Beyond Academics
As a graduate student, learning and research are a big part of day-to-day life. But a healthy work-life balance is something most graduate students try to prioritize. Our graduate students pride themselves in being a close knit bunch who often will spend lots of time together outside of work. Below highlights some of the activities our graduate students and postdocs like to partake in.
Recent Activities
The culture within MSU Astronomy is perfectly depicted in the photos above. Faculty, postdocs, and students planned and gathered to celebrate our dear friend, postdoc Jing Lu, who is moving out of state.
Regularly Scheduled Group Activities
Sports
Our grad students like to stay active, whether that be individually or as a part of a group. Weekly racquetball was started by a former grad student. You'll still find a group of grad students at the racquetball courts at IM West once a week whacking those racquetball. The grad students have also organized a soccer team that plays for fun on the weekends and plays in the intramural league over the school year. This team has even become interdisciplinary with students from other graduate programs! It's always nice to make new friends.
Pictured to the right is our 2025 MSU Astronomy Soccer team. Many of our new astronomy grad students eagerly joined! Also featured are friends from the Plant Biology Department!
The Celestial Strikers were exceptionally excited during this picture after an intense game resulting in a win!
Pictured on the left is a portions of the 2024 MSU Astronomy soccer team, the Celestial Strikers. Included in the image are some of our graduate students and post docs after a tough soccer game with a sign made by the supportive friends of our graduate students.
Board Game Nights
The grad students not only enjoy sporty games but also board games. Various students will often host board games nights! Pictured on the right is one of our grad students who was granted the winners hat at one of these game nights after winning a few rounds of Uno!
Group Outings
Leave it to the grad students to find fun activities in the area and around the state. Below is a gallery of the different activities students have attended and enjoyed. Some are now annual outings! Some of these outings include going to the renaissance fair, hitting up the cider mill in the fall, running/walking a 5k, and going to the movies.
Events as a Department
The astronomy group likes to hosts group events outside of the work place at least once a year. This past year everyone got to enjoy food, go on a nature walk, and visit some goats!