If you are doing a PhD you are generally older than most of the undergraduate students, and thus you tend to feel somehow old (pardon, mature), especially when you happen to walk in a corridor crowded with excited Freshmans. However, the more you proceed in your degree, the more you realize that your position is… Read More The first time a graduate student… teaches
Just over two years ago, I went to the Montréal SPCA with the goal of adopting a black cat (because black cats are adorable). As I walked around the cat room, a tiny dark tortie with huge eyes softly meowed at me from inside her cage. When the SPCA volunteer opened the cage to let… Read More 7 Reasons why getting a cat in grad school was a great idea
Graduate school is a unique and amazing experience. Where else do you have the intellectual freedom to choose what you learn, the independence to make your own work schedule, the “requirement” to live and play in the wilderness for months (maybe a bit unique to my situation), and the joy of being surrounded by passionate,… Read More Tips on How to Survive Grad School from a Fourth Ph.D. Student
I remember two years ago, I was on the verge of finishing reading my list of 200 books for my comprehensive exams. I then had to prepare for three written exams and one oral exam. At the beginning of the process, I thought that taking the exams would frighten me. But no. The evening before… Read More I found comprehensive exams… easy
Being an international student, I feel shamefully ignorant when it comes to the Indigenous peoples who live in Canada. When I moved here, I did not even know that their struggles are not just history, but a complex, unsolved problem that is still present nowadays. Also, I had no idea that the Canada 150 celebrations for… Read More The Indigenous Awareness Week
In high school, I was a pretty good student. I participated in extracurricular activities, and volunteered, while keeping my grades up, and doing my homework on time, or well in advance. When my classmates would ask me if they could copy my answers off of assignments, naturally I would refuse. I put time and effort… Read More I don’t give answers away for free
As Laura and Sophie wrote about (and as you are certainly aware), it’s the beginning of a new academic year! I like to try, at least, to prepare myslef for the term. I want to be able to manage research, my TAship, extracurricular activities and have family time. Here are my few tips for that: I always… Read More Some tips to start a new academic year
Well maybe panic is a bit strong, but you gotta love alliteration. In any case, it’s that time again when my boss pops by almost daily to ask me where we are on my current paper. In many ways it’s a good thing, meaning that this one part of my research is almost ready to… Read More Paper Prep Panic
“This will be the last year I TA” I’ve been saying this for the last two or three years. Yet every year I fill in the application to be a teaching assistant (TA) for the departmental undergrad laboratory course and submit it right on the deadline. And then I’m back. Why does that happen? Once… Read More This will be the last year I TA
By Alex Enescu, M.Sc. Candidate in psychiatry research | Psychiatry Department | Faculty of Medicine |McGill University. Part I here. In the modern world, food has become a source of anxiety, identity, distrust and confusion. In our endless crusade for longevity, optimum health, better sleep, reduced levels of anxiety, improved cognitive performance, weight loss, self-fashioning, and… Read More Why Is Nutrition So Confusing? — Part II: Changing Eating Habits During The Twentieth Century
The graduate student experience at McGill
The graduate student experience at McGill
The graduate student experience at McGill
a blog about the PhD student experience, University of Warwick
Uncovering the secrets, magic and taboos around succeeding in a Research Higher Degree
