Going to Graduate School in my own University
Christina Testa UA’23 and Jim Stellar
Christina and I met while she was an undergraduate and I had the chance to write her a successful graduate admission letter (she got in) to UAlbany in the School of Public Health. Let me start by asking her to recount how we met and how we came to talk about this graduate ambition of hers.
Dr. Stellar and I met in the fall semester of 2022 during my senior year of my undergraduate career as a Biology major. I took his class Psychopharmacology, as an elective as I have taken psychology and neurobiology classes in the past and thoroughly enjoyed them. I found Dr. Stellar’s class to be engaging through the on-line class discussions and the ideas that were shared in in-person class. Throughout the semester we got to know each other by chatting in and outside of class about the class itself and my future ambitions. I knew for certain by the end of the semester that Dr. Stellar was someone I wanted as not only a reference, but as a mentor for the process of getting into graduate school.
Talk a little bit about the work we did together to get you ready to apply.
Sure. Dr. Stellar provided me with tips and suggestions for my personal statement I was required to write while applying. With his help, I was able to apply to grad school with a successful personal essay. After my acceptance into the UAlbany School of Public Health, I emailed Dr.Stellar to thank him and inform him of the accomplishment. From there, we had a meeting to discuss graduate school in general and my plans for my career. Then we discussed the possibility of us writing this blog together.
What do you hope to accomplish in writing this blog together?
First, I feel the topic of this blog “Going to Graduate School in my own University” is highly relevant to me because I am currently entering into this academic change which will be a lifestyle transition. As stated in a very interesting paper by Melanie Greene, a transition can be defined as an event or non-event that alters one’s roles, relationships, routines, and assumptions. During this time in my life, I have and will be experiencing transition more frequently than I have the last four years as an undergrad. This transition period has and will be a stepping stone into a career and really into adulthood, independence, and many more future possibilities yet to come.
This is a very good way to put it and I recommend all of our readers look at that Greene paper that you found. Below is a figure I took from that paper. Can you talk about it and relate it to your pending experience going to your own university for graduate school?
The figure above was taken from part of Figure 1 from the Greene paper. The thick solid arrows represent direct effect, the thin solid arrows represent indirect effect, and the dotted arrows represent possible effects.
There is a lot more to the article in the paper, so I am going to just pick a few themes. The figure breaks up the grad school experience into two separate categories, going to graduate school and graduate student experiences. As for going into graduate school, undergraduate experience and academic performance is a major contributor to the attendance of graduate school. Studies have shown that more undergraduate student involvement shows impacts on later educational decisions compared to having little undergraduate academic and social involvement in college (Greene, 2013). This could arguably be one of the most important aspects to meet when entering graduate school, in my opinion. Personally, I would agree that student involvement will shape your (and my) experiences regarding graduate school.
As for me, specifically, I often reached out to my professors with academic questions regarding classes and career advice when I was unsure of what to do after graduation. I think if I had not asked for guidance or asked questions to my advisors and professors it would have been harder for me to make career goals and decisions. Career values is another section on that side of the figure that I think is important to address when it comes to deciding on graduate school. Having a good idea about where you see yourself in a career and what fields of study interest you are important to determine if graduate school is or is not an option for you. Understanding your career values would help an undergraduate student make this decision and would help one come to a decision whether or not going to graduate school is necessary or important to them based on their personal career goals and values.
When I discovered my interest in epidemiology, I knew I wanted to go to graduate school to study this field. For me, a career value of mine was to go further in my education once I found a passion/interest that allowed me to have the motivation to continue my academic studies. This leads us to the other side of the figure now. The graduate student experience has goal commitments that are indirectly linked to academic integration. Based on the figure, academic integration is needed to reach goal commitments. Although I am not yet in graduate school, this model seems very logical to succeed in the graduate world. Being well integrated academically means one is accustomed to the rigor and high expectations of being a student, which would then lead to meeting goal commitments. Being well integrated into one’s academics also means the student is actively engaged and involved in their coursework, classes, academic clubs and activities. This figure above is stating that being integrated into academics is a key indirect link to achieving goal commitments. I would agree with the figure because I myself was always academically conscientious as an undergrad. I know that being conscientious with my coursework, schedule, and activities helped me do very well in my first four years so I will certainly use these skills as a graduate student to achieve my goals.
To end, tell us a little about you.
I am currently spending my summer at home in my small hometown Union Vale, NY where I am working my summer job as a swim instructor and lifeguard at my town pool. I recently visited Albany to move my furniture into my house I am renting while I am in graduate school. I plan on moving to Albany once again in mid-august. I decided to live with my two best friends who have been living there previously and whom I have lived with my freshman year at UAlbany. I have never lived off campus from where I go to school, so this fall will be the first time I am commuting to classes. This is one of the big changes I will have to make in order to attend grad school everyday. This is also the first time I will be attending classes on the Health Sciences campus in Rensselaer. In the beginning, I will have to make sure I commute to classes on time because I’ve never been there before. This coming fall is also the first time I will be living away from my twin sister Julia, who I lived with the last two years as an undergrad as we both attended UAlbany. She will be attending grad school at Springfield college instead. I think this adjustment will be the biggest one as this fall will be the first time we won’t be living in the same town/city.
I never was one to be used to big changes, but since going away to college four years ago, I believe I have improved in this area quite a bit. I am expecting that come this fall I will need to get used to all these new changes since graduating from undergrad as well as get used to the changes that graduate classes will bring.
Thanks. I think this says it all at both a professional and personal level.
