A brief update on the homemade fermented soda: It's in our fridge. It's been there for a month. We're both too scared to drink it. It was a nice idea, at least.
I was thinking this morning about all the subtle and not-subtle and not-quite-so-subtle-though-perhaps-they-should-be ways in which my behavior has evolved since I began graduate school about a year and three months ago. It's been a tremendous shift, and for the most part, I am grateful for it.
The practical
-If an experiment can feasibly be done today, at least consider doing it.
-But don't feel obligated to stay late if you came in at a reasonable hour in the morning. Nothing good happens when the building locks up and everyone else has left the lab.
-This also tends to hold true for experiments that start on a Friday or Saturday.
-Analyze data soon after your experiment is done, and put it into your lab notebook without delay. Details tend to escape you much more quickly than you'd think.
-Make a table of contents for your lab notebook as you go. This will save you hours of frustration at the end of your PhD, or so I am told.
-Medical school taught us how to study and work quickly. Do everything in your power to hold onto this skill. It will always serve you well, and will often give you an edge on other grads.
-You can give a 15-minute talk about anything.
The psychological
-Not everyone will like you. This sucks, and is a big change from medical school. In medical school, I found that a combination of quietness, good grooming, willingness to take on a lot of work, and excellent study skills were usually sufficient to keep you in everyone's good graces. I was stunned at first by the internal politics and interplay of egos that makes up a lab, a department, a committee. You will step on someone's toes. You will likely not even realize it when it happens. There's not much you can do about it. Apologize if necessary, but be ready to shrug it off.
-A well-planned, deliberate, highly public, and explosive tantrum can be a tremendously effective tool. Use it sparingly. (Admittedly, my dad taught me this. I haven't yet tested it out on my own...yet.)
-For the love of all things holy, do not let your P.I. see you cry.
-There are very few mistakes that can't be unmade. Do your best to work precisely, quickly own up to any mistakes or accidents, but don't let failed experiments or screw-ups stress you out.
The broader view
-There are those who will try to make you feel guilty for taking care of yourself. They may do it unconsciously (the "I stayed here until 9 PM finishing this experiment" humblebrag). They may do it blatantly, questioning your priorities or offering too-pointed advice. If it is a superior, smile and thank them. If it is a peer, smile and shrug. But ignore them. You don't have to stay super-late. You don't have to work every weekend. You can have hobbies, you can volunteer, you can go to shows and cook dinner and throw parties and do everything that you loved before you started graduate school. And you should. Graduate school is a big part of your life, but allowing it to define your life is an exercise in misery.
-Relatedly, you have permission to ignore any statement that begins with "A good grad student/researcher/scientist always ____." The definition of a good ____ varies immensely from person to person. My first year, I was severely scolded for not asking other labs for reagents, and was told that A Good Graduate Student was not shy about going to other labs and asking to borrow things. This would have been a big surprise to my former lab at the NIH, where reagent-borrowing was severely frowned upon and A Good Graduate Student never imposed herself on another research group, you do your thing and I'll do mine, even if it means waiting for two weeks for this one reagent to come in, etc. Find out what your lab expects and do it, but don't feel obligated to take it as gospel.
-It will be all right. I promise. No matter what happens. Even if you switch labs or don't finish your PhD or decide you hate science. It really will be all right.
