Resources for Graduate Students
Graduate Student Profiles
Jennifer Yonkoski
![Jennifer Yonkoski [photo]](photo.jpg)
Doctoral Student
Sociology
Notre Dame offered me a chance to extend my education at a Catholic university, which, in my experience, highlights the importance of humanistic values in a world dominated by individualism. Additionally, I love the research process and knew I could get a great foundation in both sociology and research methods from the professors at Notre Dame. As a graduate student at Notre Dame, I have also been provided with a number of research and scholarship opportunities.
Notre Dame offers numerous funding opportunities for its graduate students. Every year, for four years now, I have been given a full tuition scholarship to pay for my schooling. I also receive a stipend, which basically means I get a paycheck for assisting my advisor in teaching and research – things I already love to do. Both the department and the graduate school offer travel reimbursement for students who attend or present at academic conferences. In March of 2006, I traveled to Omaha to present at the annual meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society, and in October I traveled to Los Angeles to attend the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology.
Yet the best part of the sociology department here at Notre Dame is that you’re always surrounded by people who care about and support you. Whether you really need to talk to someone or you just need a smile, the faculty, staff, and students of sociology are there to help you get through the highs and lows of graduate school. The faculty take a lot of time out of their already-busy schedules to have discussions with graduate students, to give them extensive feedback on their papers, and to collaborate with them on research. My fellow graduate students fostered a supportive and non-competitive environment, which was crucial for me my first year of graduate study. Four years later, I can say that the faculty and students in the sociology department have become the familiar faces that I will miss when I leave Notre Dame.
