GMS Celebrates Graduate & Professional Student Appreciation Week with 5 Days of Events
Graduate Medical Sciences Student Affairs and the Community Catalyst Center celebrated our students during 2024 Graduate & Professional Student Appreciation Week (GPSAW), celebrated from April 1 to 5.
Throughout the week, we hosted a variety of events that brought students together for community building, social interaction, academic enrichment, wellness, and professional development.
Read our full GPSAW week recap below:
Monday, April 1:
Mindful Movement Yoga with Student Health Services
GPSAW week kicked off with a well-deserved self-care break in Hiebert Lounge from noon to 1 p.m.
Melissa Paz, assistant director of health promotion for Student Health Services, joined us to lead a Mindful Movement Yoga Session. The 45-minute practice combined breathing with gentle, self-paced movement that encouraged calmness and resilience during stress. The practice finished with a five-minute meditation.
No previous yoga experience was required.
The event was co-sponsored by C3 and GMS Student Affairs, who provided healthy snacks and beverages for attendees.
Tuesday, April 2:
Office Hours with Assistant Dean for Diversity & Inclusion Karin Schon
Assistant Dean for Diversity & Inclusion Karin Schon hosted an office hour from noon to 1 p.m. in the C3 Suite for students to stop by questions or to chat.
Dr. Schon, along with Assistant Dean for Diversity & Inclusion Shoumita Dasgupta, alternate hosting these office hours biweekly. The hours provide a safe space for students to bring up issues relating to navigating resources for diverse student needs, being connected to a peer or faculty mentor, navigating Boston as a member of a minoritized community, and more.
C3 provided pizza for the office hours.
Grab & Go Cookies
GMS Student Affairs partnered with the Chobanian & Avedisian SOM Student Affairs and School of Public Health Graduate Student Life for a grab-and-go cookie event in the L-Building Lobby.
Students from all three schools could stop by the table to pick up a free Chequers cookie at any time from noon to 2 p.m.
Professional Clothing Closet Pop-Up
GMS Student Affairs also partnered with the Alumni Medical Library, the Center for Career Development, Chobanian & Avedisian SOM Student Affairs, Goldman School of Dental Medicine Student Affairs, SPH Graduate Student Life & The Newbury Center for a 
Professional Clothing Closet.
Students had the chance to stop by L-107 to expand their professional clothing closet with free, gently-used pieces. All students were eligible to take home up to two items.
Wednesday, April 3:
Fuel Up Your Day… The Right Way
GMS Student Affairs invited students to stop by L-306 for a healthy snack on their way to class.
The two-hour event lasted from 9 to 11 a.m.
Snacks included granola bars, fruit snacks, juices, fruit, and coffee!
C3 Professional Headshots
C3 hosted its yearly hit event, Free Professional Headshots, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Godley Digital Media Studio.
This year, photographer Lewis Glass, from Paradise Photo & Video, joined us to take student headshots. Thirty-four students arrived over the three-hour period for a five-minute photoshoot session.
Attending students had the opportunity to pick the headshot they want from Mr. Glass’ website following the event. Students told us that they enjoyed the experience and are looking forward to more headshot opportunities in the future.
Thursday, April 4:
Citation Management for Success
C3 teamed up with the Alumni Medical Library to host “Citation Management for Research Success,” from noon to 1 p.m. in L-213.
Alumni Medical Library librarians Kristen Sheridan and Barbara Slover hosted the seminar and walked students through the free and open-source citation management software, Zotero.
Citation managers, like Zotero, help you keep track of the research literature you have found for your assignments and thesis research. They also help you accurately create citations and bibliographies for your papers and thesis. This workshop went over the basics of Zotero, importing citations from a few databases, and integrating Zotero with web browsers and Word.
Lunch was provided for all attendees!
If you missed this event in-person, please see a recording here.
Friday, April 5:
C3 Swag & a Snack
C3 recently received a large shipment of brand-new swag items, and we couldn’t wait to share them with GMS students!
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., students had the chance to stop by L-306 to select from an array of C3 baseball caps, t-shirts, stickers, tote bags, stress “brains,” pens and more.
Besides the swag, C3 provided cookies and chips to all students who attended.
Outdoor Fun Raffle
GMS Student Affairs hosted a raffle to close out GPSAW 2024! Up for grabs was a set of two tickets to a Red Sox game this season.
This raffle was a popular one, with students from a variety of GMS programs coming to L-306 for a chance to win the tickets.
Stay tuned to hear who the winners were!
We are excited to celebrate the skills, strengths and successes of our GMS student community during Graduate & Professional Student Appreciation Week and every week.
Check out the GMS Calendar to see even more events happening on our campus and beyond through the end of the semester.