Grad Diaries I: The First Look

 

Happy Wednesday! I want to officially start a new project/series here on the blog today! Towards the end of the summer, I had the idea to write about my journey through grad school. I struggled with whether or not I should do it, and decided that I should go with it. So here we are!

 

In these posts, I want to discuss my experiences as a grad student in periodic updates. My program and courses, my extracurriculars, my thoughts, and my fears. When I became interested in grad school, and later while applying, I did not really see anything about what it was like for grad students. Especially those pursuing a degree in my area. I will note that now that I am a grad student I have found a few forums and networks where people discuss their degrees, which is nice. Reading about challenges, frustrations, and overall relatable things other grad students face is nice. 

For my first post, I thought I would start by giving an overview and where I am at right now. So during my program, I am studying Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology. This means that instead of taking general public health coursework, my courses will mainly focus on components of epidemiology including population health research and public health fundamentals.

MY DEGREE SO FAR:

During my first semester:

• Principles and Methods of Epidemiology
• Intro to Biostatistics
• Intro to Environmental Health
• Health Systems and Policy

In the summer I took:

• Migration in the European Context (Study Abroad*)
• Social and Behavior Health Sciences 

This semester I am taking four classes again:

• Intermediate Epidemiology
• Biostatistical Computing
• Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases*
• Pharmacoepidemiology and Theory Risk Management*

*elective course

Most of the courses I have taken are either core requirements that all students take regardless of their concentration, or required courses specific to my concentration. Even my electives are specific to my concentration, except for the study abroad course. Honestly, it still feels like I just started my program. And while I am technically considered a second-semester student in my program, writing this has made me realize just how far I have come in a short period of time. The other day I was completing an assignment and realized that my understanding of that module came from an accumulation of what I had learned in other classes. It was a nice feeling to see concepts that once confused me come together cohesively.

The courses that I think impacted me the most thus far were Environmental Health and Migration in the Global Context. One of the main reasons I think this is because I wasn’t really expecting this from those two classes. In my environmental class, I learned so much about the world around us and the myriad of ways our health can be impacted by every area of our environment. Your environment is not just the nature you may pass on your walk to work, but also your bedroom, house, mode of transportation, and so much more. I did expect the Migration course to expand my perspective of the world, but I truly wasn’t prepared for what it would be like to see and hear what I did while I was there. It is certainly safe to say that I am very happy with what I have gained from my courses so far. 

In addition to my courses, I have to complete a research component for my program that includes practical experience and a capstone paper. This was one of the major reasons I was inclined to choose this program, as research is something I am very interested in pursuing, and I wanted to be able to get the skills and experience I needed to do so. I recently met with both my advisor and the research coordinator to discuss fulfilling my research component. I had been speaking with my advisor about it since the end of my first semester, and luckily I have a few ideas I can work with based on my areas of interest. The biggest hurdle to tackle right now is finding a site for my practical experience, and that is a bit unnerving since I can’t move on to my capstone until I do. Hopefully, I will be able to find a site very soon. 🤞🏾

And that’s all from me for now. 

Until next time,

Tatyana x