The GC Student Balancing Act: Making Self-Care a Priority - Divya Proper

When you hear “self-care,” what pops into your head? Maybe it’s yoga, meditation, or journaling. While those are great, self-care is so much more than just bubble baths and taking deep breaths. Sometimes it’s about setting boundaries, getting enough sleep, or just stepping outside for some fresh air. As genetic counseling students, it’s important for us to build good self-care habits now to prevent compassion fatigue and burnout during the program and after graduation when we are working genetic counselors. However, with packed clinic days, constantly changing schedules, and what feels like a never-ending to-do list, self-care can easily fall off your radar.

So how can you make self-care a regular and doable part of your graduate school life?

Schedule Self-Care Like an Appointment

One strategy that I have found helpful throughout my time in the program has been to put self-care on my calendar. I block off time to exercise or just to unwind and treat it like any other commitment. Sometimes, signing up (and paying!) for an activity or a workout class gives me extra motivation to go. If it’s on my schedule and I’ve already put down a deposit, I’m way more likely to stick with it and actually show up.

Prioritize Sleep

Sleep is so important, yet often the first thing that is sacrificed when things get busy. However, not feeling well-rested will typically set me up for failure when I have a busy week ahead of me. To make sure I’m getting a full eight hours every night, I set a “laptop off” time, and if I have an early clinic or class, I’ll head to bed even earlier.

Maintain Social Connections

I have found that staying connected to friends and family to be extremely important in staying sane during graduate school. Even when we are not all in class together, I find it helpful to try and make a point to regularly see the other people in my cohort since they understand what it is like to be a GC student better than anyone. I also try to hang out with friends outside the program (sometimes you need a break from talking about genetics) and regularly catch up with family, even if it’s just a quick call.

 

Utilize Weekends Intentionally

It’s easy to let weekends become an extension of the workweek, but I try to protect at least part of the weekend for personal time. I aim to have at least one day on the weekend to do something fun, participate in my hobbies, or do nothing with zero guilt. Having time to go to sports games, explore Pittsburgh, or spend a day on the couch reading a book is always a much-needed break after a busy week.

 

Self-care in graduate school isn’t optional. It enables you to show up for your patients, your classes, your relationships, and yourself. The key is consistency. Start small and set realistic goals for yourself. You’ll be more focused, more fulfilled, and far more prepared to take on whatever grad school throws at you.

From Pipettes to Pedigrees: How my Lab Experience Prepared me to be a Genetic Counselor - Cassidy Mills

Before entering Pitt’s Genetic Counseling program, I spent many of my days working in research labs. As an

undergraduate, I studied the genetic diversity of an invasive species, running experiments like DNA isolations and PCR. After graduation, I worked in a clinical trial vaccines lab, testing the efficacy of vaccines before they went to market. On the surface, these experiences might not seem directly applicable to the field of genetic counseling. However, the skills I gained in the lab are deeply relevant to my training and future work as a genetic counselor.

 

 The Importance of Communication and Collaboration

In both my academic and professional time in the lab, I learned how important teamwork and communication are to success. As an undergraduate researcher, I relied on mentors, professors, and fellow students to help strengthen my research. Presenting that research taught me to tailor my communication to different audiences. This is a necessary skill for genetic counselors who must often explain complex genetic concepts to patients in understandable ways. Later in the clinical trial lab, I worked on a team where every person was responsible for a different step in the experiment. In this situation, mutual trust in each other helped us work more efficiently and effectively. Similarly, collaboration in genetic counseling is not limited to the counselor-patient relationship, but extends to other healthcare professionals, laboratories, and researchers to help the patient receive the best care possible. 

Understanding Laboratory Processes

One of the core classes for Pitt GC students is Genetic Techniques. In this class, we learn about and practice many different genetic testing techniques that we’d encounter in our career. While we likely won’t be conducting these tests ourselves, understanding how they work gives us important context when interpreting lab reports and communicating results to patients. Thanks to my previous lab experience, I came into this class with an appreciation for the complexity and precision involved in these processes. Ultimately, this will help to tease out the most important scientific information the patient should know to make informed decisions on their health. 

Critical Thinking

If there is one thing I learned in the lab, it’s that things don’t always go as planned – equipment can break, steps may be missed in the protocol, or unexplained errors occur. Investigating the problem and learning to adapt allowed me to develop important critical thinking and problem-solving skills. These skills can be directly applied to genetic counseling. Every patient comes with a unique story, often seeking answers, resources, or support. Genetic counselors help piece together that puzzle by analyzing family histories, interpreting test results, and responding thoughtfully to the patient’s emotions. This process shows patients that genetic counselors truly care about their health and well-being and are there to support them, no matter what they’re facing.

The Peace of Wild Things: A Non-Exhaustive Exploration of Pittsburgh's Parks and Green Spaces - Alison Cercy

The Peace of Wild Things

Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

In my previous life, I worked for a land conservation non-profit. Even though my career has shifted, I maintain a deep-seated admiration of and belief in the value of green spaces. From a public health perspective (Pitt’s GC program is housed in the university’s school of Public Health), green spaces provide tangible and direct benefits to the health of local communities. These areas can act as carbon sinks, protect against erosion and other natural disasters, and provide habitat and food for endemic species of flora and fauna.

There is also proof that proximity to and time spent in nature can increase your mental health status. In a 2024 study published in Nature, spending time in greenspaces was linked to lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Pittsburgh is a moderately sized city, but has an incredible ratio of green spaces and parks for its population.

Self-care is a life-long pursuit of balance, but especially important in times of increased stress and responsibility, such as graduate school. Like Wendell Berry, I find time in nature to bring an always welcome perspective and sense of peace. Taking the time to do this allows me to be a better student, counselor, friend, and community member.

With that in mind, here is a (non-exhaustive) list of some of Pittsburgh’s finest parks and natural spaces.

o   Cathedral Lawn/Schenley Plaza  

§  Starting small, these are two green spaces directly on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus. Both the lawn directly around the Cathedral of Learning and the grass plaza across from the Cathedral and the Carnegie Library (a favorite study spot of mine) are very close to the GC classes. These are great spots to sit, read, eat lunch, or join in a game of volleyball (if that’s your thing, I lack the hand-eye coordination).

   

§  If you’ve forgotten to pack a lunch, the Schenley plaza has a few restaurants and an ice cream shop on the side, or you can grab a coffee from Yinz Coffee inside of the Carnegie library 

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 o Schenley park 

§  This park is one of Pittsburgh’s crown jewels. It’s located between Oakland and Squirrel Hill, and is just a short walk from campus over the bridge by the Carnegie Library.

§  Whatever your outdoor vice, Schenley probably has it covered. For running, walking, or biking, the park has miles of flat gravel and single-track trails that weave throughout the park. You can often spot deer on the trails or, if you’re lucky, you may get a glimpse of the owl family under the Schenley bridge.

§  The park also boasts multiple fields that are perfect for sitting, watching the clouds go by, reading, or napping. There is a complex with tennis and pickleball courts, a soccer field, track, and 1km gravel oval, as well as playgrounds, a pool (operational in the summer), a disc golf course, and an ice skating rink (in the winter)

§  Phipps Conservatory is also housed in Schenley park, and changes plant exhibitions every few months. Entrance is free with a pitt student ID

o   Frick park 

§  Frick Park is located between Squirrel Hill and the Point Breeze/Regent Square neighborhoods. This park has a baseball field, clay tennis courts, and playground on the Regent Square side of the park, but its main feature is its access to nature.

§   The park is situated on Fern Hollow creek, and boasts miles of trails. Beloved by mountain bikers, trail runners, and casual walkers alike, the trail system is such that you can enjoy anything from a short stroll to a long wander in the woods. In the winter, the bare trees allow good views and in the summer the foliage easily leads you to believe you’re on a hike far outside of the city.

§  There are also plenty of lovely spots to sit and read or watch the clouds go by and, if you’re lucky, you may even catch a performance of Shakespeare in the park in the summer!

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o   Highland park 

§  This park is located in the Highland Park neighborhood, between the Allegheny River and East Liberty, and right next to the zoo. There are plenty of walking trails, and the reservoir at the top of the park has a track around it for laps. For laps of another kind, the park has an Olympic size swimming pool that is a great place to cool off from the summer heat!

o   Mellon Park 

§  The smallest of the parks on this list, this is my most frequented. Mellon Park is located on fifth avenue between Shadyside and Point Breeze. There is a lovely walled garden at the top of the hill in the park, and plenty of greenspace and picnic tables to be enjoyed with a book or a picnic. If you visit on the right weekend, you might also catch the Makers Market at the adjacent Pittsburgh Center for Arts and Media