The double-edged sword of being accepted to present a poster at a major conference: Exciting as all heck because it’s a big deal. Scary as all heck because the imposter syndrome is real and also because it means I have to get on an airplane.

Wow, some of those comments were definitely something. I mean that’s one way to get your feelings out. I thought the one comment said “I love roadwork” and I would have been tempted to come up there and be like “I guess you like I-24 then?”

Nope. The grad students in the lab are TOTALLY not counting down the days until Fall Break starts. Not at all. 😉

No, I am totally NOT doing laps around the biology workroom on an office chair while I’m waiting for a ton of class worksheets to print. Not at all.

I swear Wednesday is the most stressful day of my week. This is when the “oh holy crap, did I finish all of the preparations for the new content unit that’s supposed to go live for the students” and “okay what did I forget to print for class tomorrow” panic sets in

Getting emails about early registration for spring semester starting soon hurts my brain. How?! Where did this semester go?

The newest addition to the “things in grad school that make me want to scream into the void” list:

Submitting an IRB for approval and now responding to comments. This is so anxiety-inducing and I am straight up NOT having a good time.

I think I’m starting to develop a style other than “hoodie and leggings” for some parts of grad school. Flannels or button downs for teaching and presenting are becoming a whole vibe for me.

Waiting for an IRB to get approved feels like the calm before the storm. I can already picture my advisor blowing up my Slack the very second we get the approval email. I shall enjoy the (relative) quiet while it lasts.

Teaching 170 students this semester is actually kind of fun. Especially since we jumped from Zoom last semester to in-person. And it’s still weird as heck seeing my name next to my advisor’s on the official course schedule.

The one part that will not be fun: grading 170 assignments every week 😵‍💫

Heyyyyy!!! Yeah I finally managed to get an invite code and decided to check it out. 😊

Week one of the semester is ALMOST over! First semester teaching in person since 2021, forgot how much fun it is!

Since it’s a new place AND a new academic year, I should probably introduce myself!

Hi, I’m Katie! I’m a 2nd year in the Math and Science Education PhD program at MTSU. My focus is on bio ed, I come from a cell bio background but my research here is in scicomm education and evolution education!

Nah, he’s got me beat both in the bank account and the ego department by a looooooong shot, I’m just a broke ass grad student who’s good at breaking R

Cool, something else for me to break! I mean YAY I MADE IT, hi, how are y’all doing over here?