It's finally here, summer. That means long days laying out in the sunshine, late nights with friends and extended trips to far away places away from the hustle and bustle of the university. Oh wait... you're a grad student. Then it means long days of trying to teach summer classes, late nights working on ones own research and extended trips to libraries and other universities to raid their archives and labs for that pivotal missing link that would turn your dissertation into a masterpiece. Fear not though, GradHacker is here. Over the past semester we've had articles that cover every aspect of grad school from how to turn your stress into delicious baking or how to deal with fighting committee members. Not only that, we launched our podcasts which interviews academics on broader issues and discusses the articles from the last few weeks. In case you are new to GradHacker, or just need some inspiration to survive the summer, here are our top posts from the last semester.

Julie Platt's article, the Perils of Perfectionism, has by far been one of the most discussed that we have ever published. She discussed her own experience dealing with perfectionism, and that while it was a benefit to creating great work it also prevented her from finishing in a timely manner and turned into a disadvantage. She explained how the comprehensive exam process, supposed to take 6 months, laster 2.5 years for her. While the completed work was lauded- Julie wonders whether it was really worth all the stress and anxiety of getting it perfect. She concludes "I'm learning that perfection isn't necessary. I'm learning that being my best is probably good enough, and good enough is worth striving for".

In two similar posts, Andrea Zellner discussed ways to make your teaching more productive and effective by employing new Strategies to Improve Online Teaching and using the 'Flipped Classroom' method. Her strategies for improving online teaching include not letting the tech hinder your work, addressing potential problems beforehand, find new types of tech to help, be actively involved in the teaching, provide lots of feedback, and play. It is this last part which she notes is so important: "The point is, recognize both how you want to teach the information and how it might be received. I try really hard not to be boring". For in person classes, she suggests trying the Flipped Classroom, a method which has students do the lecture portion online prior to class and the home based activities in the classroom as a group. By doing this students are more engaged with the work.

Terry Brock discussed the issue of Grad School Guilt. He notes how doing any activity that isn't dissertation related gives him a sense of guilt: "In fact, this is how I feel about most things that aren't my dissertation. I feel guilty when I'm hanging out with my friends, out to dinner with my fiancé... or reading...*gasp*…a book for fun. It's not a particularly healthy way to go through life, and it places a great deal of stress on every moment of the day, since even when I'm trying to relax, I know I could be working". In order to combat these feelings, he suggests setting aside blocks of time or days to writing, afterwards reflecting on the productivity. By setting goals for each day and making progress on them, it lessens the feeling of guilt and makes the free time a reward for a hard day's work. The best strategy, and the hardest to achieve, is saying no to new things to limit distractions from dissertating... although this does bring on new guilt.

With the summer fast approaching, and a new school year on the horizon, we at GradHacker are excited about the new articles and discussions that we will be having with you. We are always looking for new writers, new ideas for podcasts, and the opportunity to host more bootcamps. What would you like to see from GradHacker over the summer and in the upcoming year?

The parents of two Chinese students at the University of Southern California who were shot and killed while in a parked car near the campus have sued the university, charging it misled them about safety issues, The Los Angeles Times reported. The suit says that the university incorrectly claims on its website that it is "ranked among the safest of U.S. universities and colleges, with one of the most comprehensive, proactive campus and community safety programs in the nation." After the two were murdered last month, the university continued to provide "clearly misleading" information on safety, the suit says. A lawyer for the university said that the institution is "deeply saddened by this tragic event, which was a random violent act not representative of the safety of USC or the neighborhoods around campus. While we have deep sympathy for the victims' families, this lawsuit is baseless and we will move to have it dismissed."

One of the concepts I teach in my Quantitative Reasoning class is the idea of “Exponential Growth.” Such growth, where a variable grows by a fixed percent, is found in such things as population growth and the growth of money earning interest. I found myself thinking of this recently as I watch my daughter grow at a rate that seems to be exponential, outgrowing clothes almost before they can be worn and threatening to soon pass me by in terms of height. I am thrilled to see her turning into a healthy young lady, but I have to pause as I realize that, as she grows, she is exposed to aspects of life that I would prefer to shield her from.

I found myself talking with some of my fellow mothers recently, discussing the details of raising a healthy daughter in the world we live in, and as we talked, I found myself wanting to hold the infant I
knew (it seems) only a few days ago. I have clear memories of her lying in her crib, talking in a language only she understood to the stuffed animals hanging from a mobile above her head. As she talked and laughed with them, she kicked her legs and flailed her arms. She sometimes got very excited she talked and kicked more strongly, almost as if she could hear the animals talking back to her. While she was vulnerable in many ways, as only an infant can be, that vulnerability was different, and, in retrospect, seems less dangerous now. Today, I now find myself wanting to protect my daughter from the forces in the world that do not respect the very cool and interesting person she is, but want to treat her as if she can only find value in her looks and her body shape. To my surprise, I have already had to tell her that she and her friends should not be concerned about whether they are too skinny or too fat, that what matters is being healthy. And that is where one mother changed the whole conversation by bringing up some of the music that is played on the radio today.

I hardly ever listen to popular radio, but apparently my daughter knows some of the music that is often played there, and I was surprised to hear some of the words from those songs. I learned of one mother who allows her fourth grade daughter to believe that a popular song is singing “We are Dumb,” a translation I told my daughter about as I tried to grab a “teachable moment” as I explained to her that anyone who has friends who get high in the bathroom is, indeed, dumb. Another mother I know told her beautiful kindergartner that another popular song was singing “I’m Sassy and I Know It,” which is not exactly the title. I did not know about the video that goes with that song until a fellow mother told me about it, even bringing it up on You Tube for a moment as I stood with a shocked, suburban mom look on my face until she mercifully turned it off. No wonder my daughter was surprised when she asked me what my favorite song was, and I replied “Ode to Joy”. I wonder if the songs on the radio today even deserve to be thought of as being the same type of art as those produced by Beethoven.

There are other aspects of life that I wish I could protect my daughter from, and one appeared the other day when she was reading a book that talked about Hitler and the Holocaust. She asked me about it, and I explained the history to her, wishing I could just change the subject as I would have only a few years ago. However, she should know about this dark chapter of human history, as she should also know of other dark chapters, including American racism and other genocides. I am sure that she will learn about those soon enough.

I also pray that she does not have to learn of yet difficult aspect of life all too soon, as my sister battles cancer in an attempt to stay alive a little longer. We all hope she will live a long life, but also realize that the Cholangiocarcinoma (also known as “bile duct cancer”) that is tormenting her body will probably some day claim that life. But we still hope that day will be in the future, a long time into the future. In the mean time, we work to celebrate each day she lives, and hope that those days turn into weeks and then into months that turn into years and that those years perhaps someday turn into decades. After all, time passes so silently and so quickly, a lesson I have learned from the experience of being a mother.