A Grad’s View

Have you ever brought a scholarly article to a bar? Do you love summer because it means you can get work done without being bothered by classes? Is your office better decorated than your apartment? Do you have a serious preference in the dry erase v. chalk debate? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you might be a graduate student.

Maybe you didn’t know there were graduate students at Wesleyan, or maybe you’ve seen them walking around campus. You can spot them by their lack of backpacks and generally rattled demeanor. This is a result of enduring years of uncertainty and self-doubt, coupled with a super-human caffeine intake. Too old to be undergraduates, but too young to be professors, they inhabit some middle grey area. You’re equally as likely to walk by a classroom and see them lecturing in the front as you are to see them taking notes in the back. Old enough to be wise, young enough to be hip, and crazy enough to sign up for graduate school, this is a group of die-hard students, enthusiastic teachers, and card-carrying members of the vibrant community that is Wesleyan.

Now you might ask yourself, “What makes them so great?”

The thirst for knowledge that drives someone to graduate school is tremendous. As a graduate student you’ve officially made a career out of being a student, and declared your commitment to a lifetime of learning. Of course this lifetime is really only about six years, or ten, or three, but that great uncertainly just makes it even more hardcore. Sure, some days are a drag, and you aren’t always on the edge of your seat, but ultimately you’re there because you want to be.

Sitting in class as a graduate student, you have distilled the learning process to its very essence. You’re never wondering if “this will be on the final,” because, most likely, there is no final. You are learning for the sake of learning, and this is a beautiful thing. You are genuinely interested in your discipline, enough to forsake the riches and fame that await beyond the University walls.

But our reach doesn’t stop there. As teachers we also bring a unique perspective into the classroom. Most of us are only a few years out of our undergraduate degrees, and we can remember like it was yesterday what failing an exam feels like. It feels like the end of the world.  It isn’t. We can assure you that life does go on, and further reassure you by providing a living counterexample.

While we proudly carry the banner of being graduate students and teachers, at the end of the day, we are also proud to play the role of member of the Wesleyan student body. It is such a privilege to be part of a community as dynamic and involved as Wesleyan. However, although we live side by side, the graduate students have struggled to find an identity in this neighborhood. That is why we’re writing this article. We want you to know who we are. This is a written invitation from the Graduate Student Association to get to know us, and come see what we’re up to. We think you’re great, and we hope you like us too.