Morgan Gross is a current #bsuenglish graduate student pursuing a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition. Below, you can view a video starring Morgan and detailing “A Day in the Life of a Grad Student.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4sXqNEWUk4&w=560&h=315]

Originally from Texas, Morgan has taken the opportunity in her new home to make many long lasting friendships, including current grad student Kelsie Walker and #bsuenglish alum Elisabeth Buck. She provides advice for students considering graduate study below.

Grad school is HARD. I’m going to say it again, for emphasis. Grad school is REALLY HARD. My work keeps me busy, for sure, and my life isn’t all just fun and friends. In the video, you can see me walking around campus, teaching ENG 213 Intro to Digital Literacies, and studying, studying, studying for my comprehensive exams, which I took in January 2017 and passed! You’ll often hear people talk about grad school as isolating. After you finish course work, that’s kind of true. I read something like 125 books/articles just to prepare for my exams. Now I’m working on the dissertation, which boils down to engaging in an extensive research project and then writing, essentially, a book. That’s a lot of quiet time, a lot of introspection that I’m engaged in for the final two years (let’s hope) of my degree. Of course, it’s work that I (almost always) enjoy, feel excited about, and find meaningful.

I guess I’m promoting an idea in this blog post that likely won’t be new to you. The idea is that we strive for balance in all that we do, and the grad school experience is no exception. I work hard at school and my assistantship—often long hours, in chairs that hurt my body, and occasionally with doubts about the payoff. But I also enjoy my life, and friends are such an important part of that. As often as possible, I try to find ways in which I can bring business and pleasure together. From working quietly at a café next to each other, to attending and presenting at conferences, to co-authoring a book chapter for publication, I’ve been able to merge my friendships with my academic interests and pursuits. For some, you might prefer to keep the two separate from each other, but for me, having shared interests with my grad school besties invigorates and motivates my scholarly/professional life.

Here’s my shout out moment: Elisabeth and Kelsie, you two have commiserated with me during the difficult moments, you’ve offered distractions when I really needed them (and, let’s be honest, sometimes when I didn’t), and you’ve started with me what I know will continue on as lifelong friendships. My hope for any potential grad students reading this is that you’ll find new friends in your grad program who will do these same things for you. My advice to potential grad students is that you build your own luck by putting yourself out there and taking chances. Ball State offers plenty of opportunities to get involved and meet people—via the Grad School, the English department, the Writing Program community, and so on. You might be surprised at how well it turns out.