Living, working and studying side by side with them, undergraduates often do not realize the important role graduate students play in University life.
But things may be different this week, which is national Graduate Student Appreciation Week. Held during the first week of April each year, GSA week is an opportunity for the campus community members to recognize how graduate students influence their lives.
The University has planned several events for this year's celebration, including an ice cream social at Frist Campus Center and free meal tickets to residential college dining halls for lunch on Friday.
There will also be an organized trip Thursday to see "Carmen" in New York City.
The events are not only a display of gratitude to graduate students but also constitute an effort to better incorporate them into undergraduate life.
The University has participated in GSA week since its inception in 1996. The celebration was inaugurated by the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students, a non-profit educational advocacy organization that represents more than 200 universities' graduate and professional students.
The NAGPS website offers colleges many suggestions for holding a successful GSA week. The organization proposes community carnivals, film festivals, book fairs, teach-ins and T-shirts that read "Have You Hugged Your TA Today?"
GSA week is also a chance for the University community to learn what issues the graduate students face. Inadequate housing, difficulties in commuting and stress-related health problems are some key issues the Graduate Student Government would like to address, said Meredith Safran GS, the press secretary for GSG.
Although undergraduates interact with graduate students through precepts and various activities, they generally do not understand the issues graduate students face, she said.
"People don't realize the different directions in which graduate students are pulled," Safran said.
She emphasized that graduate students are expected to do research and write papers like other students, but are also asked to teach classes like professors.
Likewise, the NAGPS website emphasizes the role graduate students play in both teaching and researching.
This GSA week, University graduate students are looking for appreciation of their efforts and understanding of their situation.
"It would be great if people had empathy with graduate students," Safran said.
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