I’ve helped teach the small courses that Princeton loves to tout. But, what I soon realized was that the undergraduate experience and graduate experience are intertwined. However, when I arrived on campus, my rosy picture of grad student life was challenged, as I was surrounded by the rhetoric of Princeton as an undergraduate institution. The graduate community is robust, with a dedicated staff, grad student resources for skills and professional development, as well as affinity groups, a Graduate Student Government, and other student leaders that give up their free time to host events. I was intrigued by the lack of law or business or medical schools, as this meant that the majority of graduate students would be PhDs, bonded together by a drive to learn more about our world - whether it be studying contemporary challenges like curing cancer, capturing carbon, or delving into the culture of the past. I loved the idea of having our own Graduate College, having our own bar, and being able to walk to campus. The residential community of Princeton was honestly a big draw when I was deciding where to pursue my PhD. Yet, I often feel like a minority among the graduate student body in claiming Princeton as my home. Over the past four years, I have traded my American Airlines miles for United’s so I am better prepared for the certain chaos of Newark Liberty International Airport. I own more orange than I ever believed was possible. My fridge is now stocked with beer from Cape May - not New Belgium, not Ithaca Beer Company, not Flying Dog in Maryland. Eating local produce means tomatoes and blueberries - not the peaches from my hometown in Western Colorado. As a rising fifth-year graduate student, I have lived in Princeton longer than anywhere else in my adult life.
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