October feels like that part of the semester where time starts to blur. One day I’m opening fresh notebooks, the next I’m staring down midterms, looming deadlines, and an inbox exploding with workshop and event invites.
My first reaction: Nope. Because between classes, research, grading, and trying to remember what fresh air feels like, adding another event feels like trying to major in multitasking.
But lately I’ve been wondering: what if those events don’t have to feel like extra work? What if they could be something that fits into the messiness, that threads possibility through the chaos?
One lesson grad school has taught me is that the mythical “less busy” week never comes. There’s always another paper, class presentation, stack of readings or life thing demanding attention, because apparently adulthood doesn’t take semesters off. So, I’ve stopped waiting for the perfect window and started carving out tiny pockets instead: after a lecture, between two deadlines or even that 30-minute stretch I was about to spend doomscrolling.
That’s when I skim upcoming events in the weekly GradUpdate newsletter. I don’t aim to attend everything, just one that feels interesting. And sometimes that one hour shifts my week more than I’d expected. Here are a few more small things I do that make it easier to show up.
I try to choose events based on curiosity. Not the event that looks “strategic,” but the one with the title that makes me think, Maybe this will surprise me.
Take a friend or invite a classmate who could also use a break from their thesis, studying or just… life. It’s easier (and a lot more fun) to show up when someone’s coming with me.
Let expectations go. I don’t try to leave the event with a fully formed life plan, but I do try to find a spark, a thought or a conversation I can take with me.
The Spaces Already Waiting
You don't need to look far.
The UBC Career Centre offers one-on-one coaching, résumé help, and drop-ins for those “uh, what am I doing again?” moments.
Graduate Pathways to Success gives you ways to build skills (communication, project management, etc.) in small, usable increments.
Make Time for Possibility
This month won’t magically slow down. Courses or research demands will all still be there. But that’s exactly why it’s worth pausing for things that remind you what you’re working toward. When you make time for small moments of connection or reflection, they have a way of grounding you. Of making the rest of it feel a little less impossible. You never know what might shift or who you might meet when you give yourself permission to step away from the grind for an hour.
So go ahead: show up for yourself. No pressure. Just possibility.
Guest blog post originally authored by Marjorie Rugunda, PhD Student at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality & Social Justice, Communications and programming Assistant at the Arts Amplifier. Originally published October 14, 2025, on the Arts Amplifier website.