SJ on the Wellness Scholarship: Prioritizing Friendship in Grad School

SJ and friend watching videos at the Black Music Walk of Fame in Cincinnati, OH.

During my (hopefully) last year in my PhD program, I have not lived near any family or close friends. My closest friend in the MA program graduated and entered a PhD program in Ohio fall of 2025. We planned to attend NCTE Conference for College Composition & Communication (CCCC) in 2026 together. Funding for this opportunity was limited in my department. 

Funding from Purple Collar Project Wellness allowed me spend some quality time with my friend outside of the conference, which greatly improved my mental health. My friend's mental health also improved as she has been slow to make new friends in her large graduate program. Thanks to funding, I helped pitch in gas money for travelling to Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus, Ohio with my friend; visited multiple science, travel, music, and interactive art museums; and ate great local food. While grad school can be a lonely experience, short opportunities like this one renew my strength and energy to finish my program strong. 

For more information about how attending conferences with fellow researcher friends improves my mental health, you can visit my blog post: https://sjphd33.wixsite.com/sjphd/post/humble-times-at-ncte-cccc