Tag: free time



It’s no secret that grad school is no cake walk (I’ve hinted at this here). And while recruiters, alumni, and current students are quick to tell you how much work grad school is going to be (even though they never communicate it accurately), they fail to mention everything that you’re going to miss.

Sure, the list of activities I’m going to list below will vary based on everyone’s interests but they can boil down to one essential concept: free time. No matter what you do during your free time, the result of grad school is the same: less of it. With that said, here are some of the things that I deeply miss and can’t wait to take up again when I can finally put “MBA” next to my name:

  • Reading for pleasure: I’m an avid reader (I average approximately 25 books a year), but since the start of school, I’ve replaced New York Times Bestsellers with Harvard Business cases. There will be a light at the end of the tunnel, when I can trade exhibits and data for fictional escape but, until that time comes, all you can do is put your head down and soldier on.
  • Time with friends: Yes, weekends (for the most part) are still yours to play with but that’s essentially it. Between classes two nights a week, meeting with your group on group projects at least one, if not, two nights a week, and studying for those same classes, you can kiss your weekday evenings goodbye. Slowly but surely, the number of times friends asking you to go to a concert on Thursdays or grabbing a bite after work will dwindle down to none. The conversation tends to go like this: “Hey, do you want to … oh wait. You have school.” Sigh.
  • Cooking: I really enjoy cooking, even if it is just a chicken breast and some veggies. Until school started, I would come home after work and my kitchen would be full of the aromas of a satisfying meal to come. Thanks to the commitments outlined above, I’m lucky if I remember to grab a granola bar for class, or come home to a bowl of cereal. That Bon Appetit subscription is clearly going to waste …

Now, don’t get me wrong. There are some things that you gain when you start grad school. It’s just that sometimes, you really miss what you lose.

How about you? What would be the biggest thing you would have to give up? Or did give up when you started grad school?

Image: Looking Back, Dr. Wendy Longo, Flickr Creative Commons