my first semester of grad school- from my bedroom

February 27th, 2020: I was in my senior biochem lab when I got an email stating “your admission decision is now available on the admission portal”. I couldn’t concentrate for the rest of lab and the walk home was a blur. As soon as I got to my apartment, I logged in and viewed my decision. With tears in my eyes I ran into my best friend’s bedroom and said “I’m going to grad school”. I immediately accepted the admission offer then called my parents to tell them I was moving to NYC to get my PhD in Biochemistry

Two weeks later, Mercer University was temporarily switching classes to online until April 3rd.

April 3rd came, numbers were up and graduation was cancelled.

In July, I received an email that my university board had voted to have all classes online but my research rotations would be in person but in a reduced capacity.

August 28th, 2020 was a day I had been working towards for so long. It was my first day of grad school. Out of all the anxieties I faced about this day (not getting in, not getting funding, etc) a pandemic never crossed my mind. But despite the fact that I was wearing pajama pants, 10 days in to a 14 day quaratine, in my apartment, and taking my class through a computer, I was here and it was happening. Yes I would have prefered to have been in person, but the distance did not minimze all that had gone in to get me into this classroom- even if it was virtual.

Am I saying that distance learning was on the same level as being in person? NO. The community, my class mates, open discussions, studying in the library, the beautiful building my classes are in, and a deeper connection with my professors are all things that I missed out on during my first year of graduate level learning.

But I was still learning. I was still on the path to get my doctorate. I was still a scientist.

While there were many disappointments within my first semester, there were also SO many things I unexpectedly gained. I gained a group of fellow graduates students who went to a different college that I probably would have missed out on had I not been doing distance learning. Both my rotations were amazing and during both of these rotations I gained mentors who went above and beyond to step up for their students because of everything going on. I gained discipline and strengthened my independent learning skills. I learned to advocated for myself and conquered my fear of sending a follow up email when someone doesn’t respond to me. And I learned that no matter what happens, I’ll be okay because I could not imagine doing anything else with my life than being a scientist.

And in the end, with my passion and perseverance, I successfully completed my first semester of graduate school- despite it being online.