The thought of “going to college” calls up ideas of the stereotypical college student — the one who develops a caffeine addiction, spends a significant portion of their time avoiding work until the last possible minute and even more time dedicated to complaining about the work that they are avoiding.

However, there are other kinds of students wandering around campus. They blink blearily at the light of day as they emerge from their offices to run to the library, or vice versa. They leave behind the faint aroma of coffee, stress and echoing complaints about the inadequate amount of time in a day.

I am talking about the grad student. Many of us have heard about this mythical creature, but sightings are rare. Occasionally the lowly undergrad will have a grad student as an instructor. In these moments, they can be found to be surprisingly human before they whip back to their offices and become researching machines.

To find out more about this creature, I decided to track one down.

I found Brandon Saxton in the depths of the psychology department, trapped like a rat in his basement office. Brandon is a clinical psychology graduate student who researches the emotional influences on cognition, although he is interested in looking into vulnerability factors for depression.

What is the biggest difference between being an undergraduate and being a graduate student?

Brandon: It’s a different kind of stress. As an undergrad, you stress out about your grades and upcoming exams, but as a graduate student, grades aren’t quite as important. The main stress comes from needing to produce research and think your own thoughts instead of just consuming knowledge.

Undergrads thinking about grad school can take comfort in the fact that grades lose some of their importance. Sadly, the stress will never disappear.

What is your favorite thing about grad school?

Brandon: Instead of just learning about psychology, I now get to do it. I get to perform research, and also have the opportunity to work in clinical practice.

Good news everyone! Your years of studying theory are about to pay off, and you can actually do things.

How about the biggest challenge?

Brandon: Probably independence and time management. A lot of things don’t have official deadlines, and so it can be easy to put them off more than you should.

This is unfortunate. I already feel like I’m up to my eyes in things to do and schedule. I might just drown under the unofficial deadlines of grad school.

Do you have an opinion about how students look at you?

Brandon: I don’t think students care much about grad students either way. But as far as the opinions of people in general, I get a lot of people asking about when the pay starts coming in. I also get people asking me why I don’t have a job, but there’s an easy answer to that. Grad school is basically a full time job.

What is your favorite food group?

Brandon: Fast. Not fast food, but anything that is quick to prepare and consume. Mobile food is good food.

This was surprising. I was expecting the answer to be caffeine, perhaps with a few tics and jitters thrown in for effect. But I suppose minimizing the time for food consumption can help maximize efficient hours.

Do you feel a rush of power when grading papers?

Brandon: Not at all.

Believe it or not, your friendly grad student probably isn’t out to get you.

During my time in the lair of this elusive being, I was constantly aware of the majesty, the air of intensity and dedication. No sweatpants for this creature, oh no. Dress clothes only. Yes, you may well shudder at the thought, as I do.

But even so, I learned that the grad student is about the same as you and me, under the veneer extreme dedication. They still take classes (even if research is more important). And they still eat.

I left the office with its atmosphere of dedication and serious study and returned to the world of the undergraduate. The world filled with hope that my next exam won’t reduce me to a shell of human being. The world where papers are only started at the last possible minute, under the theory that “I work better under pressure.” The world with an unreasonable amount of fear about what might be growing in the back of my fridge.

After my brief foray into the unknown, it is nice to be back in the comfort of my apartment. But I will always look back with fondness on my time in the wilderness, with those grad students in the mist.