Since the dawn of time, man has been in a struggle to survive. Our ancestors worked endlessly to obtain food, water and shelter in order to meet their most basic needs. As civilization developed, specialization allowed us to move higher on Maslow's triangle and develop beyond mere existence. For some of us, it feels as if we have been thrust once again into that primal survival existence. We have been displaced from our firm place in the upper reaches of Maslow-land and are now fighting for our very existence. Like any survival situation, however, if we keep our head and apply a few basic principles, we can survive and even enjoy graduate school!
As an old military pilot, I have had the pleasure of undergoing several different survival training courses. Although it is not important for a graduate student to know which plants and bugs are safe to eat (unless your financial aid gets drastically cut), it is worthwhile to understand the basic principles of surviving. In the army field manual that discusses survival (FM 21-76), there is a memory aid that helps you remember the principles of survival by tying them to the letters S-U-R-V-I-V-A-L. These principles are as apropos for the struggling graduate as they are for a downed pilot. These principles are:
Probably the first thing most of us do when thrust into an alien situation is try to take stock of where we are. We analyze our personal strengths and weaknesses to determine where to optimally focus our efforts. In graduate school, it is important to understand what the requirements are, the timelines that must be met and the general "lay of the land." As graduate school progresses it is important to keep a sense of where you are in your individual program.
The scenic panorama of requirements for a graduate degree can seem especially daunting when just starting out. The "fight-or-flight" reaction gets our adrenaline pumping and urges us on to immediate action. Unfortunately this is frequently the exact opposite of what we should be doing. While it is important to keep yourself moving through a graduate program at a brisk challenging pace, it must also be a realistic pace.
In the day-to-day challenges of graduate school, it is easy to forget the big picture. A successful graduate student is one who can keep focused on the long-term goal while still accomplishing the myriad of minutiae that is a graduate students daily existence. A real key to survival is avoiding excessive effort applied towards projects which do not contribute to your long-term research interests.
The road to a graduate degree can seem like an endless one. Research can seem like it is going nowhere and your progress can seem as swift as a stagnant pond. Panic can begin to set in followed quickly by excessive stress.