Here. we. go.

If you noticed my post is (much) later than normal, you might have guessed school started. In that case, you would be correct. Even though this post is later than my original plan for publishing, I have to say this Friday afternoon writing session with a hot peppermint tea is actually quite stimulating. This might be my new way to wind down the week.

Yes part of our swag was a USB bracelet :)

It's real people. I had the first day/first week of my next 5-ish years. I am officially a PhD Candidate. It sounds prestigious right? I'm not sure that's the case; I might be more crazy than anything. But on those days when I'm wondering what I'm doing, I'll tell myself it is prestigious :)

I will be working on a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in Nutrition with a focus on intervention and policy. What does that mean? Well, I want to learn how to effectively plan, carry out, and measure programs (also known as interventions) that will improve people's nutrition, health, and lives. I will also learn how to make the changes that work a more permanent part of our environment (policy).

If you mash it all together, I had about 1 day of orientation to learn about the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina and the Gillings School of Global Public Health. I knew I had my sights set on a good school and program, but I didn't realize it was this good. To say I'm excited about the opportunity to be part of such a prestigious, yet gracious program would be an understatement. I learned the Gillings School of Global Public Health is the #1 public school of public health. Hm. Okay. The Department of Nutrition is also the top-ranked in its field. Not bad. Ignorance was bliss when applying and interviewing. Too late to be awestruck now, I'm already lunching and chit-chatting with people who's papers I have previously read and cited. And to Josh's credit, the basketball team isn't half bad either.

With all these rankings flying around, one might think there could be some ego-concerns. There might be, but I have yet to encounter that. Everyone is so down-to-earth and is genuinely interested in your success and thoughts. I have to confess that it was also pretty cool to have the academic leaders of these respective divisions of the university welcome us then tell us to "stop and smell the roses. Your dissertation will still be there."

I've hit burn out before. It wasn't pretty. So I think hearing this message several times just reinforced my intention to approach this next segment of my life with perspective, focus, and realism. What does that mean? I'm going to make it a point to dedicate myself to my studies and take advantage of the opportunity I have been given, but I'm also going to impose limits so that I can dedicate myself to family, friends, and other aspects of life. I was able to lunch with the Director of the Department of Nutrition and she essentially said- well Courtney, this is really the rest of your life. It will be important to figure out how to fit things in and make it a life. Well said.

Did I mention that the school is also beautiful?

Mostly undergrad (or at least how I perceive it) part of campus

The school of public health- where I take classes.

I mean look at this place.

I will say the honeymoon phase is over. I didn't realize how quickly my body would forget what those 10 - 12 hour work days felt like. The downside is that now I need to study after that. The silver lining is that I'm all over the place in terms of intellectual stimulation and combining work and school. To quote one of my classmates (we technically call them 'cohort' because we started together), after the first day she had a combination of "buyer's remorse and cold feet". My thoughts exactly. Knowing I'm in a such a wonderful position and have quite a rigorous training program in front of me, it's a bit daunting to live up to it all. It's also a little unsettling to dive in to anything but routine or comfort. I think I shall start a count for the number of times that I wondered what I got myself in to/did I make the right choice. Currently we are at 2. One time was a few months ago when it all became very real that we would be moving, etc. The other was last week.

What does it look like to be a graduate student? Well my 'contract' includes 20 hours of work per week for my mentor. I will tell you more about that another time. It also includes 17 credit hours, but I just found out late this afternoon that I got approval to exempt 1 class. Woo hoo! So technically I'm down to 14 credit hours. If graduate school is foreign to you, 9 credit hours is considered full time student status. If you add it all up, this will keep my schedule pretty full.

The beauty of this is that I love the classes. Nerdy perhaps, but I'm happy to embrace it :) My courses include:

• Nutrition biochemistry. This focuses on the processes in our cells that allow our bodies to break down, build up, or make energy from fat, protein, and carbohydrates. You all know those terms- not so hard right?!
• Epidemiology. This is a way to look at large populations of people and to describe the patterns of health behaviors or outcomes. 
• Doctoral seminar. We go to different presentations to engage with other researchers on campus and begin to critically analyze other people's work.
• Nutrition policy seminar. I will learn about many examples of policy's impact on nutrition.
• Research methods for intervention design. I will learn how to design research questions and studies to answer those questions.
• Interdisciplinary health communication. We will explore how communication and messaging can be used to improve people's health decisions.

More to come about all of this. I promise.

While figuring out this new routine I've learned some important things. Some might be applicable only to my position as a graduate student, but some will apply to living a healthy life, which is what I promised you from the start.

Here we go:

• Over prepare. It will turn out to be just enough. 
• Bring a water bottle. Refill whenever you can. 
• When you have time or a see a restroom, use it. See previous point.
• Pack a lunch and healthy snacks. My days are long and the commute can make it that much more unpredictable as to when I actually get home and can eat. Having my lunch and snacks saves money on the budget, prevents random (less healthy) visits to the vending machine, and never leaves me hungry. It also keeps my brain fueled for all those challenging questions and conversations. I like to carry dried fruit and nuts for a quick, sustaining pick-me-up. My favorites right now are raisins and almonds. 
• Start the day with a fully charged lap top and phone. Bring appropriate charging supplies. Plug in when you can.
• Use a back pack so that you can fit everything in one spot and be as kind to your body as possible.

Try setting yourself up with a healthy snack or water bottle, and let me know how it works for you. 

Until next time :)