#GTOTD1

 
In light of my anger at the pedagogical doctoral practices, I decided to put my rants to better use. Here is my GRADUATE TIP OF THE DAY (GTOTD) #1:

Grad school is like pledging. The professors are hazing you into the elite club of intellectuals with tasks that feel irrelevant, useless, and simply dumb. They engage in teaching practices that were done to them, not (for the most part) pedagogically sound. Such as insisting on assigning 25 PAGE papers they most likely will not read in depth, engaging in discussions that hit, kill, dice, and beat the topic to death, and/or offering Yoda responses to direct and cogent inquiry. They sneak in their research (just to expose you) to their way at contributing to the collective pool of knowledge that you are drowning. If you want to survive graduate school, here are my tips:

1. Find a crew/clique/posse/study buddy....whatever. You cannot do it alone. You need one or two folks to share your struggle.
2. Learn the rules. Know that you cannot read all six books they assigned with the 23 articles for the semester in detail. (This is my reading list for one class.)
3. Find your place in your line. Learn where you fit and stay there. If you are interested in a topic - try to explore that topic from all angles. Use your Professor to add to what you learn, not the source of knowledge. They only know what they CHOOSE to study and research.
4. Finally, know that hell week does not last forever. There is a time for struggle and stress, but time to enjoy the process. I love learning so I take those painful lengthy reading sessions to take me back to a time when I would sit next to my Granny and read. I find solace in reading, so I count that as my "me time." 

To get into MPD (Master Phi Doctor) fraternity, you must go in ready to endure the foolishness, but the rewards are great (so, they say.) 

‪#‎futureDrB‬ ‪#‎GTOTD‬