Grad students coping under COVID-19

Grad school is tough. Continuing grad school during a pandemic is even tougher.

Six grad students at University of Michigan Engineering tell about their changing reality under the pandemic. Research is delayed, personal plans to graduate before age 30 may be shot, and staying focused at home poses new challenges. And yet they also find silver linings that could get them through this. 

University of Michigan Engineering recruited the six graduate students at the beginning of 2020. When COVID-19 hit the United States, the vloggers switched their focus, which until that point had been covering grad school topics such as how to find funding as a student from a lower socioeconomic background and how to maintain mental health. 

Now that so much has changed, they’re using the platform to connect with their academic community and beyond, bringing a conviction and candor that helps  connect us all.

Complete graduate student COVID-19 vlog playlist:

• Coping with COVID-19 as a Chinese international grad student
  • (also available in Mandarin)
• New day-to-day life and adapting to the new normal
• Going home early and taking classes online
• Learning to work from home and self-isolation as an extrovert
• Cancellations, graduating before 30 and keeping perspective
• Scheduling shake-ups, adapting home into a work space and dealing with uncertainty

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Our campus, like the global community, is contending with COVID-19 and working to adapt to a new normal. Many are rapidly working on solutions. See all COVID-19 developments from University of Michigan Engineering.