There’s no crying in baseball, but for me, there sure was  a lot of crying in my first year of graduate school.  Although more tears were shed than necessary, it has taught me a lot and helped me grow up very quickly in the year I’ve been a grad student so far.

It truly is hard to endure the craze of changes that occurs in graduate school.  I left as an undergrad where I was used to living in the dorms and constantly having friends around to living on my own and worrying about every little detail of my life.  It is never easy to go out on your own, but then the added stress of difficult classes, finding new friends, working to support yourself through graduate school, and the other life issues on top of that are challenging, to say the least.

Yes, undergrad is tough.  But there is a change once you are in graduate school that makes it a completely different ball game.  It’s hard to say exactly what it is, but it might be the professional pressure that is added.  You are learning how to be a librarian (in my case), but also expected to work as one at the same time.  The dual learning/doing issue is something that happens for these two years, but it does make everything a bit more difficult.

Another issue, that I see with my classmates, is that you almost have to put your life plans on hold for a while to finish off this life goal.  I have friends that are going to graduate school, trying to find a job, thinking about moving, and are planning a wedding…all at the same time.  I know I could not take that on, so major life “steps” are on hold as of right now, even though some of the big ones are still way out in the future.  I wish I had more time throughout grad school to have adopted an animal, even another beta fish, but I hardly have the time these days to take care of myself, yet alone another being.

Plus, disappointment happens in graduate school.  And stress.  That’s where the crying comes in.  Dream jobs come your way, and you’re passed on getting offered the position.  Your computer breaks, you’re behind in class, and all you’re hearing is that the job market is pretty sad these days.  Pretty sure that has lead me to tears twice this summer.  However, it’s all worth it to make you stronger.  You realize that another, even more perfect (yes, it is possible) job ends up coming your way.  It’s learning a lot of patience that helps you through.

And if you need help through it all, it doesn’t hurt to have a good friend and a good beer.  As I’ve noted a lot recently, there is a stunning connection at Wisconsin of graduate school and pitchers at the Terrace (or sake bombs at the Reak KK {Karaoke Kid}).  Find a friend to share a beer with you, and sometimes that makes it all better.