1. When you're dating a PhD student, your partner spends all day every day obsessing about a single, tiny, specific subject.
2. Even when you're having a nice weekend or an evening off, you know exactly what their mental schedule looks like.
What time is it.
3. So you may have to be there to give them some perspective.
4. They're never really in their element until they get to the library...
5. They can also be a little hard on themselves.
6. You'll join them in the delights of years and years and years of a strict budget and student lifestyle.
7. Oh, and you've heard all about the stiff competition for an academic job.
8. If their topic of their research ever comes up in pop culture, you have to deal with the inevitable emotional fallout.
9. Their sense of humour is a little bit unique...
10. ...as is their idea of flirting.
11. You're nearly as worried as they are about their thesis defense.
12. Their idea of a rockstar is probably a little different than yours.
13. Their academic brilliance doesn't quite seem to translate to the real world.
Has a PhD in Organic Chemistry, but can't set a DVR. #boyfriend
14. They send you the highlights when they're grading students' essays, which can sometimes be worrying.
15. Like, really worrying.
16. They give you plenty of occasions to worry about their health.
17. And their crises of confidence are surprisingly frequent, but you do your best to reassure them.
18. They take their students' reviews way too seriously.
19. Their friends are other PhD candidates who are always talking about their subject, but you learn enough buzzwords to get by at parties.
20. In fact, being an outsider to academia can make you seem like a rare and exotic creature.
21. At the end of the day, your partner makes the best book recommendations, and that's pretty great.
22. And since they spend all their time applying for grants and scholarships, they're really good at helping you with essays and cover letters.
23. You love that you're always learning from your partner...
24. ...even though most of the time it's totally useless knowledge.
