Words of advice for someone considering graduate school.
Do not hesitate to ask questions in all aspects of overseas study. Your peers, professors, graduate coordinators, and everyone you meet here would love to help.
The graduate life experience is great! There are a ton of activities and ways to get involved on campus. The administration, faculty and fellow student truly provide a supportive environment to learn, grow and be challenged.
Choose a supervisor who makes you excited about your project. There will be times when your project does not go as planned and reminders of that enthusiasm and why you are doing the work are crucial to continuing through the hurtles.
Think hard and explore the options of different pathways you can take in graduate studies. Make the best out of grad school, be social and go to events to meet others in your program. Enjoy your time here, it goes by extremely fast.
Being a graduate student at U of G is a wonderful opportunity. There is a fantastic support system here to help you progress and succeed in research, made up of faculty, support staff and other graduate students.
My research dealt with using biostimulants as environmentally friendly alternatives to fungicides, for preventing dollar spot disease, which is one of the most prevalent disease that affects turfgrass on golf courses worldwide. My research will hopefully help to identify species and cultivars of turfgrass that respond positively to various biostimulant applications and therefore have a lower disease incidence. This will potentially allow golf course managers to use fewer fungicides in the future by switching to biostimulant applications, which will reduce the environmental impact that they have on the surrounding ecosystems.
Words of wisdom for someone considering grad school...
My advice would be to not be afraid to try anything. Take any opportunities you have for new experiences because you never know what you will end up liking! If I had not tried a wide variety of courses during my time at the University of Guelph, I would not have discovered my interest in reproductive biology. Also, take any opportunity you can to speak with other graduate students; everyone is extremely friendly and always willing to lend a hand if you need it. Your peers are a great resource and are always willing to offer some advice on school, research, or life.
Be informed. Always make sure that you understand each and every step of what you're trying to accomplish, but at the same time don't be afraid to plunge into the unknown. Be mindful of what makes you happy, and pursue your goals with a passion because at the end of the day, when we look back at our accomplishments, the gratification from that is what keeps us going.
