The exceedingly long gaps between updates can be attributed to the overwhelming power of my first semester back in grad school. Fortunately as of this past Friday I completed my first semester as a PhD student. Overall, I am happy with how the semester went. Nevertheless, there is always room for improvement. After twenty-fours hours of celebration and recovery, it seems appropriate to divulge some advice on how to make next semester less stressful and more productive. Thus the following three points are the main lessons and changes I intend to implement for classes next spring.
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Sorry for the lack of updates, but I am in the middle of adjusting to my new life in academia. With a number of books to read and papers to write, I have not found enough time to gather all my initial thoughts on becoming a PhD student. Nevertheless, I can stress that time management is far more important now than it has ever been. Even though I have barely begun my studies, the fear of comps has already begun to plague my mind. That leads me to another point, stress. Yes, stress is back and more vicious than ever. Fortunately, stress can be countered with good time management and support from friends and family. Hopefully this short post will keep some of you content.
Having relocated to Hattiesburg, MS from Virginia Beach, VA, I’m inching closer to starting my PhD. Let us hope that I can finish unpacking before I dive into reading and research. Since “Going to Southern Miss.” is the most popular post on this site, I figured it might be nice to start accepting questions perspective grad students may have on the grad school experience. Knowing full well that my advice was rather limited, I imagine there are many readers still wanting more information. Getting input from fellow students and friends was, based on my experience, priceless. That said, questions regarding finding the right department, or what to expect at a typical program, are welcome. As noted on Ross Mahoney’s blog, we will be comparing our grad experiences. Hopefully our postings will help future students prepare for either an American or British graduate history program. From asking questions and readings the comparisions, I hope a solid illustration of grad life emerges.
Back in March I was accepted into the history PhD program at the University of Southern Mississippi. Why I did not announce the acceptance back then is a hard question to answer. It is not because I was too busy, or that I thought it was not worth writing about. Sure, I was waiting to hear back from other universities, but that was not the sole factor. Rather, I was not sure what to say besides the fact that I got in to the program. For such an important moment in my life I wanted to be certain I could write a post that best expressed my thoughts on the entire application process, while offering some advice to those following in my academic foot steps.
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A most crucial lesson to learn before heading off to graduate school is the ability to read a book strategically. The higher level undergraduate history courses may have had a fair number of books to be read during the semester, but professors often choose to not instruct their students on how to read the books properly. Upon entering ones first graduate seminar, with a reading list of a dozen books, a student might start to question how they are ever going to finish each book while remembering any arguments. If one reads only the most critical portions of any book, then it is possible to complete even the most daunting of reading lists.
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Synopsis
The purpose of Thompson-Werk is to present the musings of a US War and Society doctoral student. Discussion topics principally center around the World Wars and Vietnam.
The opinions expressed on this site are not be confused with those of my colleagues, employers, friends, family, and/or anyone else associated with me.
Contact me with any comments, complaints, and/or questions.
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