Hello from a Westminster grad!

Dr. Nichols invited me to drop by from time to time. I'm going to try for once a month. Tonight, my mind is busy but I will try not to ramble.

In three days, I will defend my Master's thesis and, so long as all goes well, I will have survived grad school! (Well, at least the first part of it ... there's still the PhD to go!) In the two-and-a-half years that I've been attending grad school, the following is a list of what I've found most helpful. Seriously, some of these were completely under the radar when I began.

Websites:

Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com -- Because when you have a ten page paper due in a week, who has time to leave the computer and find an entry in a book! I kid, but these two sites have proven particularly helpful to me while writing.

Online Stopwatch.com -- Grad School is full of presentations! Each one has to be timed and this website is 'da bomb!' (That's actually punny because one of their timers is a bomb.) I also found this website helpful in breaking up my marathon writing sessions. When you spend hour after hour crafting a research paper, you need to force yourself to take fifteen minute breaks.

Web Comics and Browser games -- Go ahead and choose your own. Frivolous distractions are vital to top-notch history nerdiness. My personal favorites are the USA Network's character arcade and the Order of the Stick webcomic by Rich Burlew. Fellow grad students also love sporcle.

School Supplies:

One of the first programs I purchased when I began grad school was Microsoft's One Note. For those fighting the good fight against Micro$oft, I have friends who use Scrivener and think it is better than One Note. Both of these programs are wonderful for keeping all the notes you will take organized, making the writing process that much easier. And do remember to take notes, won't you? On EVERYTHING.

Also, may I suggest investing in a weighted bookmark. Who invented these?! They deserve a Nobel! No longer will you have to struggle to hold a book open while typing!

Additionally, friendship, lunch breaks, coffee, and a sense of humor seem to be 'musts' for surviving grad school. Swimming pools may be optional outside of the Mojave Desert, but reading a 300 page book in a week seemed less painful while floating in water.

Finally, if you are considering going on to grad school, be assured that Westminster's program will prepare you well for that endeavor.

Wish me luck!

SB

P.S. My thesis falls under the heading Childhood Legal History, for any who are curious.

cross-posted in part to other blogs