Speaker 1: Welcome to Grad Life Grind. If you're new to this channel, thank you for checking it out, and if you're already a subscriber, thanks for being back again. In this channel, I talk about my life as a PhD student in clinical psychology, and in today's video, I just want to update you guys on my first two weeks of the third quarter of my first year of graduate school. I'm recording this in April of 2020, so right now, all classes have been moved online due to COVID-19, and I just wanted to let you guys know what that process has been like for me, what classes I'm taking, and just provide information for how I'm managing with everything that's going on right now. So this quarter, I'm taking six classes, which has been pretty crazy given that everything is online now, and those classes are evidence-based practices and psychotherapy, which is basically just an introduction to different types of therapy and how we should choose types of therapy based on what evidence or research is out there. The other class I'm taking is called Spanish for Clinicians, which is the one that I'm most excited about because I'm basically learning how to start administering therapy to individuals who are Spanish-speaking, and this is something that is really unique to the program that I'm in. It's the first time that they're offering the course, and so it's really cool to be part of the first class that's ever taking it and learning how to enhance my own Spanish skills and learn the terminology and also learning about the unique cultural factors that affect the Latinx community, so that's really awesome. I'm also taking Research Methods and Statistics again, which is offered basically every quarter in this first year, so it's the next level up. And I'm also taking History and Systems of Psychology, which is basically more of a philosophical perspective of psychology and learning how our philosophies about life influence the research we do and influence our work with clients. The other two classes I'm taking are Social and Personality Psychology and Psychopharmacology, which is all about the different medications, how they work, and we have to be really informed about medication treatments. Even though we don't prescribe medication as psychologists, we have to know what they do and which medications correspond to which mental disorders, because a lot of our clients are going to be on medication. Usually, people spend more time talking with their psychologist than they do with their psychiatrist, because its two medical doctors are really, really short, whereas the therapy hour for a psychologist is 45 minutes to 50 minutes. So it's important for us as psychologists to know about medication, medication side effects, and things like that. So those are the six classes that I'm taking, and like I said earlier, they're all online. So what does that look like for me? Basically, there are no in-person classes at all, so all of my classes are being held over Zoom, and most but not all of my professors have decided to go with a flipped classroom format. So what that means is we're provided with pre-recorded videos of the lecture content, and we are expected to watch those videos on our own time, and then Zoom into class at the regularly scheduled time to discuss the content, discuss the readings, discuss the lecture videos, and anything else that we have questions about. So that's a little bit different, because normally I would go into class and the lecture would be live. Some of my professors right now have chosen to still do live lecture on Zoom. So for example, statistics, I'm following along on Zoom with the slides and also with R, which is the coding program that we use. So that's a little bit intense, and statistics is always intense, but in general most of my professors have gone with the other route, where I'm watching pre-recorded videos and then going into class with questions. There's always going to be some technical errors here and there, so there have been some of my professors have had problems where their connection isn't great, and it's impeding on our ability to like hear them well. So there's been a lot of debate about this, but I actually really like the new format, and it does keep me busy, but I think I love the flexibility and the autonomy of being able to watch the lectures on my own time, wherever it fits for me, as opposed to going into like an 830 a.m. Zoom call and being focused and engaged sitting in front of my computer for three hours, that's kind of difficult for me. In this setting, most of the professors have recorded their lectures in shorter like hour or 30-minute or 45- minute clips, which is a little bit more digestible for me, and so I can block in my schedule an hour or 30 minutes to watch the lecture, pausing it if I need to, stepping away from it if I need to, playing it back if there's something that I missed. Another nice feature is that I can speed it up, so for the professors who speak a little bit slowly, I can play it on 1.5 speed or double speed and get through it even faster than I would in person. So it's been really cool, and it's definitely difficult to adjust to the online format. It's really mentally and physically taxing to sit in front of a screen for so many hours, and it's been a while since I've had to do that, back when I worked in an office. With everything that's going on, I really appreciate that flexibility, because I'm trying to juggle maintaining a routine for myself, getting up at the same time every day, exercising, eating well, keeping in touch with my family, staying informed on what's going on in the world. So overall, I think it's going well, but it's definitely an adjustment. I think that the way that I'm managing right now is, like I said, trying to maintain as much of a routine as I can, and prioritizing things like sleep, and getting time outside, exercising, and being in control of what I eat. I did a video not too long ago about my tips for online students, and I've been doing my best to follow those tips for myself, but I really would love to hear how you guys are coping with all this. So if you have any comments on this, I would love to hear them. If you're also a student that's coping with the online system right now, I definitely feel for you. I know that it's hard. I know that we're all trying to focus on what's in front of us while we have all these other worries and concerns in the back of our minds, in terms of our family, and our well-being, and even our own health. But right now, we're doing what we have to do, and I think that to some extent, being a grad student, there's so much work that is required of me. It's almost like a little bit of an escape, and I know that that doesn't apply to everyone. Not everyone can throw themselves into their schoolwork, and I completely get that. But for me, I think having this structure of always having a video to watch, always having some reading to do, or having class is a good way for me to stay productive and stay focused on something that isn't the pandemic. And I know that this isn't the class structure or the quarter that I imagined for myself, but this is something that came really unexpected, as we all know, and I'm trying to find the small things that I enjoy about my classes. I'm trying to still be engaged with my classes, whether that's chatting in Zoom during class time, or trying to set up other Zoom meetings with some of my peers to talk about the things that we're learning. And it's definitely not ideal, but it is what is happening right now. So I'm trying really hard to focus on just doing well in this new format. If you're somebody who watches my videos to learn about what it's like to be a graduate student at the Ph.D. level, this isn't the perfect representation of what our day-to-day is like. However, figuring out how to cope during a time like this is very much what is required of grad students. So I think that while a Ph.D. program is challenging us academically and intellectually, it's also challenging our ability to adapt to situations that are unexpected, whether that's with clients or with the world in general. And I think that this situation, while unfortunate, is highlighting the grit and the dedication that it takes to be in a graduate program. The workload isn't for everybody and the stress that we end up being under isn't for everybody, but we're definitely going to come out stronger for it. And this is just an inside look at that. So if you watch this video, I really appreciate you. I hope that you're safe and healthy during this time and that your loved ones are as well. If there are any questions or comments or videos that I can do that would be helpful to you, definitely let me know. And if you're not already subscribed, please do click that subscribe button, like the video, and share it with somebody that you know. Thanks for checking out Grad Life Grind. My goal is to inform you, to inspire you, to spark an interest in you, and hopefully also entertain you. So I hope you'll check back in next time.