*and thrive while doing it
Grad school (law school, med school, business school all included!) will push you. It will demand more time, more energy, and more of your sense of self than you ever thought possible. But you are not here to be undone by it. You are here to do the work, learn the things, and still be a whole human at the end of it.
Here’s how you do that:
- Remember why you’re here. When the workload crushes you, remind yourself: You chose this. It matters. Write down your reason and stick it where you’ll see it.
- Stop chasing perfection. Perfection is a mirage. Good enough is good enough. Learn when to stop tweaking and hit submit.
- Create routines that keep you healthy. Sleep. Move your body. Eat food with nutrients in it. Call your people. These are not luxuries; they are survival.
- Set boundaries like a pro. Say no to extra obligations that don’t serve you. Protect your time like it’s your last granola bar on a 10-mile hike.
- Find your people. Grad school is brutal alone. Find the ones who get it. Commiserate, celebrate, and remind each other to drink water.
- Let some things be messy. Your apartment. Your inbox. Your brain. You cannot organize your way out of the hard parts. Accept a little chaos.
- Ask for help. From professors, from friends, from therapists. You are not weak for needing support. You are wise for seeking it. Resources that center the needs of graduate and professional students are available.
- Don’t let grad school be your whole life. Yes, it’s demanding. But you are more than this degree. Keep a hobby, a relationship, a part of yourself untouched by academia.
It’s going to be hard. But you? You are harder to break than you think. Keep going.