By Heather Wilson, SAA 2020
In a world where doing more is rewarded and taking time foryourself can be seen as weak or lazy, the practice of self-care is foreign tomany graduate students. The say-yes-to-everything mentality many of us had inundergrad can lead to burnout. Burnout is a state of emotional,physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive stress. Speaking fromexperience, symptoms of burnout include feeling like you can’t or don’t want tofinish assignments, attend class, or work at your graduate assistantship. Youmight even question if completing your graduate program is worth it. Whileevery student experiences burnout in different ways, it’s often a result ofneglecting to take care of yourself, or in other words, practicingself-care.
My battle with burnout happened mid first semester duringmy first year in the Student Affairs Administration program (SAA) at MichiganState (MSU). With the combination of SAA’s rigorous curriculum and my new roleas the Graduate Assistant for MSU Tours, it did not take long for me to feelburnt out. Most of my time was spent worrying if I was doing enough. Am Iparticipating in class enough? Am I doing enough in my graduate assistantship?Are my answers good enough? The constant thought of am I doing enough leftme feeling drained and unaccomplished. I started to question my love of servingstudents and my pursuit of a higher education.
Then, one day in November, I realized I needed to take better care of myself. Here I was, preaching self-care to my tour guides, while sitting on the struggle bus myself, not practicing what I was preaching. Once I started to prioritize self-care, I had a lot more motivation and energy to do this “little” thing called graduate school! Therefore, I encourage every student to practice self-care. Like burnout, self-care can look different for every individual.
If you would like some inspiration, here are a few ways Ipractice self-care:
- Sleep: Sleep is so important because this is when our bodies can refuel and our minds can rest. Research has proven that sleep deprivation leads to a large decrease in cognitive ability. Therefore, I’ve set a rule for myself to be in bed by 10:00 p.m. on weekday nights.
- Exercise: I have a membership at Crunch Fitness and try to work out at least three times a week. Having the $10 membership fee automatically deducted from my bank account each month gives me the motivation to go to the gym so I’m not just throwing away my hard-earned cash!
- Eat Healthy: Our brains need fuel, and while chips and candy are tasty, these snacks don’t necessarily give us the stamina and brain power we need to survive graduate school. To minimize my junk food intake, I meal prep every Sunday, so I do not have to worry about what I’m eating for dinner on a given weekday night. Currently, some of my favorite dishes include mapo tofu, chili, mulligatawny soup, and lentil soup.
- Make Time For Things You Love: Part of having a balanced lifestyle includes making time to do the things you love. For me, it’s painting. My first semester of grad school, I painted zero landscapes. My third semester, I painted six, which goes to show you can always make time for hobbies and passions outside of your grad program. Also, if you’re on a budget and need some craft supplies, Michael’s almost always has a 40% off one regular priced item coupon floating around. You just have to Google it!
- Ask for Help: While the competitive nature of graduate school at an R1institution is inevitable, remember that asking for help isn’t a bad thing. Myfirst semester, I struggled with asking my GA supervisor for help because I wasafraid I would look incompetent and unfit for my role. However, I quicklylearned asking for help shows you have self-awareness. The SAA program providesseveral levels of support through its cohort model, academic advisors, and gradassistant and internship supervisors.
- Say No: Spare time is practically nonexistent in graduate school.Therefore, it’s okay to be selfish sometimes. Your time is meaningful and howyou choose to spend it should be dependent on if those people and activitiescontribute to your happiness or growth and development. Beforecommitting to any invitation or opportunity, I’ve learned to ask myself, “Howwill this activity contribute to my goals?”
In the pursuit of knowledge and experience that will enable us to become the best student affairs practitioners that we can be, our own self-care may take a backseat. The do-everything mentality can lead to burnout, which can hinder the awesome opportunities and experiences graduate school has to offer. Let’s strive to make self-care a non-negotiable aspect during our journey through graduate school and beyond. Lastly, please remember that you are always worth taking care of.