Growing up in a college town, it was cultural to look forward to the glory of the next academic goalpost -- finishing off a minor, getting this or that certificate, publishing token undergraduate projects, and more, all finally culminating in massive commencement ceremonies that stopped traffic for us locals.

After I finished my BA, what was supposed to come next was that sweet social media martyrdom of being a Grad Student™. The next rites of passage would involve never leaving a cinder block basement office, acquiring a heart-fluttering caffeine addiction, and counting the hairs I lost from sheer stress. You know, the kinds of achievements law students boast.

But then, somehow, I found myself in an online program. What happened to that basement office? The thesis and dissertation? The admiration-hate relationship with an emotionally-distant advisor in sociolinguistics or Old French morphology? The griping and commiserating with fellow candidates?

My friends, it doesn't have to be like that! I found this thing called Library Science where I can have those Grad Student Feels without the presence of actual misery! My caffeine addiction is only mild -- I blame Oprah and the advent of chai lattes -- but I do have a cubicle in the back corner of a windowless office, so I consider myself to have made it.

I used to wrinkle my nose at the idea of being an online graduate student. Between my Hermione Granger-esque levels of compulsive overachievement and growing up within earshot of Purdue football games on autumn Saturdays, I had my mind nearly made up that online programs are inherently inferior to in-person ones. (This, ironically, coming from a townie, another category of student frequently accused of not understanding the "true" college experience.)

When I started my degree program, I still didn't want to give up that idyllic mental image. I chose UNT, which was nearby enough that I could hybridize my experience between in-person and online classes. I intended to pick and choose which classes merited driving the hour to Denton. I didn't expect to end up with a full-time paraprofessional position in my field prior to graduating, though -- so here I am, working my way through the entire program online! I started distance classes, and since August 2016 I've been repenting my snooty ivory tower attitude with an hourly Blackboard login ritual.

The UNT MS-LS program doesn't cast students into an unfeeling Internet void. Candidates are required to go to Denton for at least six eight-hour days to fulfill the degree requirements, regardless of where in the world we live. Many courses also have mandatory meetings hosted on software like GoToTraining -- so even if it's in my Adventure Time pajama pants, I attend class regularly. I'm 9 credit hours into the Digital Imaging and Archiving track, which has proven itself to be duly challenging and intellectually rigorous, with plenty of opportunities to connect beyond the Internet classroom. There is a thesis option at UNT, but few Master's students choose it since the End of Program exam is supposedly enough punishment. The online format doesn't preclude research and projects, nor does it eliminate the need for close contact and personalized feedback from professors. The independent organization and time management required for online success seem pretty grad studently to me.

The necessary self-sufficiency has tripped me up a few times. Without carefully scanning the Blackboard interface well in advance of deadlines and taking note of every tiny communication from profs, it's easy to let things slip through the cracks -- like 10% of my grade in my metadata networking class last semester. An assignment due date whizzed by me because I didn't prepare properly, expecting some sort of reminder email or calendar alert. By the time I figured it out, it was too late to even take a late grade. Such are the disadvantages of expecting a passive web interface to fulfill one's every scholastic need.

At this point I should apologize for tricking you into reading paragraphs. I would have sprinkled this with pop culture gifs, but I don't know anything about the legality of licensed character memes in library blog posts, and I'm surrounded by lawyers. To wrap this up, I'll get hip with the information seeking behaviors of my generation and switch to listicle format. Take note, Buzzfeed: Here are my Top Five Tips for Online College Students. 

1. Have a quiet, focused work space. Whether it's a desk in the spare room or a carrel in a library, make sure you have a "classroom" for yourself. It's a cute mental image, but it's hard to focus on the couch with your feet on the coffee table, holding a mug of hot chocolate, Gilmore Girls playing on Netflix while you roll through Blackboard. You will become distracted, laugh at some quippy Lorelei one-liner, spill the hot chocolate on your laptop, freak out, scare your dog, and nobody will be happy. All I can muster while I work is the aforementioned Adventure Time pajamas, but that's amateur undergraduate stuff. If you can "go to" grad school while looking adorably sitcom-ready, you have a superpower.

2. Always give yourself a syllabus day. By this I don't mean "space out on the first day of class." When your courses open, take the time to look over every document posted to whatever online interface(s) your professors use. Write down due dates in a bright, preferably menacing color in your personal planner for the entire semester. Red pen is a classic. Set calendar alerts. Plan work time on your calendar in addition to all-caps due date reminders.

3. Look at your planner/calendar/Blackboard/etc. every day. Don't let yourself space out for more than 24 hours at a time, or you might miss something! Assignment expectations and due dates change, and classmates ask questions that might help you better understand assignments. Beware irrelevant information overload though, especially in opinion-based discussion threads -- there should be a "Don't read the comments" adage for online classes, much like any social media.

4. Check your email and messages daily. This sort of applies to #3 -- be on the alert for any direct communication from professors or TA's! Once again, it's important to be on top of everything. Plus, when there's plagiarism drama, you get to watch it unfold in real-time.

5. Give yourself planned "school time." Even if you have no work on your plate and it's just checking in, plan consistent time in your schedule to log on. If you force yourself to "go to class" regularly, you're less likely to miss a detail here or there, and you'll know what that classmate is talking about when they ask in the discussion how to format Section 5.4 of your semester project. 

Bonus! Walk away from the computer. Even on a time crunch, being an online student has the distinct advantage of presenting us with the free opportunity to get up and walk away when we need it. With the exception of a few scenarios (that timed quiz you just opened up; the clock is counting down!) if you need a brief mental break, nobody's going to yell at you. Just mute your mic on GoToTraining so that nobody knows you're watching a cat video.

From my Wonderful Windowless Cubicle,

-Kira Brennan