With the spring semester coming to a close, students are anxiously awaiting the beauty of summer. There is nothing like summer break as a college student. Going home to visit family, exciting vacations, beaches, beautiful weather, and relaxation are activities students look forward to after a long academic year. However, doctoral students have different expectations compared to undergraduate students. Graduate students are expected to work on research, dive into literature, or continue working their
assistantships over the summer, therefore leaving little to no room for a summer break. It is important to have a solid strategy in place to make the most of the upcoming academic year, while getting some rest and relaxation to recharge and produce excellent work. There are many ways that doctoral students can spend their time during the summer. Here are some of my suggestions that promote strategy and rest:
Visit your hometown
The academic year can be extremely busy for doctoral students and can sometimes prohibit the amount of time spent with family and friends. The summer is a great time to go home for an extended time and catch up with loved ones. This is also a great time for people who live long distances to travel back home.
Go on vacation
Vacationing and exploring new destinations are a great way to recharge for the upcoming academic year. Planning a trip—whether local, domestic, or international—is a great way to gain new experiences and insights on the world.
Catch up on rest
Sleeping and resting are essential to producing great work and navigating higher education contexts. With schedules becoming less chaotic, the summer is perfect time to sleep in a little later, take naps throughout the day, go for walks, and enjoy nature. Most importantly, summer gives doctoral students approximately three months to rejuvenate.
Get an internship
Do you have work experience in your field of study? If not, then an internship would be a great option to gain hands-on experience in your field and boost your curriculum vitae (CV). There are many companies and associations that are looking for graduate students to be interns over the summer, and many internships are paid opportunities. Be sure to check email listservs and contact your department to find out more information on how to secure an internship!
Read literature in your field
Doctoral students are encouraged to read during their free time, but sometimes that is not always reasonable when there are so many demands to juggle. Reading for coursework is not always sufficient when research projects are underway, and summer provides time for doctoral students to familiarize themselves with relevant literature in their field. It would be useful to start a reading list during the academic year that you want to tackle for summer and then begin to explore this list. You can also organize your readings in Zotero or Evernote to keep things organized and complete annotations!
Work on publications
Ahh, the dreaded p-word that determines academic value and career success—publications. It is not always reasonable to push out publications during the academic year due to time constraints and jam-packed schedules. Starting consistent writing habits over summer will ensure success during the upcoming academic year. Doctoral students will have more time to focus on their writing and potentially get publications. This is a great time to finish that paper you have been pushing off during the academic
year or work on Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for your next research project.
Take courses
If you are still in the coursework phase of your doctoral degree, then enrolling in summer classes could be beneficial towards your degree progress. Summer courses tend to be shorter in length and remote, which allows for more flexibility and freedom over your schedule. This is also a great time to take methods courses that are more difficult.
Explore your college town
Try out new restaurants, visit parks and recreation, and attend summer festivals! College towns have so much to offer over the summer, especially Bloomington. Check out Visit Bloomington to learn more about summer activities.
Apply for research grants, scholarships, fellowships, and other funding
Most institutional departments get confirmation of their funding sources over the summer, and this is the perfect time for submitting applications! Work on securing funding so your research projects are prepared for the upcoming academic year. Also, if there is funding available during the Fall, you can use the summer months to work on your applications and ensure that they are competitive.
Work on professional development
Update your CV, attend workshops, work on your presentation skills, attend a conference, craft an academic website, make educational videos, get a side hustle, make goals, start lesson plans for classes, etc.! You finally have the time to do things that you have been meaning to do during the academic year.
Summer is a time that students anticipate due to the beautiful weather and break from the academic semester, but doctoral students can leverage the summer to improve their career trajectory and catch up on rest and relaxation. Summer is a wonderful time to invest in yourself and do things that you truly enjoy! These are just some suggestions for how doctoral students can spend their summer. If you want to travel the world and vacation all summer, go for it! If you prefer to catch up on work and focus on research, then that is perfectly fine! Do what works best for you and your capacity.
If you want to discuss more ideas on how to spend your summer or get ahead on preparing your classroom, please book a consultation with us!
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