Strategies for Success > Health and Wellness > Coping with Personal Tragedy

Know your options for coping with critical life events

Life happens. During any stage of your graduate education, you could encounter a personal event that affects your momentum. Life events such as death or illness of a spouse or family member, divorce, or loss of income can disrupt even the best efforts at stress management during graduate study. 

Different life events have different impacts. In some cases, however, it may be possible to anticipate events and prepare for them. It may also be useful to recognize the impact of events that have occurred so that you can take account of them. 

If you encounter a critical event in your life, talk to your graduate advisor about the options available to you.

• Don't simply withdraw and leave others to guess at what is going on.
• You can take a leave from your graduate studies.
• You may also be able to negotiate the timeline for various requirements.
• Your advisor will have encountered such situations before and will be happy to help you make arrangements.