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Faculty Connections: My Relationship With My Advisor

November 29, 2011 | By Laura Fernandes, Ph.D. Student, Biostatistics

"What is it like working for/with your advisor?" I am often asked this question when we compare notes among friends on our relationships with our advisors. My advisor amazes me with the amount of energy and creativity he brings to every meeting. I see him juggling between offices in multiple buildings, teaching classes in the department, attending several meetings with his collaborators and presenting at conferences and yet making time to meet up with me…

Faculty Connections: The Advisor-Advisee Relationship Is All About Give And Take

November 28, 2011 | By Leslie Rott, Ph.D. Student, Sociology

Doing my undergraduate education at the University of Michigan, and going to graduate school right out of undergrad, I already knew several faculty members who, while having interactions at the undergraduate level, were prominent members of the graduate school faculty. Therefore, the decision regarding who I wanted to work with was not very difficult. And as my graduate school career has progressed, this person is one of the only ones I can work with based…

Faculty Connections: More Than Just a Teacher

November 23, 2011 | By Kimberly Jongsma, Master’s Student, Urban Planning

Recently my husband got published in a textbook. A poetry textbook. Yes, I'm incredibly proud. We received a copy of it last week and it was a surreal moment to see his name in the index under Eliot and Ellison. He visited our college town, Holland, Michigan, when he received this copy and visited former professors. Hearing about his visit made me homesick for undergrad. My last semester at Hope College was my favorite. I…

Faculty Connections: Maintaining a Good Relationship with an Advisor

November 22, 2011 | By Marie Stango, Ph.D. Student, History

One of the most important people – if not the most important person – in my graduate school experience so far is my advisor. I’m very lucky to have a supportive, knowledgeable, and helpful advisor. Before I applied to U-M, I knew that I wanted to work with her. It was a bit difficult at first to get over the shock of meeting and working with someone whom I greatly admire. I had read all…

Faculty Connections: It’s Not Always Easy

November 21, 2011 | By Hong Tran, Ph.D. Student, Chemical Biology

I wanted to say something first, before you read the rest of my blog entry. To be honest, I really struggled with writing this month’s topic. My first year in graduate school was rough primarily because I struggled with faculty connections and was unable to find support for myself when things had gone awry. I do realize that the politics can be somewhat skewed in the sciences due to the stressful nature of the field,…

SROP: The Beginning of a Journey

November 18, 2011 | By Victoria Holden, First Year PIBS Student, 2010 SROP Participant

As I packed my luggage in preparation for the summer of 2010, I had very little idea what was in store for me as a participant of the Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP). Upon arriving, I learned the summer would be full of research, mentoring, and informational seminars aimed to help the SROP participants apply to, attend, and succeed in graduate school. What I wasn’t aware of was that the summer would also give me…

Faculty Connections: Insights into New Careers

November 18, 2011 | By Kathryn Prater Bomey, Master’s Student, School of Natural Resources and Environment

When just starting out in a new career field, most of us need a little nudge in the right direction. Whether embarking on a new journey fresh out of undergrad or navigating the uncertain waters of a career change following grad school, a little bit of guidance can go a long way. Today, I'm more than halfway through a career transition, shifting from the journalism industry to environmental conservation through my U-M graduate program. Making…

Faculty Connections: The Girl Scientist

November 17, 2011 | By Jax Sanders, Ph.D. Student, Physics

I hardly ever check my department mailbox. All of the information I need comes through e-mail, and although I pass through the mail enclave almost every day, I’m rarely motivated enough to find the stepstool and peer into my box, high up on the right side. Recently, I left my overshirt in my advisor’s office and wasn’t able to retrieve it the same day, so he put it in my mailbox. When I retrieved it,…

Faculty Connections: Advising for the Future

November 16, 2011 | By Rodney Caruthers II, Ph.D. Student, Near Eastern Studies

When navigating the vast ocean otherwise known as the graduate school experience, with its many waves and sometimes foggy conditions, one cannot underestimate the immense value it is to have a compass to guide the way. The ocean is matriculation through graduate school and reaching the shore is commencement and obtaining a career. The much needed compass, or I guess nowadays Global Positioning System (GPS), is your Graduate Advisor. No amount of hyperbole could express…

Faculty Connections: Mind Your (Academic) Parents!

November 15, 2011 | By Ebony Reddock, Ph.D. Student, Health Behavior and Health Education

For me, the relationship with my faculty advisors as a grad student has been like the relationship with one’s parents when one is young. They try to guide me in becoming an independent scholar, but I just want to hurry and get out of the academic house. Earlier in my training, I would respond by doing what I wanted to do. “Don’t do this study until you have the resources to do it,” they’d say.…

Faculty Connections: The Intimidators

November 11, 2011 | By Katherine Lelito, Ph.D. Student, Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology

I came to the U-M campus as perhaps the most intimidated graduate student to walk across the Diag. I had just finished a degree in the study of insects, and I was now going to work in a molecular biology department!? The professors that I was meeting with were from such a diverse set of complex fields that I knew nothing about! It was as if they were only speaking in gene acronyms and I…

Faculty Connections: Graduate Foot In Mouth Syndrome (or “GFIMS”)

November 9, 2011 | By Bessie McAdams, Ph.D. Student, English

There’s a brand of awkward grad student to which I thoroughly subscribe: the kind that manages to get their foot stuck in their mouth in every office hour they ever attend. Maybe I didn’t practice enough as an undergrad (I always assumed that one didn’t visit office hours without a particular concern. My experience with teaching has since shown me the error of my ways). Maybe I watched Dead Poets Society too often and have…

Faculty Connections: It Pays to Be Honest

November 7, 2011 | By Darshan Karwat, Ph.D. Student, Aerospace Engineering

I remember walking into my advisor’s office as an undergraduate, having been accepted to both Michigan and a school in Massachusetts, wondering how I would decide where to go to graduate school. I was incredibly naive. I did not know about my funding situation, yet had to have the faith that it would all work out. But by senior year of my undergraduate days, I knew what I wanted my doctoral work to look like,…

Faculty Connections: What You Pay For

November 4, 2011 | By John Moulopoulos, Master’s Student, Financial Engineering

Ask anyone that knows me well and they’ll tell you the truth about me: I’m the thriftiest person they ever met, even if they’ve met the likes of Jeremy Piven. I love a bargain, I hate overpaying and it took serious effort to make me a better tipper over the years. I’m glad I got that off my chest. Now, I’ll bet none of you reading this blog have ever wondered exactly where your dollars…

Faculty Connections: Learning from the Best

November 2, 2011 | By Maria Pickl, Master’s Student, School of Education

There is one aspect of graduate student life that really sets it apart from undergrad: the people. I am constantly boasting about the cohort of people I am learning with, as well as the amazing faculty I am learning from. They are some of the leaders (and ‘best,’ if you will) of their fields, and some of the most passionate people I have ever met. I only recently discovered a passion for philanthropy and development, which brought…

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