Tips for Life as a Grad Student

Hi everybody, my name is Deepti Tagare. I'm a second year PhD student in Learning Design and Technology at Purdue and I'm also the graduate Global Ambassador for India at Purdue. I'm originally from Pune in Maharashtra and I came here in 2019 and I've been here ever since. Today, I'm going to give you some tips on how to survive graduate life at Purdue.

First, don't be afraid to ask for help. Help will always be available to graduate students if you ask for it. And then, the second takeaway is it's very important to socialize and network. So, don't be afraid to interact with people who you don't know and take the initiative.

The most important thing to remember as a graduate student is it's important to have fun. It's very easy to get caught up with work as a graduate student because you are really very busy all the time. And still, taking the time out for yourself is important and there are several opportunities here at Purdue where you can have fun. For example, I had a lot of fun celebrating Diwali with friends here. I celebrated Halloween and carved my first jack-o-lantern. And then, I had a lot of fun with the snow here because I had never seen so much snow in my life before and I made a huge snowman. I think it's important that you go out and have fun and rejuvenate yourself, unwind, and revive yourself from all the stress and come back to your work fresh as before.

Having said that, I think with all the tips that you've heard before, you'll be fine as a graduate student. There are a lot of other friends that you will find here that will support you through your process and will be there with you throughout. So, have fun and hope to see you here soon.