Beginning Graduate School feels like the start of an epic journey, and one that can quickly become overwhelming. Between keeping up with courses, networking, research projects, assistantships, teaching, and the many other tasks that fill our schedules, it’s easy for time to fly by unnoticed, leaving you wondering “just how did everything happen so fast?” and “did I do enough?”
But it’s hard enough to complete a degree and get started in your career without having to worry about these questions. So this article is dedicated to sharing resources that will be helpful in developing your career goals and ensuring you have the tools to achieve them.
Career and Academic:
https://www.baylor.edu/graduate/doc.php/340416.pdf
Created by Graduate Pathways for Success, this is a handy, multi-year roadmap, which can assist you in planning out the most helpful timeline for your professional development, while also containing links that will allow you to learn more about these development opportunities.
https://www.baylor.edu/graduate/index.php?id=959316
The Graduate Writing Center (GWC) is a resource for all Baylor graduate student writers (online and on-campus) who desire to improve their writing skills. Consultants (advanced-level Doctoral students) can help with writing projects at all stages of the composition process, whether students are working on academic papers, reports, personal statements and applications, papers intended for publication, theses and dissertations, or grant proposals. The GWC also has a blog (linked here: https://blogs.baylor.edu/gwc/), which contains freely-accessible articles about writing practices, book reviews, and video tutorials).
https://library.web.baylor.edu/
As a graduate student, you’ll want to use everything the library has to offer, from library specialists in your field who can assist in your research, to Inter Library Loan services, to their many databases. The library is also where you’ll find the Graduate Research Center: a place with individual and group study locations just for graduate students.
https://www.baylor.edu/graduate/index.php?id=962171
Here you’ll find the lineup of workshops that Graduate Pathways to Success has to offer – events developed for your professional development, as well as both academic and non-academic flourishing. Some workshops have been recorded and are permanently posted here, and many of the resources used alongside our events are posted here as well.
General Resources:
This link will take you to the Orientation page for new grad students. Here, you can find information on navigating administrative tasks, international student resources, virtual resources, professional development, the Graduate Student Association (GSA), and fun adventures in Waco! This webpage also houses the video this article is based off of: “Beginning with the End in Mind.”
https://www.baylor.edu/graduate/
The Graduate School page: where you can find information on everything from campus resources, to funding, to areas of study.
And finally, keep an eye on this blog. There are already many incredible resources through the interviews and articles that have been published here in the past. And as a platform both by and for graduate students, we will be posting a new article filled with helpful information every other week throughout the academic year.
Now, don’t worry about trying to take advantage of all these great opportunities at once. Pace yourself, move at the speed that works best for you, and most importantly, don’t forget to take some time in the near future to pause and celebrate the beginning of a new year in grad school.