Except for Julian Wang who completed his master’s in the department of Media Studies and Production, the new cohort of Media and Communication doctoral students—Victoria Adjetey, Ruchi Dinh, Alicia Liu, Gabi Pfeiffer, Julian Wang and Geoge Ran Zhao—have been at Klein for just over a month. They reflected on their experience during a chat with Director Bruce Hardy and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies Fabienne Darling-Wolf. 

While their overall impressions of the program were overwhelmingly positive, the new cohort agreed that the transition from master’s to doctoral student was a challenge, even under the best circumstances. “I’m still transitioning from the master’s to the PhD stage” Adjetey said. “For the first time I’m getting to read 200 plus pages [a week] and I have to grapple with technical terms, and I have to understand what I’m doing.” “I have a similar experience” Wang said. “The journey is totally different because every week, for my electives and compulsory classes, I have over 200 pages of reading, that’s kind of a normal thing.” 

In addition to the heavy academic workload, most new doctoral students must adapt to life in a new city—or a new country. Even though they were “used to this amount of work” Pfeiffer said the transition to a new place was “very hard.” “When do I get to do all of the things that I do to take care of myself on top of trying to be a good scholar and a good student?” they asked. “[A]nd doing that in a new place where I don’t have my normal support system around me has been challenging.” 

The challenge is even greater for those students who are also teaching in Klein for the first time. Zhao, who TAs for large lecture classes, said he is still trying to figure out how to juggle his different responsibilities while adapting to a new city and country. “I didn’t do well [with time management] the first month, because I didn’t know how to use Canvas as an instructor and, of course, the English, there are a lot of words I’m not familiar with, so I’m still trying to get used to it” he said. Dinh, who also works as a TA, agreed. “My experience is that it’s actually been quite challenging to balance all the responsibilities that I have. I feel perpetually behind” they said. “But I’m very grateful for Bruce [Hardy], my advisor, because he’s very much been able to read how I have been handling all of the workload.”  

Despite these difficulties, the group said they felt strongly supported by the college, its faculty, and other students. “I honestly think our program and the college itself is a very friendly and accommodating one” Adjetey said. “[A]ll my classmates and all my professors, everybody just seems so open and willing to answer any questions that I have” Pfeiffer added. “I feel that I can actually get the answers to the questions I want without being nervous that I’m not performing as well as everybody else.” 

The first-year students appreciated the faculty’s guidance in courses that take them outside of their comfort zone, like Professor Meghnaa Tallapragada’s quantitative methods class. “Meghnaa said ‘you don’t have to have a quant background, I’ll take you guys through the process’ and literally, she’s doing that” Adjetey said. “[I]n Meghnaa’s class, even if you make a very small progress, you will feel very excited and like it’s a very big achievement once you’re moving forward” Wang added. 

The program’s tight sense of community also helped students cope with their new environment. “The first thing that surprised me was the cohort, because, in the master’s program, everybody leaves after class” Wang said. “But here the cohort is very supportive and each of us is open to listening and open to conversation.”  Zhao mentioned how much he has learned from the practical advice, sharing and discussions in the Idea Exchange Fridays and writing groups he has attended. “I asked a question and a lot of students and professors answered” he said. “It’s been really helpful.” 

Overall, the new cohort painted a picture of their first month in the program as a grueling yet rewarding experience. “I think the faculty are phenomenal” Dinh said. “Academically, it’s been challenging, but in a good way.” Or, as Liu concluded, “the first month of my PhD journey is going smoothly.”