my grad school journey, so thank you to everyone who engaged with the column and with me over the past year and a half. If you have advice or a perspective you want to share with your fellow graduate students, I encourage you to consider writing a guest Tips for Grads column!
Tips for Grads is a professional and academic advice column written by graduate students for graduate students at UW–Madison. It is published in the student newsletter, GradConnections Weekly.