As a New Student,
Make the Most of Your
Graduate Training
Start by Building
and Cultivating a Solid Foundation from Your First Day
by John T. Carlsen, Psy.D.
One of the smartest things you can do at the
beginning of graduate school is this: Make a serious commitment to
yourself that you will 1) never completely lose track of the
outside world of school no matter how many demands you face during your training
and 2) always focus on what you want rather than what others believe is
possible.
This might strike you as a rather odd
suggestion. You might wonder how you could ever lose track of the world
around you. But, within a few months after your first semester begins,
you will see how gradually this temptation can take over your life unless you
are paying attention.. This is especially true for people who enter
graduate school during the middle of their careers and look forward to
returning to the comparatively free role of student.
Right now, my main concern is not specifically
how much you stay on top of the political or social issues in
our culture (although that would be wonderful). Instead, I am focused on
how much you know about issues that affect our profession and your place in
it. The more you get - and stay - connected with professionals working
in the field, the less likely you will allow yourself to let go of your future
or focus entirely on the present and leave your future in the hands of
fate. By establishing this attitude early in your graduate
training, you will have the chance to continue building your competence on a
strong foundation and remain in charge of your professional training.
But, what makes this attitude so important?
From my perspective, one of the biggest
tragedies that happens during graduate school is that students start to lose
their idealism. Of course, you can expect to become more realistic about
your natural gifts and talents as what you can easily accomplish.
But, do not let yourself absorb what others believe about your potential or
what they tell you about which obstacles are insurmountable -whether these
others are professors, advisors, supervisors, or classmates. After
all, the most they can know is what others have done, not what you are
capable of doing. The more you are able to maintain a boundary between
your self-perceptions and their beliefs, the greater your potential for
protecting your gifts until you can start cultivating them.
1. Write down what you
think you want to get out of graduate school right now and why you are
choosing to pursue this professional training Do not wait until
closer to the end of graduate school before you start thinking about what you
want to do with your training. Be honest with yourself, even if your
primary reason is that you cannot get a job you want with your bachelor's
degree. You can be sure these dreams and reasons will evolve and change
during the coming years, as you gain experience and knowledge. But, you
must capture your own thoughts and fantasies at the beginning.
Otherwise, they might become buried under other peoples' ideas about you.
Clearly, if you do not record where you are starting, you will have no
way to gauge your progress toward your goals, of watching your
preferences become more definite, or learning what it takes to help your
dreams unfold.
2. Do not be afraid to go
against the flow by exploring the job market throughout your training. Avoid
giving into peer pressure. Instead, learn about the trends and the
political and economic realities facing our profession. Do not simply
hope that you will be able to develop a private practice when you finish.
Instead, learn about managed care and insurance coverage as well as self-pay
practices and the benefits/drawbacks of each. Make contact and establish
some relationships with professionals who are currently in private practice.
Ask them what they learned that helped them the most in their professional
work and what they wish they had learned earlier. Find out why various
professionals choose to work with particular populations and in different
settings, such as community mental health, university counseling centers,
hospital inpatient units and outpatient clinics. See which of these might
appeal to you and for what reasons.
3. Take advantage of the
student rates for workshops and seminars; even if you believe you cannot
afford to, find some extra loan money to make this investment early in your
training. It will pay dividends many times over in your professional
career and you can always pay it back over time. (Besides, what's a few
thousand dollars more toward your training when you have already committed to
such a substantial investment, especially when it might enhance your
earning ability later?) And, when possible, find some time to hang
around with and talk to your professors and supervisors when they are not
actively doing their work, such as after case conferences or during lunch.
Or, volunteer to help with additional projects that give you the chance to
work more closely with them. These less-structured times are
often where the most learning takes place for trainees because you have
the chance to ask bigger questions about the context in which your
work takes place.
4. Maintain a balance between your
role as a student and your emerging role as a new professional.
Contrary to what you might want think, graduate school is not simply a
continuation of, or a return to, your college/university days. Of
course, it is a time to enjoy putting on jeans and comfortable shoes and
spending some time hanging out in the student lounge. And, it is a time
for immersing yourself in interesting classes before going out for a
beer afterward to debate issues that came up with your classmates. It is
even a time to challenge the faculty or another student body to baseball or
football games. But- - unlike during your undergraduate years - - this
time, there is nothing to look forward to after graduation except going to
work (unless you take time away to start a family or you have a trust
fund or spouse who will support you). So, make sure you also focus
on developing your professional competence from the beginning.
Also, you might come across professors or supervisors who need to treat
you only as a student, but, that is their issue not yours (unless, of course,
you adopt only a student role). Let them view you however you must.
At the same time, while maintaining full respect for their position and
authority, you owe it to yourself to start cultivating your professional
identity. The more actively you engage in this process, the sooner you
will start to feel the results.
5. Never lose sight of your internal
compass. There are reasons - perhaps they are beyond your current
understanding - that you have chosen to invest so much energy, time and money
in this professional training. You could have chosen to enter the
workforce with your classmates or continue down the path of your previous
career, working toward advancement based on your accomplishments.
Instead, you have chosen to pursue a higher, more scholarly level of
understanding about the professional work you want to do. There is
probably a reason - even two or three reasons - that you are following this
path. Make sure you find out what they are and articulate them
clearly for yourself. Even post them on your mirror or next to your
computer so you can refer to them daily in the coming years.
6. Make a commitment to watch, over
the coming years, as your professional identity unfolds. This
promise will provide you with two substantial, and cumulative, benefits.
First, you will have much greater understanding of how this process works (and
more useful to your clients). Secondly, your awareness of your own process
of unfolding will help you make better choices as you select the
experiences that will influence the professional you become. In short,
you will be able to become a participant/observer in your own experience of
becoming a professional. I realized that I had this opportunity early in
graduate school and made the commitment myself. As I continue to watch
my own evolution, I am amazed at the richness this habit adds to
my professional life and work as my identity continues to unfold at ever
higher levels.
If you do all this now and start laying your
professional foundation, you will not be one of the people who needs the
suggestions covered in these other articles as you complete your training.
Because the ideas they advocate will have become integrated into your own
professional philosophy, you will be far ahead of most of your peers.
Can you think of a better payoff for all you
are about to invest?
John T. Carlsen, Psy.D. is
a licensed clinical psychologist who trains and supervises psychology interns
and externs. He offers personal coaching and training resources for graduate
students applying for internships and post-doctoral jobs. Click here
to learn more about how to write
effective applications and prepare for interviews. Click here
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