tms Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 I am a first year graduate student and looking to start some EC's. I have a lot of EC's from undergrad (mostly research related, various part time jobs, hospital volunteering, student mentoring, student clubs etc) but I ended all of those when I finished my undergraduate degree. Now that I am in graduate school, I want to do some EC's. I am required to be in the lab everyday (9-5pm) and I am looking for ideas on what kind of activities I could do. I don't want to just study and focus on research (those are important) but I also want to get involved in other things. Most of my previous EC's (research and part time jobs) were paid positions and I can't do those anymore. With my strict schedule, I am looking for something with flexibility. I am also interested in doing something that would help me build on my leadership skills since I don't have any activities to show leadership. Basically, I am just looking for some ideas on what other people have been/are involved with while in graduate school or even a full time job with a strict schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrogirl Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 I started taking violin lessons during the last year of my PhD, and it was really fun and a great distraction from academics (and it was flexible enough to fit into my crazy schedule). I didn't put it on my med school applications because I had only been doing it for a few weeks when I was applying, but lots of people put music lessons on their applications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 Perhaps a graduate student society needs new executives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Real Beef Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 Make sure you pursue some ECs that actually interest you .... with effectively a '9-5' job as a graduate student it would suck to use the little time in the evening you have left to do things that you dont enjoy just because they would 'look good' on your application. What interests do you have? or have you been doing what others want or what you think an admissions committe would like to see for so long that you are not sure of what you enjoy? Beef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tms Posted December 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Make sure you pursue some ECs that actually interest you .... with effectively a '9-5' job as a graduate student it would suck to use the little time in the evening you have left to do things that you dont enjoy just because they would 'look good' on your application. What interests do you have? or have you been doing what others want or what you think an admissions committe would like to see for so long that you are not sure of what you enjoy? Beef Thanks for the response. I know that I should be dong things I enjoy and I have been involved in activities I enjoyed very much. I am looking for ideas on what kinds of activities other have done or are doing (mostly leadership related) and I will look into those to see what interests me and choose accordingly. I really like working with people and interacting with them...I am a "people person" and I enjoy working with people of all ages. There are also a lot of other things that I enjoy including outdoor activities, fitness activities, travel and much more. I am just looking for ideas as a starting point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Real Beef Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Thanks for clarifying, some of my recent ECs for your interest include: 1) volunteer firefighter x 5 years (ongoing) 2) Community Fitness Center, Board Member - Vice president x 2 years (ongoing) 3) Community Fitness Center, planning committee x 1 year 4) Volunteer karate instructor x 1 yr (ongoing) 5) Local firefighter's association - President x 1 year 6) Older stuff includes - Various hospital volunteer positions (ICU, Emerg, Veterans, Meal feeding program, Physio dept)- 1998-2003 My recent ECs refelct my interest in weight training/body building and my interest in doing something that gets some adrenaline flowing (running into burning buildings) as my day job is relatively benign and dull in nature. Since Ive worked in health care since 2006 as an allied health professional I have discontinued volunteering in health care as I no longer have to prove my interest in health care and familiarity with dealing with patients Hope that gives you some insight. Beef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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