Every grad student faces the pains and struggles that only we can understand. Sure, our lives may look beautiful to professionals in the real world or undergraduates; but what the outside world does not know is that is there is college, and then there is grad school. College is fun. Grad school is hard. Read the list below to get a laugh, relate, and realize that others know what you’re going through in the daily life of a graduate student.

1.    Your life is summed up in one word: research.

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2.    You are still trying to perfect the impossible balance between research, school, and studying.

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3.    Trying to remember what you ate today…or was that yesterday?

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4.    You consider caffeine to be your favorite food group. The only down side is the twitching and involuntary body movements you now experience regularly.

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5.  You are so exhausted that you don’t even have the energy to try to sleep.

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6.    You avoid your dissertation advisor like a debt collector since you still haven’t finished the task at hand.

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7.    You feel like a fake and wonder when the other members of academia will catch on.

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8.    Speaking to people outside of grad school becomes difficult because you now use words that are not applicable to daily life.

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9.    Trying to figure out what a dissertation actually is while you’re trying to work on one.

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10.           Realizing your research is valuable and the process was worthwhile; even after repeated critique, rejection, and denial by countless scholars, publications, and departments.

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Remember, when going to graduate school, be prepared for a different experience from your undergraduate years. When you enroll in a graduate degree program, it’s best to be and stay motivated by professional and academic goals. Read about other things PhDStudent advises to consider when deciding to go to graduate school here, here, and here.