It’s time to get real about life as graduate students. The Grad Student Diaries shed light on shared challenges, successes, and emotions that students balance while navigating through graduate school. Submit your story here.

This week, we spend three days with Paul who routinely stays up until 1 a.m. working on projects for his graduate education. 

Name: Paul Pasato Leon
Studying: Cybersecurity
Expected graduation date: December 2024
Current location: Macon, Georgia
From: San Fernando, Azuay, Ecuador
Age: 29
Current job title: Cybersecurity Analyst in Retail/IT industry
Married: Yes
Kids: No

Have you received funding to attend grad school? Yes, company tuition reimbursement.
Are you taking loans out to fund your graduate education? No.
What is your goal for when you complete your graduate education? 
My goal is to create an organization for high school students that will guide them on the upcoming college journey. 

Combined monthly income: $4,000
Savings contributions: $1,500
Monthly debt: $400

Expenses

Rent: $1,500
Gym: $0
Phone payment: $150
Car payment: $300
Car insurance: $180
Health/dental/eye insurance: $20
Childcare or Petcare: $100
Music streaming service: $20
TV streaming: $50
Parking or transportation: $0
Cable and/or internet: $60
Club memberships: $0
Student Loans: $0
Other: $0

Total Monthly Expenses: $2,380

Day One

7:00 a.m. My alarm goes off. My wife wakes up and starts preparing herself breakfast before work. I greet my wife and my Rottweiler dog named Boo. 

7:20 a.m. I prepare my dog for her morning walk, grab bags, treats, and walk out with my wife and dog to her car to say goodbye. 

8:00 a.m. I return back to my apartment to prepare breakfast for my dog. We usually meal prep for her so it is convenient to fill her bowl with prep food that contains carrots, sweet potatoes, chickens, peas, multivitamins, dry food, and an egg. 

8:20 a.m. My breakfast varies. Sometimes, I have cereal with milk and a banana. Other days, I have yogurt. My favorite flavors are coconut, chocolate, or raspberry. 

8:30 a.m. I walk to my office room and get my set up ready for my workday. I check my board to see what task I have and what I have accomplished. While I wait for my computers to load, I either keep my board as it is or update certain bullets. 

8:40 a.m. I start my day in different ways. One way that I start is reviewing my emails to see if there is any important communication, any response from previous emails. Other times, I start from the previous task that I didn’t complete the day before.

11:30 a.m. I grab an energy drink if I have stock in the fridge, or otherwise, I drive to my nearest gas station. $7.80

1:00 p.m. I grab lunch. Lunch is either leftovers from the previous night or a meal that my wife meal prepped, or both. If it is pasta or Ecuadorian food, I take a 45-minute lunch to enjoy my meals. Otherwise, I take 30 to grab a ham sandwich with LOTS of cheese, ketchup, and mustard. 

2:45 p.m. I am self-learning currently on Application Security topics that will help me be better on my job duties. 

4:45 p.m. I grab all my current tasks that are needed to be finished for the day, and I make notes to make sure I can pick them up the next day if not completed. 

5:00 p.m. I go to the dog park with my wife to have a family moment with our dog. We play fetch and chase each other. 

6:45 p.m. We arrive home and my wife starts making dinner. I try to recommend pasta for dinner, but she has a different menu that I love. I also feed my dog the same food that I gave her for breakfast. She loves to say thank you to me, even though my wife feeds her sometimes. 

8:00 p.m. Today, we sit and watch Netflix. This can vary. I like action movies, but my wife likes documentaries and kid’s movies. 

10:00 p.m. I walk my dog at this time to make sure all of her necessities are taken care of, and she can go to bed. Sometimes, she is stubborn and likes to take 30-to-45-minute walks. Usually, it is more like 15-to-20-minute walks. 

11:00 p.m. I say goodnight to my wife and dog, then I start working on my grad school assignments, projects, and self-learning. I pump some music and start working on the activity. Sometimes, I crack open an energy drink or a soda. 

1:00 a.m. I go to bed because my wife keeps calling me to come to bed. I am happy with my work throughout the day and go to sleep. 

Daily total: $7.80

Day Two

7:00 a.m. Same morning routine as yesterday. 

8:00 a.m. I return back to the apartment to prepare breakfast for my dog; however, I decide to go to the supermarket to get snacks and energy drinks. $25

8:20 a.m. I feed Boo her prepped meal and enjoy breakfast with her. We walk to the office and fire up the computers then go back to the kitchen to eat our meals. 

8:30 a.m. I start my day pumping some music at my personal computer. I needed some motivation. Currently, I have rejected an offer from the Department of Defense, and it was a hard decision to make as my final goal is to work for the government. I am still confused why I rejected it, but multiple aspects went into the decision. For example, starting graduate school and projects that I am currently working on. I felt that I was going to be overwhelmed with multiple things going at once. 

9:00 a.m. I try to concentrate and not think too much about it; however, I decide to create a plan to apply again and improve myself to be a better candidate, and I can go through the process again. 

I have decided to start learning a new language. I fire up my Udemy course for the new language and start practicing and learning. I think that this is great to prepare myself.

I sometimes feel imposter syndrome. After I finished my undergraduate degree, I started a full-time position as a cybersecurity analyst. There were times that I felt that I needed to be perfect, even though I was accomplishing goals. I believed that I was not as good as other people in the room. Another feeling I had was the negative self-talk, such as "Do I need to be here?" "How did I end up in this role?" "I do not thing that I am good enough?" I wanted to be an expert, but I felt that I was not prepared for my role. Before I knew about imposter syndrome, I believed all of those affirmations. However, I joined leadership groups at my school and at work where they talk about leadership and other topics. I try to fight the imposter syndrome by looking at all the accomplishments that I have had, the way that they were done, and the people who guided me. 

11:00 a.m. I remotely attend work meetings about current projects. 

2:00 p.m. I quickly grab lunch and eat. I am a fan of the cold sandwich with extra cheese and ham. I work on projects based on my deadlines to achieve something. I attend more meetings. 

4:45 p.m. I grab all my current tasks that are needed to be finalized for the day and make notes to make sure I can pick them up the next day if not completed. 

5:00 p.m. I return to the dog park with my wife. 

6:45 p.m. I stop at the grocery shop to stack up my pantry. $150

8:00 p.m. We eat tacos, and after dinner, I wash the dishes. I thank my wife for dinner and move to my office to start working on school projects, self-learning, and other projects. 

10:00 p.m. My dog and I do our routine nightly walk. 

11:00 p.m. Again, I say goodnight to my wife and begin working on my schoolwork. 80% of my schoolwork is done during weekdays from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. This is because I have a full-time job from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. After work, I try to spend time with my dog, taking her to the park, doing chores, and preparing meals. I find this time peaceful and calm. The other 20% is done during the weekend as I try to finish any missing tasks to make sure I do not procrastinate on any assignments. At the beginning, it was a little hard to adapt to this change, but after some weeks, I can call it a routine. 

1:00 a.m. I wrap up for the night and head to bed. 

Daily total: $175

Day Three

8:00 a.m. My alarm went off at 7, and my wife had already left for work. I wake up and start preparing my dog for her walk. Since I slept in, I grab my work phone and see if there are any upcoming meetings that I need to prepare for or attend. 

9:00 a.m. After feeding my dog, my dog comes with me to my office and lays under the desk. That’s her cubicle, and she works all day with me. It is good to have my dog next me as I can pet her or play fetch. At my studio, I get new projects that I will be working on for the next couple of weeks within my team. I reach out to the people who will affect my work and verify that all the information is correct in case I need to ask questions. 

I have updated my board with a quote, “If you are unfulfilled, build something.” And “When you are afraid, you get frozen.” I heard them on YouTube. 

I continue learning my new language. I think that I will complete my goal of a new language. 

2:00 p.m. I drive to Panda to grab some orange chicken and white rice. I love Panda. $10

4:45 p.m. I wrap up for work for the day. 

5:00 p.m. My wife and I go to the dog park. Since it is Wednesday, they have wine and beer. We grab a drink and enjoy while we play with our dog. $15

6:45 p.m. We stop at the gas station to get gas and gum. $30

8:00 p.m. My wife makes my favorite dish, which is pasta and shrimp, and I really enjoy that with extra, extra cheese. 

10:00 p.m. I take Boo for our nightly walk. 

11:00 p.m. I work on my schoolwork until 1 a.m. and head to bed. 

Daily total: $55

Three-Day Total: $237.80
 

We asked Paul what is something he was proud of during the three days of journaling. 

I am proud of how I was able to stick to routines even though it may be hard to go to bed late and wake up early. Another achievement I am proud of is being able to keep track of tasks that I needed to keep track of and not miss anything important. This was achieved by road maps and scheduling. Finally, I am proud that I had time for myself to reset and spend time with my dog. 

The Office of Graduate Education is looking for graduate students who are willing to journal their day-to-day life and finances for three to seven days. Do you have a graduate student diary that you would like to share? Submit your story here.