answer:The only thing that genuinely surprised me about my MA program was how competitive and petty the students in my department could be. There was definitely some amount of animosity toward the students who were selected for scholarships, awards, or TA positions. There was also a lot of fake-friendships based on those who wanted to use others for their notes. Other than that, it was pretty much what I anticipated: a lot of reading, a lot of studying, a lot of worrying, and a big dose of imposter syndrome. I used Evernote to keep all of my notes organized. I ditched highlighters in favour of post-it notes/flags to mark important passages. I took a lot of handwritten notes that I later transcribed because going over things twice helped me to remember them better. After every session with my students, I took down notes in a journal about how class went. I kept a file for each of my students to keep track of their progress or problems. Now that I’m entering the PhD, I’m learning the benefits of forming bonds with your cohort (the students who enter the program at the same time that you do.) It helps to be able to bounce ideas off of people who are in the same boat as you.