zomg grad skool carnival contribution

I meant to post this later, but due to being too busy to come up with a new post today, you all get to see my zomg grad skool carnival contribution (courtesy of Samia over at 49 percent---go check out her post and submit your own thoughts by August 15th!). Check out her prompt first (if you haven't already) before reading!

I suppose I can sum up all of my feelings about moving to grad school with one word: wombatty. It's a term that once was strictly applied by a friend of mine (already in grad school) as describing irritating undergrads. However, a few close friends and I have expanded this particular term to describe someone who has little to no idea what is going on. There have been lots of jokes to further emphasize how wombatty we will become. No longer the mostly confident undergrad (perhaps with little reason), I will now become the new dork who has no idea where the pipet tips, lab pens, buffers, or even the bathroom will be. Despite my obsessive note taking, I will know where things are for a few short weeks, then be whisked into my new rotation with a new group. And again. And again. Since rotations in my program will only last a few weeks, it will be ridiculously insane. How will I correctly judge which group is right for me? How will the PIs judge me when I'll only have a few weeks in their lab? Will I get into the lab that I eventually choose, or will everyone else want to work for the same person?

I dread the coming incompetence that I feel sure will be exposed shortly. How did I even get into grad school? Why did my school accept me? Will my peers realize that a mistake was made by the grad school? I can only hope that plenty of my fellow incoming grad students will feel the same. Leaving my good friends---especially my "lab soulmate" best friend from undergrad---is nerve wracking.

However, my saving grace is that I have talked to others who feel the same way. I loved the grad students and my fellow prospective grad students at my choice of school. I will be continuing my pattern of working hard and trying my best. I'm living with two friends from undergrad who aren't in the program, but will be good friends even if I can't seem to make any. I think everything will be ok, and I'll get into a lab that I'll be happy and productive in. I choose a school that would give me a shot at these aspects, and I'm hopeful that I'll find my place at grad school. It just might take a while.