Giving Thanks to Grad Students

Many SPSPotlight articles focus on the process and difficulties of graduate school, while other articles introduce graduate students to the software that makes our lives easier. However, very rarely do we mention the understated and amazing contributions that graduate students make to the field and to their advisors. 

 

For November, we want to shine a light on the little things that graduate students do that their advisors and mentors might notice (and are thankful for) but not mention.

 

• “[When students are] dedicated— they care deeply about science, and devote the time needed to do good work and take it to completion— and curious— they ask good questions, make connections, and challenge me.”
• “[When students] Show respect for the work and make progress on study design and execution between meetings.”
• “[When students have] passion for answering a research question and a strong drive to learn new things and willingness to seek out the knowledge.”
• “I really appreciate the fresh perspectives and novel insights that graduate students bring to our research endeavors. When coupled with their enthusiastic engagement with challenging questions and data, the discovery process becomes productive and exciting.”

• “I appreciate when graduate students take initiative - come up with a research question and test it and then share with me what they found and whether it’s worth moving forward into publication. Or take initiative to help take care of a general item in the lab that needs attention. I also appreciate when graduate students communicate frequently with me and early on - about their progress, about taking time off/traveling.”
• “I appreciate the way my graduate students spend time guiding and teaching undergraduates working in our lab, helping prepare them for their next training or career stage in ways I cannot.”
• “I appreciate my students always teaching me new things. I know I am their adviser, but they help keep me on my toes and they surprise me every day! They also are a huge help working with our research assistants and excite them in different ways than I do as a professor, which makes our research team whole.”
• “I appreciate that my students do not give up when confronted with obstacles. The research process is inherently full of them and I think students who are relentless about overcoming challenges end up doing very well for themselves. I also appreciate their passion for the topic that we study. I think passion gives us the energy to keep going when graduate school is otherwise an exhausting process.”

• “The best graduate students I have worked with have known what they wanted, pursued their goals with vigor and grace, and ended up teaching and inspiring me more than the other way around.”
•  “I am very grateful for all the ways in which I learn from my graduate students - they often contribute amazing ideas and teach me new skills.  Some of my favorite experiences have come from when graduate students challenge me to question the way I've been doing things or thinking about things for years.”

Thank you to the advisors and mentors who shared with us their appreciation. 

 

Thank you to all the graduate students out there working their butts off to deepen our knowledge of psychology.