Join Thriving in Graduate School to learn how to cultivate well-being in your personal, academic, and professional life through weekly newsletters and reflections. Sign up today to receive updates about our community gatherings throughout the fall, winter, and spring quarters. Graduate students and postdocs can join at any time.
By joining Thriving in Graduate School, you will:
- Receive weekly newsletters featuring campus resources and practical tips to help you integrate well-being practices into your daily life. Topics include financial wellness, navigating campus healthcare, sleep health, imposter syndrome and more.
- Get weekly reflection prompts that encourage you to pause and reflect on your experiences throughout graduate school.
- Stay connected through regular updates about upcoming community gatherings, designed to help you build connections and strengthen your support network.
Tips to help you thrive in graduate school:
- Mental Wellness: Deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system which controls your body's rest and relaxation response. When you’re feeling overwhelmed try the “4-4-4-4 box breathing technique.” Inhale through your nose, hold your breath, exhale through your mouth, and hold your breath for 4 seconds at each step.
- Building Community: Real connections take time. Keep reaching out, show up to events, and stay engaged with different student groups.
- Financial Wellness: A good budget brings peace of mind. One popular method is the 50-30-20 rule where you allocate 50% of your paycheck towards needs (rent, groceries, bills), 30% towards wants (fun stuff like dining out or hobbies), and 20% towards savings (emergency fund, debt repayment, future goals).
- Physical Wellness: Take a mid-day walk or plan for a run after work on one of the UC Davis Walking Loops located across campus.
- Food Access: Forgot your lunch at home or running low on groceries? Grab a free meal at the Aggie Eats Food Truck and pick up some groceries at the Graduate Student Pantry located at Walker Hall.
Reflections from fellow graduate students:
- “When facing challenging conversations or disagreements with my PI, I've learned that the best approach is to avoid replying immediately. Taking time to process the situation allows me to think more clearly and respond thoughtfully rather than reacting emotionally. If possible, I also try to seek advice from someone with more experience, like another PhD student or a professor I trust. I usually try to consult with someone outside my lab to avoid bias and gain an objective perspective. Their insights often help me see the situation from different angles and prepare a more constructive response.”
- “It has been challenging for me to learn to accept the (unfortunate) reality of NIH funding and the attack on DEI. Both of those things are incredibly important to me, and it is very difficult to feel like your identity and life are not valued by some. But I am learning to have faith in myself and to allow the people around me to help give me strength so I can continue on.”
- “As I prepare to graduate, I do not think there was ever a time when I felt I did enough. However, I think after a while though I gave myself grace to spend time with loved ones and pursue hobbies. Even though I still felt the pressure of so much to do, I at least knew I was spending my time on things I cared about that I knew I would regret if I had not. So overall, the feeling of not doing enough may never go away, but you do find peace with your decisions to pursue your time the way you want to.”
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