10 Things I wish I knew about Grad School - Part II

Hi everyone!
Today I'm bringing you part 2 to my "10 things I wish I knew about Grad School," or, rather, 10 things I wish people told me sooner, as I learned this on my own during my journey, and its more advice I'd like to give newer grad students! You can read the Part I guide HERE.

1. Networking is an ongoing thing throughout grad school - I managed to network and make many connections through grad school via all of my involvement in various organizations and outreach. It's never too late to get involved, and its a good way to make organic connections. I know a lot of people who enter their final or second to final year of grad school and make a note to start "networking." A lot of times people try to meet so and so who works at X company, and it just comes off as needy - people can tell when all you want to do when talking to them is have them refer you to a job. If you have done this, its no biggie, but just my opinion that its always more organic and less awkward if you build relationships over time, and THEN ask for a referral favor. Example: join student government club, meet older grad student who is graduating and going to X company for job. Worked closely with student who is leaving and became acquaintances, and when its time to apply for jobs, its a lot easier to message and ask for a referral!

10 Things I wish I knew before going to Grad School

Hi loves,

Well, the thesis defense has come and gone! I will recap the experience in another post coming soon! I did live stream it, although I never got around to announcing it on here, but if you follow me on social media, you should have seen the announcement! It was saved to my Facebook page, so you can replay and take a look! I refuse to watch it again...hahah!
These last couple of days post defense have been a lot of reflection and stressing out about the things I have to finish up before moving on to the next stage, which includes finishing some experiments with whatever time I have left at UCLA and moving two times.
I'm also showcasing an outfit I put together as a conference or social look - with a blouse and a skirt my aunt sent me from Cyprus! I decided to pair orange with a black, patterned top, but I would also just go with a solid black top!

I wanted to share some tips with you, 10 things I wish I knew before going to Grad School, as I feel like I have a lot of wisdom I can share, and help people with things I had to learn the hard way! I wrote a similar post on ways to take care of yourself in grad school, which you can also check out for some tips!

1. You are among the best of the best. 
Something I struggled with was not being the smartest in the room, and putting myself down for it. In order to even get to graduate school, you had to go thru an interview process, and were hand selected to join a few others in a cohort class for whatever department you are joining. You are among the best of the best. And it's ok to not be THE best. It's impossible. At times I felt stupid for not understanding topics as fast as my classmates, and just know that its ok. Everyone learns things differently and at different rates, with different methods. When I did study groups, others would catch the material fast and I would still not understand it. I studied better on my own.

The Elegant Dress from SheIn - and ways to take care of yourself during Grad School

Hello lovely people!

Today I am bringing you an outfit post and also some tips on ways to take care of yourself, especially during times of high stress as in grad school or a stressful job!

I received this really pretty Contrast Fit and Flare Mesh and Lace elegant dress from SheIn and I just love love love the lace detail! It is such an elegant dress, that can be worn to a formal event, formal dinner, or an awards ceremony! It was also very affordable on my grad student budget, can you believe this dress is less than $30 on SheIn ? Totally my jam! I really enjoyed styling it, and kept my accessory details simple to keep the focus on the dress! I also put my hair up in a messy bun, which I never usually wear my hair up, so it was a nice change! I paired the outfit with simple black heels and some dangling pearl earrings, as well as simple glam makeup and some red lipstick! 

I enjoy dressing up to go to lab (well, not in this dress obviously!) but it is so nice to get glam every once in a while - helps me feel like a human being :) 

Keep reading for my tips on staying sane during really stressful times in grad school....

Life with Anxiety

Hi everyone,

Today I feel the need to just vent and express my story. I'm being very vulnerable but I think this needs to come out, and I hope it helps even one person realize they aren't alone in whatever they are going through. 

read on if you dare...

Episode 3 - Survival Guide to Grad School - 6 Tips on Surviving First Year!

Happy Weekend!

Today I'm bringing you the third episode in my "Survival Guide to Grad School" Series - this time I'm talking about 6 Tips to get through First Year!

First year was tough for me - from moving across the country away from my family and friends, to finally getting serious about research while taking classes and TAing... it can become a lot! So take some of my tips if you are in a grad program (or thinking about it), and save your sanity by learning from my mistakes!

Are there any other tips you have from when you went through grad school that you wish someone told you sooner?

Do you have any ideas for topics I should discuss next or any ideas for what you want to see next?
I'm really trying to produce more YouTube videos, so do let me know and if you fancy, subscribe to my channel to be updated when a new video posts! I will be doing some makeup looks next also :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

xo

Andrea

Episode 2: How to deal with Finances and Giveaway Winner

Happy Tuesday!

Today I bring you Episode 2 of my new Youtube Series, PhD Fashionista's Survival Guide to Grad School, and I'm talking about dealing with finances. I've struggled living in LA on a grad student stipend, but I've made it work! Check out the video for some tips, and let me know if you have any comments or additional tips for how you made it work!

And Finally I selected a Flowerbomb Perfume Giveaway winner randomly from the entries - Congrats to Sarah Klein! I have sent you an email!!

Thanks to everyone who entered, stay tuned for another giveaway soon!

Have a great rest of your week and I will be back with an outfit post on Friday!

xoxo

Andrea

Episode 1: How to deal with Stress and Anxiety, PhD Fashionista's Survival Guide to Grad School

Hey guys!

Hope everyone is having a good week so far! The quarter started on Monday and I'm a Teaching Assistant on top of doing research, so it will be a very busy quarter!
I'm preparing a bunch of conference fashion posts to be posting for the conference I'm attending this weekend/next week, and I will be trying to blog every day of the conference, so be on the lookout for those posts!

But first, I want to post my first episode for my Youtube Series: Phd Fashionista's Survival Guide to Grad School: How to deal with Stress and Anxiety.

It is really putting myself out there and talking about something personal I've dealt with, but I find it rarely talked about and so hush-hush, so I am restarting the conversation. Hope this can help even just one person, it will all be worth it!<3 br="">



Don't forget to subscribe to my channel to get email updates for new episodes!

I would love to hear your comments about this topic, what you think about the videos, and any other topics you would like to hear discussed!

Have a wonderful rest of your week!

xoxo

Andrea

PS. Winner of the Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb perfume giveaway will be announced as soon as I can check thru all of the entries!

PhD Fashionista's Survival Guide to Grad School

Hey Loves!
Sorry it's been some time since my last outfit post, I do have outfits I need to post about, but I've just been swamped lately with school work and not having enough time to do anything!
I have a bunch of projects I am working on - I am heading to a conference in San Diego that I am preparing some Conference Fashion posts, and I will hopefully be blogging fashion during the conference also. I am also working on some fitness posts, that will be up soon also!

BUT! I am finally proud to announce that I kicked my butt into gear and FINALLY got around to starting this youtube series I have wanted to start since Summer, a Survival Guide to Grad School. I will be talking about various issues graduate students encounter, and this is the first intro video in the series - but I will be posting a video a week! These aren't issues just exclusive to grad students but also to life, so if you have anything you want me to talk about, do leave a comment!  Would love to hear some feedback also!






I would love it if you would SUBSCRIBE to my Channel!

Also, I am always active on Instagram right now, mainly because I am always on the go - so definitely check out my posts there if you want some more fashion inspiration (I have recently been posting my daily outfits that I don't get a chance to photograph for the blog!
Follow me on Instagram @phd_fashionista

And lastly, my giveaway is still running, so do check it out and enter to win the Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb full size perfume! It will be running until THIS FRIDAY - so go and enter!!

Enter the giveaway here


Hope you have a wonderful week ahead, and I will be posting again this week!

xoxo

Andrea