Navigating Grad Life

“Live life, breathe air. I know somehow we're gonna get there. And feel so wonderful.” – iCarly

Life as a graduate student does not consist of your typical undergraduate routine. In fact, it’s quite different. For starters, you can say goodbye to your traditional one-hour daytime classes and say hello to three-hour night classes after a typical nine-to-five workday. Over time, you learn to manage, and it becomes light work, but the adjustment between the two is tough at first.

Why I Chose Graduate School at FAU

I didn’t originally see myself in graduate school, but my professors and FAU planted the seed when they mentioned scholarships and the Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) program. Having the opportunity to teach while earning a degree tuition-free made the decision simple. What I didn’t expect was how much I would fall in love with teaching public speaking. Now, I can actually see myself continuing to teach and conduct research as part of my career.

The Transition from Undergrad to Grad School

If I’m being honest, the transition was rough. As an undergrad, I could skim readings or sometimes skip them entirely and still get by, especially in those larger classes. Grad school, though, demands a different level of discipline. Now, I read 4–8 texts a week and write papers that can’t be put together overnight, but have to be built over an entire semester. Even with a 3.4 GPA across two majors, a minor, and a certificate, the workload here still surprised me.

The Most Rewarding (and Most Challenging) Parts

The best part of grad school? Getting to write about topics I actually enjoy. So far, I’ve written on Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show, the film They Cloned Tyrone, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025).

The hardest part? Backing up those ideas with enough research to fill 15–20-page papers. The writing process is no joke, but it’s shaping me into a stronger scholar.

FAU Resources That Help

FAU offers more resources than I realized at first. I’ve found study spaces all around campus;  the library, the Student Union, and the Business and Professional Women’s Scholarship House, where I live. There’s even a grad student lounge tucked away in the library, which is perfect for long study sessions.

Other resources that I’d recommend to students are the Writing Center and Speaking Center, both of which are great for sharpening the exact skills grad students need. On top of that, I’ve leaned heavily on my thesis chair, who has been an incredible source of guidance.

Staying Involved

Even though I scaled back from holding leadership roles in undergrad, I’ve stayed connected through organizations. My first year, I joined the Black Alumni Network as secretary, served as a GPSA College Ambassador, and continued as an Arts and Letters Ambassador. Now, I still do those, and I’ve added Homecoming Chair to the mix. Being plugged into the FAU community keeps me balanced and connected.

A Day in My Life

My weekdays are packed. I usually wake up around 7 a.m., pray, refresh my Bible app, and try to start the day off without immediately diving into social media. On teaching days (SPC 2608), I like to vlog, especially if I’ve got new ambassador giveaways or branded items to unbox.

From there, my day flows between teaching, work as a Marketing Assistant, classes, and organizational commitments. The evenings are often filled with long classes (sometimes running until 9:30 p.m.) or meetings. It’s busy, but it’s a rhythm I’ve grown into.

Weekends are my reset: I hang out with friends, relax, do laundry, catch up on reading, and prep my bookbag for the week. I also make sure to update my daily to-do lists; those keep me sane.

Navigating grad life isn’t all so different; once you get into a routine, it becomes easier to steer.