Even before I was in undergrad, I knew I wanted to look into the possibility of going to grad school when I completed my degree. Regardless of what I was studying (science at the beginning, English now), I always wanted to keep working, keep learning. Here are a few of the things I have been considering as I prepare to start the application process.
Knowledge
One of the most obvious reasons people go on to grad school is to keep learning. I’ve found subjects I’m passionate about (literature and language), and I want to keep learning in a classroom setting about them. I’ve had some amazing lectures the past year and a half that have turned into engaged, excited discussions about the most random things: the very first line of Beowulf, the use of the Old English word “anhaga,” the meta of Shakespeare, and the phonetic spelling of the word “physics.” These are the types of discussions that you might not find in the workplace. I want to keep learning from my classmates and professors for as long as I can!
Research and Publication
To use the example Beowulf again, I wrote a six-page paper on the epic poem during my first semester as an English student. Since then, I’ve always wanted to study the text more. Grad school is one avenue that allows students like me to continue researching the topics they are passionate about, often with the possibility of publication in academic journals. Grad school offers students the means to dive into the subjects they studied in undergrad even deeper than before, and I for one am incredibly excited to work on my research in grad school!
Career Opportunities
I’ve always been adamant about not wanting to teach, but after having some amazing professors in college, I’ve decided I might go down that road! My English professors in college have been some of the most intelligent, well-spoken, and well-read people I have ever met, and I can only hope to one day be able to run a classroom like they do. I’d like to continue my education in grad school so I can teach at the collegiate level, but teaching is definitely not the only career that comes from a graduate education. So many doors are opened to students who have continued on after undergrad!
I’ve chosen to pursue a graduate education to continue studying the things I am passionate about, and while I’m still in undergrad, I’m so excited for what’s to come!
Kayla Eddy is an English Literature student at UW-Parkside. She interns with Straylight Literary Magazine and The Downtown Magazine while working as a writing tutor at her school
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash