A Day in the Life of a Grad Student
Billie R. Tadros is a doctoral candidate in English and Creative Writing and is the Assistant Director of the Writing Center at the 杏吧专区. You can find more of her and her work at and on Twitter:
4:30 a.m.
My alarm sounds for the first time, the one entitled 杏吧专区淎 Rustling in the Trees.杏吧专区滻 hit 杏吧专区渟nooze.杏吧专区 My wife Brooke and I have been trying to get accustomed (again) to a 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. schedule, but, inevitably, we end up staying up later and, therefore, waking up later.
5:00 a.m.
5:20 a.m.
I sit down at my 杏吧专区渄esk杏吧专区 with my coffee so I can finish prepping for my 9:30 a.m. section of English 211: Thematic Approaches to Literature. (This 杏吧专区渄esk杏吧专区 used to be our dining table. But Brooke and I live in a studio apartment, so in the interest of maximizing space, we now eat dinner on TV tray tables, and we杏吧专区檝e converted the dining table into a desk space I can use when I杏吧专区檓 working from home.)
My course section is entitled 杏吧专区溞影勺ㄇ鴺Bodybuilding杏吧专区 and Trauma: (Re)Constructions of the Body in Literature,杏吧专区 and today we杏吧专区檙e continuing our discussion of Kathy Acker杏吧专区檚 essay 杏吧专区淏odies of Work杏吧专区 and beginning our discussion of Leslie Jamison杏吧专区檚 essay 杏吧专区淕rand Unified Theory of Female Pain.杏吧专区
Additionally, I杏吧专区檓 collecting index cards from my students on which they杏吧专区檝e written two truths and a lie about themselves. This is how we杏吧专区檙e all going to get to know one another杏吧专区攁nd learn about the assumptions we make about ourselves and others: every class meeting, I杏吧专区檓 going to randomly select one or two index cards and read aloud the three statements each student has written about himself or herself. At the end of class, the rest of the students will raise their hands to indicate which one of the three statements they believe is the lie, and then the author will reveal the truth (about which one is the lie).
As Thursday was our first class, I shared with them two truths and a lie about myself:
1. My father杏吧专区檚 family can be traced back to pharaohs in Egypt.
2. I have broken bones in both of my legs.
3. I have three Achilles tendons.
SPOILER ALERT: At the conclusion of this post, I will reveal the lie.
7:30 a.m.
I杏吧专区檝e planned my class, I杏吧专区檝e packed a lunch and a snack, and I杏吧专区檝e showered, and so now, since it杏吧专区檚 still early in the semester and I杏吧专区檓 still trying to impress my students (and myself), I杏吧专区檝e tried to dress like a professional.
I杏吧专区檓 wearing what I fondly refer to as my 杏吧专区渢eacher sweater杏吧专区 (and yes, I own two of them). I杏吧专区檝e got my backpack, and I杏吧专区檝e got my lunch bag on my shoulder, and I杏吧专区檝e also got a grocery bag filled with books and knickknacks to take to my office on campus.
(Note one pair of what I杏吧专区檓 calling my 杏吧专区渋nterview shoes.杏吧专区 I bought this pair of plaid oxfords and three other pairs of shoes on Amazon a few weeks ago, as I杏吧专区檓 currently on the job market. With regard to this particular pair of shoes, Brooke asked 杏吧专区淏ut how often are you really going to wear those?杏吧专区 I杏吧专区檒l show her.)
8:15 a.m.
(Not pictured): I park in Lot 17 at Johnston St. and Lewis St. and make it almost to the door of H.L. Griffin Hall before one of the handles of my paper bag breaks, and the whole thing hits the pavement. I see little pieces of porcelain shatter, and I mourn the loss of whichever of the three mugs I杏吧专区檓 transporting with my books has just broken.
I discover it杏吧专区檚 one of the mugs my sister-in-law gave me for Christmas. (It says 杏吧专区淗ELLO DARKNESS MY OLD FRIEND.杏吧专区) It杏吧专区檚 got a chip on the top, but it looks like it might be salvageable, so I wrap it back up in its paper towel bundle and carry the bag under my left arm to support its weight. (My bicep is bulging under the stress beneath my teacher sweater, and I feel awesome about this.)
I get to my office and unpack the contents of my paper bag, placing the books on what little shelf space remains. I then take my race bib from this weekend杏吧专区檚 Louisiana Quarter Marathon in Baton Rouge and affix it to my wall (my running shrine) with Scotch tape. (I had become an avid marathoner during my time as a grad student at UL Lafayette, but in 2014 and 2015 I had two knee surgeries that I thought had taken me out of the running杏吧专区攍iterally. I杏吧专区檝e just started to make my way back into distance running.)
My colleague, fellow graduate student, and office mate Hannah Ritorto and I have been working to perfect the lighting in this office, as you can see.
On Saturday I ran the Louisiana Quarter Marathon in Baton Rouge with my colleague and fellow graduate student Nolan Meditz, and I managed to place first in my division. My winning mug is now on the mug tree in my office.
9:30 a.m.
I plan to show up early to class so I can get the projector set up before 9:30. But I use the faculty restroom to refill the water compartment of the Keurig, and I spill its contents all over the floor and spend my prep minutes squatting and sopping up the liquid with paper towels.
I杏吧专区檓 too scattered to take photos of the awesome class that follows this catastrophe (otherwise, I杏吧专区檇 share them with you). Picture a whiteboard covered with marker scrawl (blue and red), which includes the following terms: connotation, denotation, feminism, epigraph, Descartes, mind-body split.
10:45 a.m.
As usual, I杏吧专区檓 so enthusiastic teaching that I杏吧专区檓 sweating, so I杏吧专区檓 grateful that my teacher sweater is hiding the pit stains. I return to my office and play around with the dissertation schedule I杏吧专区檓 trying to create for myself. I begin with an Excel spreadsheet that displays my teaching, office, and Writing Center hours, and then I begin writing tasks I should be completing daily/weekly on tabs to affix to the 杏吧专区渙pen杏吧专区 spaces in my schedule.
This isn杏吧专区檛 working as well as I had planned.
I move on to lunch, and my third (fourth?) cup of coffee in my Luke杏吧专区檚 Gilmore Girls mug. [This is also a gift from my sister-in law. What I expected would be the highlight of my day was an interaction with a student in the next class in room 321 as I was packing up my belongings following my class. He said, simply, 杏吧专区淚 like your mug,杏吧专区 and then, soon enough, as I was erasing the board, we were talking about our mixed feelings about the Gilmore Girls revival. What I think is still most vexing for me is that, as I杏吧专区檝e aged杏吧专区攎atured (?)杏吧专区擨杏吧专区檝e moved from desiring to be Rory Gilmore to desiring to be Lorelai Gilmore. (Perhaps I杏吧专区檝e always desired them both.)]
One thing I should do, and that I would recommend you (my fellow graduate students) do is consider making a Gantt Chart to organize/plan your research and writing goals.
Check out these resources:
Gantt Charts
Sample Gantt Chart:
How to make a Gantt chart using Microsoft Excel:
Other tips on Gantt charts, including how to make one manually:
12:00 p.m.
My Tuesday Writing Center shift begins at noon. This is the first day we杏吧专区檙e open, so we don杏吧专区檛 have any clients yet, but I check the schedule just to be sure.
We杏吧专区檝e got an awesome staff and team this semester; two of them, Andy Patrick and Alise LeBlanc are pictured here, and the photo credit goes to Sarah Moosa.
As the Assistant Director of the Writing Center, I also serve as the primary tutor for graduate students, especially graduate students writing theses and dissertations. What杏吧专区檚 not pictured is the work I did giving electronic feedback to a student in the Educational Leadership Ed.D. program at UL earlier today.
(If you杏吧专区檙e a graduate student, know that the Writing Center is here for you too! Email me at billie.tadros@louisiana.edu if you have questions about our services for graduate students or if you杏吧专区檇 like to work with a tutor to develop or polish your thesis or dissertation.)
2:30 p.m.
My shift finishes at 2 p.m., so I return to my office and begin searching job postings. (I杏吧专区檓 planning to graduate in May, and I aim to do this once a week, but I haven杏吧专区檛 checked postings in about two weeks.)
My friend and colleague Jessica Doble comes by to say hi and give me a pep talk. Jessica杏吧专区檚 focus is folklore, and she has experience with conducting interviews for research; interviews are a major part of the research for my dissertation project, so she talks me through how I might next approach my transcripts and coding them as I write my chapters.
4:30 p.m.
I don杏吧专区檛 feel like I杏吧专区檝e gotten enough work done杏吧专区攐n my dissertation in particular杏吧专区攂ut I head home so I can walk Dolly and head out for a run before the sun sets. (I杏吧专区檝e been working out far less frequently than I杏吧专区檇 like to because I杏吧专区檓 so overwhelmed with the job search and my dissertation, but I also recognize that I need this, and that it杏吧专区檚 part of who I am, and who I杏吧专区檓 privileged to be following three knee surgeries.) I杏吧专区檓 training for my first half marathon since my most recent surgery in September 2015 (I used to run marathons).
6:10 p.m.
I杏吧专区檝e gotten my six miles in, and I feel dramatically better than I did before them. I杏吧专区檓 not the praying kind, but if I were, I杏吧专区檇 pray that even if I杏吧专区檓 unemployed next year that I杏吧专区檒l still be able to run (which has been iffy, to say the least, for the last two and a half years).
6:30 p.m.
I stretch, and I call Brooke to check in with her. (She杏吧专区檚 in New Orleans for work for one more night.) I start cooking my dinner: polenta and a Kirkland Signature frozen turkey burger from Costco, to be paired with the braised cabbage Brooke and I made the other night. (I feel fancy about this.)
By necessity I杏吧专区檓 gluten-, garlic-, and onion-free (and also have to eliminate other common allergens), so Brooke and I have to cook at home a lot. As our schedules have both become more and more unmanageable recently, we杏吧专区檝e downgraded (upgraded?) to occasionally using disposable serving ware. (I should also mention that we don杏吧专区檛 have a dishwasher. My dreams for our future, in which I have a job, include rooms杏吧专区攑lural杏吧专区攁nd a dishwasher.)
Dolly starts howling at me, so I decide to take her out for her night walk before I eat.
7:30 p.m.
Dolly and I get back from our walk. I serve her dinner, and I reheat my food.
Dolly has a tendency to act out杏吧专区攊n general, but especially when either Brooke or I are out of the house. She howls at me because she wants treats to comfort her. (I empathize杏吧专区攄eeply. But we杏吧专区檙e supposed to be watching her weight.)
8:00 p.m.
The day is not over (is it ever?!), but I杏吧专区檓 getting into pajamas. I杏吧专区檝e got my sweatpants on and my American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Overnight Walk Shirt on. And I杏吧专区檝e got wine. (Two significant notes: 1. I杏吧专区檓 going to have to take this shirt off when I go to sleep because I杏吧专区檒l sweat straight through it if I don杏吧专区檛. 2. I will admit that the wine in my glass is Kirkland Signature Pinot Grigio. (You may have noticed that the turkey burgers I cooked were also from Costco. If Baz Luhrmann could give 杏吧专区渙nly one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.杏吧专区 If I could give grad students only one tip for survival, Costco would be it.)
My two truths and a lie? The lie is that I've broken bones in both of my legs. (I杏吧专区檝e actually never broken a bone).