Recent Long Beach State University graduate student Joseph Lopez and current grad student Isabel Plascencia describe the balance of being a grad student while also trying to manage their work.
Lopez graduated from UC Berkeley in 2018 with a degree in legal studies and soon found himself working as an academic affairs coach at a non-profit after-school program for a year before returning to school.
“I wanted to see the next step of my educational journey,” said Lopez in a phone interview. “I knew my ultimate goal was to get a Ph.D. Not just because I wanted to improve my job outlook, but I also wanted to improve my research skills.”
Lopez, who just received his Master of Arts in Education, was working at the Dream Success Center during his tenure as a Long Beach State grad student, while also working a multitude of other small jobs.
While attending grad school and working, Joseph found it hard to maintain a steady balance.
“It was difficult at times because I knew at the end of the day, I want to succeed at school, but you know there’s other things that come first in your life that are important as well,” said Lopez.
Being able to de-stress from his priorities proved a hard task, as Lopez said even finding time for himself was difficult in itself.
As a current graduate student, Isabel Plascencia finds herself in a similar situation.
Plascencia, who got her child and adolescent development degree at Cal State Fullerton, returned to grad school to help her career as a preschool teacher.
“I thought, for me, it was the best move to pursue my master’s. I think it’s a way to invest in my kids at the same time, in heightening the quality of their own education,” said the preschool teacher in a Zoom meeting.
Plascencia said that there would also be days in which she would forget to eat her lunch as she had a busy workload. And that she had to set herself notes to remind herself to eat, and get rid of some of the stress.
Both grad students were soon able to get traction in finding a balance. Lopez and Plascencia were able to create their own format to help them get through the day without much stress.
“Eventually, I found that balance, I found that routine throughout the week. I understand when I have free time and when I can use it accordingly,” said Lopez.
For Plascencia, she needed a bit more like writing down small notes, using a planner, and a calendar, with the help of others.
“Something that has helped me kind of succeed is having a mentor in both settings. I have a handful of people I can just go to at work and at school,” said Plascencia. “Talking to someone related to what I am being stressed out about helps.”
“Access to resources like CAPS and even the community building events have helped me,” said Plascencia. “And that was something I would like to offer to other students. A lot of these resources are meant to help set us up to thrive.”