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In this Issue:

- GSAW  Feedback
- Upcoming Student Events & Updates
- Stress Awareness Month
- Pet Corner: Meet Gizmo

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GSAW Feedback

By Tanvi Potluri

Graduate Student Appreciation Week (GSAW) was celebrated last week April 4th-April 8th. In collaboration with TGS and other campus partners, we organized a week full of fun and relaxing appreciation programs.

If you've participated in any of our events, please let us know what we did right and could be done better next year by filling out this simple survey! You can also email us directly at cgsa@northwestern.edu.

Upcoming Student Events & Updates

By Tanvi Potluri

Graduate Needs Survey
The Graduate Needs Survey is an anonymous survey launched by a collaboration of NUGW, CGSA, GSA, and GLAC. These organizations will use the findings from the survey in organizing and advocacy with the university. This is a survey BY graduate students FOR graduate students. The goal is to understand the kinds of support, resources, policies, and protections that you need to succeed as a graduate student. Our goal is for every single graduate student to fill out this survey because our voices are more powerful together. Fill it out today! Chicago campus students who complete the survey can get free donuts and coffee on Wednesday, 4/27 12PM - 1PM in SQBRC Atrium.

i am black [you have to be willing to not know]
Friday, 4/22,  6 PM - 7:15 PM in Abbott Hall. Addresses the experience of being one-of-few people of color in the context of experimental performance. Too often, well-meaning white people fail to recognize how they are entirely complicit in the disavowals that craft Black rage. They imagine social circumstance as a somehow “natural occurrence” and become satisfied by witnessing Black creativity as difference. The terms of white privilege allow for this detachment, as if we were not all incredibly traumatized by the deeds of racist and greedy ancestors. This solo meditation features SLIPPAGE Artistic Director Thomas F. DeFrantz and is free and open to the public. Masking and other safety protocols in place and RSVPs are strongly suggested due to limited capacity. Please contact sdickson@northwestern.edu for more information.

Northwestern Medical Orchestra Spring Concert
On Friday, 5/6 7 PM - 8 PM, join the Northwestern Medical Orchestra online or in the Arthur Rubloff Building Thorne Auditorium, 375 E Chicago Avenue.

Stress awareness month has been celebrated every April since 1992 to help raise awareness on our modern stress epidemic. Chronic stress, left untreated, can significantly damage and impact both mental and physical health.

Few studies on the mental health of graduate students in particular have been conducted since 2010 and have shown alarming results. Graduate students are three times more likely to experience mental health disorders compared to other Americans. Other research shows a strong association between months spent in graduate school and work-related health issues. Work engagement scores (pointing to enthusiasm, dedication, pride, sense of meaning, etc.) are also surprisingly lower among graduate students compared to general population.

Despite these alarming trends, few intervention strategies have been studied to address graduate students in particular.
For graduate students, here are some resources to get help:
- The National Grad Crisis Line 1.877.GRAD.HLP (1.877.472.3457)
- NIH Seminar Series:The Mental Health and Well-Being of Biomedical Researchers. Recordings of past sessions are also available . Join their listserv for more upcoming seminars
- The Chicago CAPS office provides a variety of services graduate and professional students whose programs are located on Northwestern University’s Chicago Campus.

For mentors, here are some ways to support graduate students in times of stress. Inclusive mentoring of graduate students strategies.

Pet Corner: Meet Gizmo
By Carla Patricia Reyes Flores

Hi, I’m Gizmo but you can call me Gizzy, Giz or Boba for short! I’m a 10-years-old Pitbull and was adopted by my mom Erica when I was 1 months old. Nevertheless, it was not until Erica and Carla started dating and I got to meet my mom Carla that I knew what true happiness and bliss feels like (sorry Erica!). I’ve always been a city boy - I was born and raised in NYC and moved to Chicago with my two mommies. Thus, one of my favorite things to do is have very long walks by the city and smell literally everything my leash (and my moms) allow me to. I also love to play tug-of-war and fetch, even though I never release the ball from my mouth once I grab it. I also have a brother. His name is Nicolás, and he was featured in Volume 6 of the CGSA Newsletter. To be honest, I’m still trying to assess how I feel about him, but we can certainly say that we are getting more friendly as time goes – the other day we were cuddling together! I think that’s progress, right?

Want to feature your pet in our newsletter and share your joy with other graduate students? Just fill out this form!