Finding your passion will take you to the right place at the end of the road. Just keep doing your best and appreciate all the opportunities provided along the way.
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.
I would encourage all prospective graduate students to research their program of interest and speak directly to faculty prior to applying as this can ensure that your research goals align with your prospective advisor/program of choice.
Do your research: on the lab, on the faculty, on the department and on the city itself. There are so many different programs/departments and it's imperative you know what you're getting into. Speak to students that are currently in the lab or have recently graduated to get an idea of how things work. There are going to be some tough times in your program and you want to make sure you're surrounded by people that want to support you and help you get through, to be successful.
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.
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.
A right step taken at a right time completely changes your identity. I won't say that your academic journey will be easy, but I am sure it will be worthy.
