Dear Graduate Students,
Welcome to Illinois, and welcome back to those of you returning for another year.
I have always loved the beginning of a new academic year. There is a particular energy on campus as people return, new students find their way around, and classrooms, labs, studios, and offices come back to life. For those of us who have spent much of our lives at universities, it is one of those moments that never really gets old.
This time of year also takes me back to my own experience as a graduate student. I began graduate school excited about what I would study and where it might lead, but I could not have anticipated how profoundly the experience would shape my life. Graduate school changed the way I thought, introduced me to people who became mentors, colleagues, and lifelong friends, and opened doors I did not even know existed when I began. It challenged me, sometimes in ways I expected and sometimes in ways I certainly did not. And it helped shape not only the work I would go on to do, but also the person I would become.
I suspect many of you will discover something similar.
You arrive at graduate school with plans, ambitions, and ideas about what the next few years will hold. Hold onto those ambitions, but leave some room for surprise. One of the remarkable things about graduate education is that the questions you ask, the people you meet, and the opportunities you encounter can take you in directions you never imagined when you started.
Of course, graduate school is not always easy. There will be exhilarating days when an experiment works, an idea finally comes together, a paper is accepted, or someone recognizes the value of what you have been working so hard to accomplish. There will also be days when nothing seems to work, when you question your direction, or when the finish line feels very far away. I remember both kinds of days.
That is one reason relationships matter so much in graduate school. Get to know people beyond your immediate work. Find mentors, and recognize that you may need different mentors for different parts of your life and career. Talk with your fellow graduate students. Ask questions. Offer help. Accept help. Some of the people you meet here may remain part of your professional and personal life long after you leave Illinois.
And remember that you do not have to figure everything out on your own. Your faculty, your program, the Graduate College, and colleagues across campus are here to help you navigate the opportunities and challenges ahead. We have resources for new graduate students and current graduate students, and I hope you will make use of them. Seeking advice and support is not something to save for when things go wrong. It is part of learning how to thrive in graduate school.
I would also encourage you to make room for a life beyond your work. Graduate education can be consuming, particularly when you care deeply about what you are doing. But the relationships, interests, activities, and experiences that keep you grounded matter. Your wellbeing matters. Some of my strongest memories from graduate school have little to do with what happened at my desk and a great deal to do with the people and experiences that surrounded the work.
For those of you beginning graduate school, I hope you will embrace both the possibilities you can see today and those you cannot yet imagine. For those returning, I hope this new year brings renewed energy, new ideas, and perhaps a few welcome surprises.
Years from now, I suspect many of you will look back on this period and realize just how much changed while you were here. I certainly do.
I am delighted that you are part of Illinois, and I look forward to seeing what you discover, create, contribute, and become.
Have a wonderful academic year.
Go Illini!
Wojtek Chodzko Zajko
Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate College