To continue one’s academic career is often considered a viable and lucrative option for students who find themselves wanting to learn beyond their undergraduate education. Additionally, they give themselves the opportunity to gain real-world experience with a graduate assistantship or internship program. While UIS does provide all of the aforementioned options to their graduate students, beginning anew during a time when academia is so extremely volatile is truly daunting. While UIS has encouraged hybridization in its back-to-school start for the Fall 2020 semester, there isn’t certainty that students will be able to remain on campus or see an end to that method in the near future.

First year graduate student Kate Dumstorff, among many others, has decided to step back into her role as a student after graduating in spring with her bachelor’s degree in English. Kate knew she eventually wanted to receive her master’s degree in Communication so that she could work in media, but she was uncertain about the timeline. She considered the possibility of going into the workforce after graduation, but she was not sure if it would be a better option to continue in her studies instead to keep her momentum going. Kate decided that it would be beneficial to apply in spite of the limitations surrounding COVID-19, and she said that she would simply take things one step at a time. Fortunately, Kate was accepted into her program and received a prestigious Teaching Assistantship with The Learning Hub as a Writing Specialist where she could gain more editing experience to benefit her future career. Kate also noted that she felt graduate school would give her a bit more time to broaden her knowledge and skills within her field before looking for a job, especially when employers typically look for two to three years of experience for entry level positions. She admitted, “I wouldn’t want to be job searching right now… everything is so up-in-the-air.”

Despite her excitement for starting the program, Kate did have her doubts about jumping right back into school after graduation. She was concerned about how she would be able to get the traditional graduate school experience with online or hybrid classes, and she worried at first about how her assistantship might change with the COVID-19 limitations set forth by UIS. She also noted that technology now plays a larger and more important role than ever, both with classes and work, which can present the occasional challenges. She stated that she already had an issue with Zoom during a remote class on her first week back (and, of course, dealt with a university-wide partial outage for UIS students’ the first day back, too). However, she remains positive first and foremost, stating:

“I’ve kind of come to terms with it. I’ve already accepted that this year is just going to be different than what I’m used to college-wise, so I’ve made peace with that and plan to make the most of it! I’m so used to going to campus events and studying with friends… but I’ve accepted that things are just going to look different for a while.”