the encouragement lounge: Feeling overwhelmed?

Monday, September 3, 2012

Feeling overwhelmed?

If you are feeling overwhelmed, you are not alone. Grad students feel overwhelmed at this time of year for all kinds of reasons.

Are you a new student? You may feel overwhelmed in first classes upon hearing how much work is expected. This is natural.

Are you a returning student? If so, you may have realized this summer, just how hard you have to work in school to keep up. Fall semester is here. Scary. This is natural.

Are you continuing work, having not even had a break over the summer? You may feel tired. This is natural.

A first step to dealing with these feelings is to know that they are natural. You have a significant amount of work ahead and many of you also have job or career, family, and other responsibilities -- this combination is demanding. In coming weeks, I will post strategies to deal with these feelings. For now, know that you are not alone and that these feelings make sense given all that you are facing. Also know that generations of grad and adult students before you have felt this way and they have succeeded. You can do this!

Harriet

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Working adult students, on my mind...

I hope this blog will be helpful to friends and others involved in a variety of endeavors. However, I created the blog with students in mind and continue to develop it with that specific group as my focus.

I believe that with the increase in evening, weekend, and low-residency programs, students are working more and more in isolation. If we were all full-time students on campus, we would have the informal support that comes with being able to go down the hall and talk with a colleague, etc. But instead, we are working late nights and weekends at home in front of the laptop.

With that in mind, I hope the encouragement lounge provides brief moments of respite and energizing connection. This does not at all replace valuable face-to-face contact. Many aspects of the academic journey can only be addressed via in-depth conversations with colleagues and teachers. And I would always rather sit down and talk with someone than to communicate online. Nonetheless, my aim is to give you one more channel for quick hits of support.