GradLIFE Podcast Graduate College (UIUC)

It has been a year of COVID. Our graduate student podcasters share their funniest Zoom stories and how they have been navigating this new landscape. Burning Man expert Caitlin Brooks (Recreation, Sport, and Tourism) speaks about mourning canceled ethnographic dissertation fieldwork and the power of community in times of isolation.

Landscape Designer Saloni Chawla (MLA '18) sits down to talk with us about how she landed her dream job at STIMSON an urban and rural landscape architecture studio with a working farm and a plant nursery, and why she considers it a perfect match with her interests in cultural landscapes and people.

SAGE graduate student podcasters Cat (Physics) and Shelby (Kinesiology) interview each other about choosing their research fields and Illinois for graduate education. How “virtual everything” affects their grad school highs and lows and teaches them a few tricks. 

SAGE graduate student podcasters Abby (Social Work) and Sebastian (Labor and Employment Relations) interview each other about choosing their research fields and Illinois for graduate education. How “virtual everything” affects their grad school ups and downs and teaches them a few tricks. 

SAGE grad student podcasters interview the Counseling Center’s Kamau Grantham, who gives everyone permission to take care of themselves and encourages the practice of self-care, an intentional skill that takes time to figure out. Things get salty as they contemplate the balance of ingredients in chocolate chip cookies. The podcasters continue the discussion with their favorite “mesources.”

SAGE grad student podcasters get to know more about fellow podcaster Abby Valtierra, who is pursuing a master’s in Social Work.
Abby shares some techniques to lower stress in elementary school students, such as a 5-4-3-2-1 mapping exercise, that might also work for grad students. And our podcasters share powerful “mesources” including the importance of positive self-talk.