graduate student life

Congratulations, You Made It: Thank You for a Great Year!

Cydni Young — Thu, 04 May 2023 15:22:52 +0000

Congratulations, You Made It: Thank You for a Great Year! Cydni Young Thu, 05/04/2023 - 11:22

By Cydni Young

Wow graduate and professional patriots, we have really come so close to the end of the Spring 2023 semester and the end of the 2022-2023 academic year! First and foremost, congratulations for coming this far and coming to the end of another year. All of your hard work, time, effort, and perseverance throughout the year has not gone unnoticed and we ask that you please celebrate yourselves and provide yourself some grace as you crush finals season and end the semester strong. We have made a multitude of memories this year, from the kickoff with our annual Gradstravaganza event, to our Graduate Student Spring Picnic to mark the end of another wonderful year! During this busy yet exciting time of the year, there are so many wonders that are taking place. Many of you are graduating and are preparing to take transformative steps in your lives. Rather than it being a time of uncertainty, this should be a time of thrilling growth and development as you make these decisions - this I know is easier said than done. The world is full of endless possibilities and the great things that you will achieve have no bounds. This is very much true, but sometimes it is necessary to truly take the time to ruminate in your thoughts of these possibilities and understand what they mean for you, and how to approach the pathway of endless, exciting possibilities - this all while taking care of yourself in the process. This may be interesting to navigate - I for one have experienced it first hand even after my undergraduate graduation. With this, hopefully we can help relieve some of this weight with these tips on navigating life after graduation.

For the first tid-bit of advice, Bridges, from Forbes, uses one quote: “Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.”¹ What does this mean? Well, perfection is sometimes the aim of our own consciousness and overthinking tendencies, rather than being a necessity of the work at hand. Sometimes the best work you can provide is just getting it done, and that is okay. It serves as a sweet reminder that life isn’t perfect, so be easy on yourself when it comes to your goals and the work that comes with them. Don’t pressure yourself to achieve perfection, it will come as it comes, and know that you will get closer to your own version of perfection with time. This falls in line with the second tip of not being afraid to make mistakes.² We’re human and are creatures of habit, we strive for perfection, but mistakes make us even more human. We have to make mistakes in order to learn and they only strengthen us for the next endeavor. Think of mistakes as an opportunity for growth, rather than an instance of weakness, they happen to all of us.

The third tip is to cultivate your social skills.³ Watering your social life is something that I feel we are all learning how to navigate again and has become an interesting anomaly since the start of the pandemic. However, it is important to healthily and consciously engage in some form of social outlets when you can. Creating these relationships and forming these connections will help to continue building your social network, especially as you progress through your aspired field. You never know who you may meet and it could be the start of a lifetime connection. So the next time you are at an event, consider building on your connections and saying hi to someone you don't know! Going off of this one, the next is to develop a healthy lifestyle.⁴ Upon full entry into the workforce, life may become very much regimented and time-restricted, so it is important to set a daily routine in order to mediate your life tasks. This could include setting a day to shop for groceries and cooking healthy meals for yourself, or scheduling a few hours out of your day to do the things you love! The final tip is to never stop learning.⁵ View the world as a never-ending vessel for growth and absorb all the information and wisdom you receive from all people, things, and experiences you encounter. Continue to expand your mind to new things and adapt them in a way that will help to water your experiences and career aspirations. We will never stop learning, so embrace it and use it to your advantage.

Well, it’s official. It is now time to take the next step in your life. Whether that is your next year in grad school (like myself), or graduating into your aspired career, recognize all you have accomplished to get to this very moment. We may be in the midst of finals season, but keep your eyes on the prize and always remind yourself of what you are working so hard for…and even some well-deserved rest you’ll get afterwards! The world is your oyster, so don’t let it intimidate you, but let it fuel your drive to be the best you you can be. Be easy on yourself, get ready for the ride, and everything will fall into place exactly how it should. I’m wishing you all the best of luck and energy as you complete finals, and we’re rooting for you even beyond your journey as a Mason patriot!

Take care of you :)

Best of Wishes,

Cydni Young

1. Bridges, Frances (2018, April 28). The 5 Best Life Tips For College Graduates. Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/francesbridges/2018/04/28/the-5-best-life-tips-for-college-graduates/?sh=38c16e7e5a83

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graduate student life

Mason Grad Insider

Networking event connects graduate students with Arlington’s Movers and Shakers

Colleen Rich — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 16:49:09 +0000

Networking event connects graduate students with Arlington’s Movers and Shakers Colleen Rich Fri, 10/21/2022 - 12:49

George Mason University’s proximity to the nation’s capital attracts many students interested in engaging with political and civic leaders. Recently, graduate students at Mason Square (formerly Arlington Campus) attended Movers and Shakers, a professional networking event with Arlington’s business, government, and community leaders.

Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

Ziad Al Achkar and Emily Crawford were among this year’s student attendees. Al Achkar, a doctoral candidate in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, attended the first Movers and Shakers event when in launched in October 2019 and was excited about its return from its pandemic hiatus. His research interest focuses on using technology and the digitalization of humanitarian aid.

“I spoke with a few people working with consulting companies in the D.C. area whose work matches up with my career aspirations,” Al Achkar said. “Movers and Shakers reinforced the importance of having clear ideas about your career aspirations and being able to articulate them quickly when meeting new people and potential employers.”

Crawford is pursuing a master’s in public policy at the Schar School of Policy and Government with an emphasis on higher education policy. She advocates for college affordability and accessibility and aspires to collaborate with leaders in the White House, Congress, and the U.S. Department of Education on behalf of students.

Connecting with changemakers with an impact on Arlington and the nation appealed to her. Movers and Shakers provided the opportunity to engage leaders and allowed Crawford to share her impact in the Arlington community as the Graduate and Professional Student Association’s vice president of Arlington.

“It was incredible to connect with leaders from the State Department, local nonprofits making a significant difference in our community, and fellow students,” Crawford said. “We are all working together to make meaningful change happen to make Arlington, Virginia, and the country a better place to live.”

Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

“Movers and Shakers is a wonderful opportunity to build strong connections between Arlington leaders and Mason as we undergo our expansion,” said Toni Andrews, senior associate director, Community and Local Government Relations for Mason Square. “It builds awareness about current programs at Mason Square and those coming to Fuse at Mason such as the College of Engineering and Computing.”

John Daniels, BA Government and International Politics ’17, MPA ’19, was among Arlington’s leaders who networked with student attendees. Daniels is the chief of staff to 48th District Delegate Rip Sullivan, serving as political and policy advisor, legislative assistant, scheduler, manager for constituent services, and financial manager for the delegate’s political activities.

The opportunity to connect with and mentor students drew Daniels to the event, whose Patriot Pride was evident in his enthusiasm. He encouraged students to not worry about having their lives completely mapped out post-graduation. For students interested in a career path similar to his own, Daniels advises maintaining relationships with fellow alumni and faculty, getting involved in local politics or taking on an internship on Capitol Hill or the General Assembly.

Other Arlington leaders participating in the event included Dulce Carrillo, supervisor of public engagement, Arlington Public Schools; Liz Nohra, senior director, strategic partnerships, PathForward; Anh Phan, outreach representative for Senator Mark Warner’s office; Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz; and Julius “JD” Spain Sr., community and civil rights leader, president, NAACP Arlington Branch.

Several students won a one-on-one networking lunch with Arlington leaders thanks to a drawing held at Movers and Shakers.

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graduate student life

Graduate Education

How to Read Like a Graduate Student

Nikita Thadani — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 19:06:20 +0000

How to Read Like a Graduate Student Nikita Thadani Tue, 01/25/2022 - 14:06

by Katrina Dunlap

If you are in graduate school — whether part-time or full-time — chances are you are inundated with multiple reading assignments. From reading dissertations to textbooks, these assignments can be time-wasted without a having a strategic approach to pull something useful out of it. While there are lots of acronym-driven reading techniques, like “SQ3R” or “Survey-Question-Read-Recite-Review,” which aim to help you build a framework to understand your reading assignment, I personally believe that these techniques take too much time to understand and are cumbersome. Below, I’ve outlined some helpful tips for you to consider with respect to your graduate-level reading assignments.

Skim it! The longer the readings are, the more likely the paragraphs in those readings are going to be “filler” which include background and tangential details. Often you don’t really need to read these paragraphs in depth to get the information you need for your classes. So by skimming each paragraph very quickly, you then get a feel for the reading and figure out which paragraphs hold the most pertinent information.

Read backwards. Knowing how the story will end will help your comprehension of what you are reading. If you want to figure out what a certain chapter is all about, you can first go to the back of the text and review the summary, vocabulary lists, chapter questions. Additionally, look for a “review” section if it is a standard textbook to get a feel for what the actual chapter wants you to learn. When you go through the chapter, you’ll be able to identify the vocabulary or a graphic that was referenced in the review section.

Think of questions. By coming up with questions while you read, you deepen your comprehension and understanding. When you are going through the chapter, if you are skimming and something comes up that you don’t really know about, then write it down as a question. Additionally, use headings and sub-headings in the chapter as potential questions. So if there’s a sub-heading that talks about a specific concept, re-word the sub-heading as a question, write it down, and when you go through the actual content of that section, answer the question for yourself.

Pay attention to text format. Take a glance at bold and italicized text because these are almost certainly going to appear on the exam or discussed during class. Pay attention to things that stand out, and write those down.

Highlight or take notes. Never read anything without a highlighter and pencil nearby. Note taking while reading is critical to comprehension and recollection. Using flags are helpful in marking up texts in a non-damaging way. Recording your notes in a central hub such as Evernote, Zotero, or Microsoft’s OneNote software, allows you to reinforce what you’ve read and catalog your notes for future use.

In conclusion, no matter which method or technique you use, you have to figure out what works best for you. If you find yourself struggling to complete your assignments, it may be time to re-evaluate your approach and try something new. Mason’s Learning Services offers additional resources to aid graduate students with reading strategies, including workshops, academic coaching, and online videos. Visit the Learning Services website for more information.

The proceeding blog has been edited and updated to showcase the most current information about Mason’s resources for graduate and professional students. Changes and edits were made by the editor. Edited on 10/13/2020 and 1/25/2022.

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graduate student life