GRADUATE SCHOOL SUCCESS

Five Suggestions by Prof. John Slater.

It is my pleasure to welcome new and returning students to another great year at Colorado. In my opinion, you form the nucleus of one of the strongest Spanish programs in the country. But, let’s face it: while there’s a lot to feel good about, graduate-student life can sometimes feel uncomfortably intense. Always preparing for something new—courses, papers, dissertation—means that it’s hard to gain the confidence that comes from doing things you’ve mastered. Maybe as a consequence students frequently ask me what they can be doing to make courses and exam prep easier (they obviously haven’t seen my transcripts). Here are five suggestions for success:

First: Good students arrive at classes and exams having already talked at length about readings with their friends. The long conversations about literature are the best part of graduate school. But it’s not just fun; it’s part of your initiation into a discursive culture.

Second: Read your professors’ publications. It’s not sucking up, it’s being savvy.

Third: Spend several hours in the library, at least once a week. You use a research library most effectively when you’re in it; it’s how they’re designed to be used.

Fourth: This is going to sound dumb, but buy the books for your courses. Many professors take it as a measure of your dedication (or indifference).

Fifth: Treat classes as an opportunity to demonstrate something to your professor, whether it’s your interest, your wit, your penetrating insight, your wide reading, whatever. As I said above, ours is a discursive culture and you establish your identity within it through your words.