385: What I Wish I Knew Before Grad School: 3 Truths Every Student Should Know

In this episode of the Grad School Femtoring podcast, I share three truths I wish I understood before starting graduate school. For first-generation, BIPOC, neurodivergent, and other students navigating unfamiliar academic spaces, graduate school can feel like entering a cultural system with its own language, expectations, hierarchies, and unwritten rules. I reflect on my experience of feeling behind and explain why struggling to understand the hidden curriculum does not mean you do not belong.

I also explore how productivity culture can tie your sense of worth to your output and why mentorship, femtorship, and community care are essential parts of a sustainable graduate school experience. Through three reflection prompts, I invite you to name the expectations affecting your sense of belonging, identify where you may be overworking to prove yourself, and consider who you can reach out to for support.