Five things I wish I had appreciated during my postgraduate programmes

I still remember my BA graduation day; I was 22 years old, too knowledgeable for my age, with an exceptional reputation in my professors’ community, an honours degree and an unconditional offer letter for my first Master’s from the University of Nottingham. And I looked like this:

Being young, naive, too confident and used to the Greek academic system, I fell into a few serious mistakes, during my MA studies. I tried to fix some of them during my second MA course, but now that I think about it from a distance, there was a lot of room for improvement. And the most important of all? One way or another, those mistakes cost me marks. Here I present you five of these mistakes, hoping that you avoid them.

1.   The fact that nothing goes (precisely) as planned

   

   Murphy’s Law chases me everywhere I go. But this was particularly true while I was an MA student. Learning how to plan is necessary, but chances are that your plans will often need to change, while your deadlines won’t. Do you need to know some factors of change of plans? Here we go: sudden illness, technical issues, problems at home, unavailable professors and many more. The solution: make sure that your plans are flexible, while ruthlessly keeping up with those deadlines.

2. The course handbook and other support facilities and material

   

   The most fatal mistake of all is to turn your back to the support material that is provided to you by your department. Some people worked very hard to put it together, for a very specific purpose: to help you earn your degree with a decent mark. Use this material to your advantage. I know it’s hard to read it thoroughly while attending the sessions of your induction week and settling in your new accommodation, but, trust me, there is no way around it if you want to save time, effort and marks. Did you know that each department in the UK expects essays to be submitted in a specific format and with a specific reference system? I didn’t and, oh my God, it still hurts!

3. The regular meetings with my professors

   

   Another unfair thing that I did to myself is not meeting my professors regularly. A postgraduate student is an independent student, but seeking clarifications and assistance from your teaching staff is rewarding. A meeting is always useful before starting an assignment because you will get the opportunity to find out this particular professor’s expectations and their opinion on your suggested approach. One classmate of mine, indeed, told me that he recorded all the meetings that he had with professors about assignments. Personally, I eventually began to keep notes, which is effective -and legal- too.

4. Regular exercising

   

   With the deadlines chasing me in a rhythm I was not used to, I tended to forget about exercising and fitness in general. Thank God, the weight I put on during the first semester of the first MA programme led me to a subscription to the university gym and the experience I had with wellness during that led me to a subscription to the equestrian society of the university on my second MA course. But these efforts were not enough, as it’s shown by the 30 kgs I put on due to anxiety and stress.

   Regular exercise provides our brains with increased amounts of oxygen -thus making it work faster and more efficiently-  and clears out the clutter from our minds -hence helping us think more clearly about our essay questions. Oh, did I mention that it keeps us in shape too -hence saving us clothing money? Also, you can beat the isolation effect of your MA study by exercising with a friend.
   It doesn’t matter what type of exercise you choose.

   There are so many different activities to choose from. If you are not a “feel-the-burn” type, a simple walk around the campus works great too. 

5. Mental health
   

   

Postgraduate courses are very demanding, due to increased workload and high expectations. Add my professional life and my personal problems and you have an emotional bomb.

If you have many balls to catch including your MA, life can become overwhelming and you might end up with depression without even realising it; suddenly, you can’t bother going to the library, you can’t wake up early enough, you don’t want to read your e-mails, you have panic attacks. Help is available in most universities. The sooner you seek it, the less time it’ll take you to win your mental health back, hence the higher your chances to graduate with a good mark.

So, that’s all for now. I hope this helps. Maybe you’d like to share your own regrets in the comments section?