Hi Sarah, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I find your experience so relatable to my graduate school experience, specially since I started working on my research after completing the course requirements. I think it has been possible because there is not really any way to get an F or an A in research; I stopped being less conscious about it! I agree that even though the experience causes a lot of stress over the course of time, research is more like following a “trial-error-further improvement” approach, keep at it and eventually developing a “thick-skin” like you did! Thanks,

Hi Yinlin, Thanks for your insights! It is exactly like a mathematical optimization problem where we are trying to maximize our well-being with respect to the number and extent of failure given the constraints that we have (such as paying for schools, utilities/ bills, having a family to provide for, having kids to raise, aging, savings and so on).

Thank you for your comments Arash! I agree with you that as an educator, it is our responsibility to ensure an welcoming and safe environment for our students as well as help them to grow and learn from their mistakes/ failures. When I become a professor (someday!), that is the strategy I am going to utilize for my students (micro-level) even if I cannot necessarily do the same for everyone else outside my class (at a macro-level). Having said that, I am hopeful that the micro-level contribution of dedicated #gedivt peers can definitely lead a pathway towards macro-level improvement.

On this note, I would like to mention one of my very favorite quote by Margaret Mead : “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. “

Hey Helen , thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I completely agree with what you have said. As graduate students, we have experience of being on both sides, as learners and as educators, the responsibility of finding an (multiple if needed) optimal and innovative pedagogical approach lies on us. Thanks.