Welcome to graduate school. You can look at it this way: now, you know exactly why you are taking the classes you have to take. There are no more general education classes to sign up for even though you can’t see why you have to. Although I’m sure there will come a day when it will hit you and you will think to yourself, “So that’s why I needed that class in undergrad,” graduate school is all about the courses directly linked to your program. Likely, that program is also linked to your career aspirations, but those courses are not enough to achieve your goals.
You need to start networking and making connections now. One way to do that (and to meet new people) is by joining one of our graduate student organizations. Many, but not all, of our programs have a student organization – check out the list below. These organizations are a good way to mingle with others who are interested in the same field. Most of these people will also be in your program, but maybe not in the same semester as you. Take the time to see how these people are pursuing their career goals outside of the classroom. In addition, some of the organizations are directly involved in the community. There’s another networking opportunity.
On the other hand, welcome to graduate school. You have officially entered one stage in your life where the people in all of your classes are likely to be the same. On top of that, when you go to a student organization meeting, you see (mostly) the same people. If graduate school is the main thing going on in your life and you are new to Charleston, that’s not a lot of opportunity to meet new people and make connections. We have a solution for that too. Join the Graduate Student Association (search CofC Graduate Student Association on Facebook) or Graduate Open Alliance. These organizations are not program specific. In fact, the Graduate Student Association (GSA) would love to have members from every program.
Graduate English Association
Primary Contact:
Danielle Lightner
dnlightn@g.cofc.edu
Masters of Business Administration Association (MBAA)
Primary Contact:
cofc.mba@gmail.com
Graduate Historical Society (GHS)
Primary Contact:
Grant Vatter
pgvatter@gmail.com
Graduate Education Organization (GEO)
Primary Contact:
Trisah Sumal
tksumal@yahoo.com
Masters of Public Administration Student Association (MPASA)
Primary Contact:
Joe Geglio
jgeglio@gmail.com
Masters of Environmental Studies Student Association (MESSA)
Primary Contact:
Matt McCalley
matt.mccalley@gmail.com
Graduate Open Alliance
Primary Contact:
Robin Garcia
mgracia@g.cofc.edu
Graduate Student Association
Primary Contact:
Daniel Kassim
gsa.cofc@gmail.com
Masters of Communications Student Association
Primary Contact:
Allie Fox
alliefox1213@gmail.com
