What is a Masters Student? A Photo Essay

I have been meaning to finish and post a "Welcome to Chicago!" post, but alas; that hasn't happened yet. Instead, for now I will share with you the answer to the above question: what is a masters student? The following photo essay explores what I have learned about grad school life in the past 24 hours. In other words: I took these pictures just for you so you could hear all about my first day in grad school. 

1) Grad students wear "sexy librarian" and/or "stylish school-marm" clothes.

First day of school! First day of school!

2) Grad students make new friends with whom to take weird selfies.

Oh heeeyyyyyy

3) Grad students read a lot--specifically of Freud. But he is creepy, so grad students have to draw a new face on a sticky note so that Freud doesn't just keep staring at you when you need a break. Grad students are also distracting to each other and will just talk in the library for an hour before lecture about Freud and how terrible he is, only reading 6 pages of actual Freud.

Still less creepy than the real Freud

4) Grad students get to be the only person to raise their hand when your professor asks if anyone in the program reads Russian. (No picture . . . I was in lecture!)

5) Grad students lose their student ID card on the first day of class and have to pay $20 they don't have for a new one. #PocketSexismIsReal

When you realize all (read: your ID card) is lost

6) Grad students wear lucky Shakespeare socks.

Oh, hey there, Will

7) Did I mention that grad students read A LOT? Like, a lot a lot? Like this entire book in one day?

I found a great study spot int he library

8) During said reading, grad students make snarky and sometimes enlightening comments in the margins

This about sums up my thoughts on Freud

9) Grad students make "You crazy, Freud. You gotta be kidding me" faces at the long-dead theorists they are currently loving to hate

10) Grad students stay up late writing blog posts about their first day of grad school when they should be sleeping. (No picture for this one, sorry. The whole post is a visual testament to it!)

11) Grad students are ultimately really, really happy to be in grad school even though it will kick their trashes . . .

Here is that after picture, I promised you, Kagen!

11) Because grad students walk around a campus that looks like this all day, erry day.

From here

Okay, so maybe my experiences aren't universal, and I know that this won't be what grad school is actually like for me every day (except for the campus being beautiful part. And the reading part) but so far, being back in school is the best. Without jokes.