Beginning graduate school is a big decision that can naturally come with some obstacles. An effective way of navigating this journey is to become a part of a community that can help and support you as a student. The Thomas L. Reynolds Center for Graduate Life & Learning helps students in finding a community on campus.
One of the best ways of socializing at Charlotte is to attend the myriad of graduate school events. For example, at the very beginning, there is an orientation and welcome reception held for new graduate students, which is a great way to talk to others right off the bat. Additionally, there are international coffee hours held every month for students to gather and talk over snacks and beverages. Our university has events like the Graduate Research Symposium (GRS) and Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, where graduate students get to present their research in a healthy, competitive way and win prizes. There are events celebrating different cultures across the globe, and numerous other opportunities for volunteering on different occasions.
There are organizations dedicated to different countries, cultures and religions across campus where students can get together. Another way of finding a community is to be a part of the Graduate & Professional Students Government (GPSG). This government is the voice of the graduate students on campus, and it can be very engaging to be a part of it. Also, many departments have their own organizations, e.g. the Nanoscale Science Ph.D. program students have the Association of Nanoscience Graduate Students (ANGS), and we gather every month for meetings, invite seminar speakers, and participate in volunteering activities and social gatherings among other things.
Being a member of a graduate organization also helps you in securing travel funding for conferences, and attending them allows you to network with individuals, both students and faculty members, from our respective fields. This not only gives us a sense of community but is also hugely advantageous to our careers. Talking to faculty members in the department and facilitating collaborations across the university and beyond is very common and helps in furthering research and building a sense of community all at once.
Other than this, there are an array of sports clubs (tennis, badminton, swimming, martial arts, etc. just to name a few) and an extremely well-equipped gym where students can take a break from studies and socialize while working towards their health and self-development. There are also honor societies with chapters in our university, where, if selected, one can find a whole new community of people. Also, the Center for Counseling at Psychological Services (CAPS) is always there to assist you. They provide comprehensive wellness-related programs and services to UNC Charlotte students.
Overall, a new graduate student never has to feel alone at Charlotte － the university has a lot to offer!
Article Written by Pranamita Chakraborti
Pranamita serves as a Graduate Admissions Ambassador and is studying in the Ph.D. in Nanoscale Science program from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.