Graduate Studies held a masked, socially-distanced matriculation Aug. 18, welcoming 138 incoming students, the first class to begin its training in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic.
Dele Davies, MD, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of graduate studies, commenced the event with a moment of silence to honor the lives lost to the pandemic. He removed his mask at the podium but spoke with a face shield as a safety measure.
“While at UNMC you will find many natural advocates and allies,” he told the new students.
Adam Case, PhD, assistant professor of cellular and integrative physiology and director of the Physiological Environment Research Facility at UNMC, gave the keynote. He’d previously been honored with the Graduate Student Association’s 2020 Distinguished Graduate Student Mentor Award at spring virtual commencement/convocation.
Dr. Case titled his presentation, “10 things I wish someone told me about grad school”:
- Choose your mentor wisely. Unlike parents, we get to choose mentors.
- Choose an environment in which you will thrive, and feel at home. Because grad school will be your second home for the next few years.
- Decide what you want to be when you grow up. Those who know what they want to do with their graduate degree can tailor their training accordingly.
- Learn how to learn on your own. Grad school is an exercise in independence.
- Learn how to network. Talk to anyone and everyone — you never know who could influence the next stage in your life.
- Stop comparing yourself to others. Realize what success means to you, and strive for that benchmark.
- If you are comfortable, you are doing it wrong. Would you go to the gym and not break a sweat?
- Self-reflect to improve on your weaknesses. Reflect upon your weak spots, not your strengths – what’s missing?
- Grow a thick skin, and quick. Take any and all feedback and process it as information, not a personal attack.
- There is more to life than a degree! Never sacrifice your family, friends, passions, health, or especially who you are as a person.
Sheritta Strong, MD, director of inclusion, urged incoming students to find a support network. And Pranita Atri, president of the Graduate Student Association also gave a welcome:
“Education won’t just happen in the classroom,” she said. “It will happen wherever you are willing to learn.”