I think lot of us tend to rush to graduate school without understanding the demands and implications of a graduate school ( at least in my case .... ;)).

Since most (not all) of our undergraduate experience seems to revolve more around work that will help us get through the expenses of our schooling, we seem to postpone our real career goals. Thus, in that scenario, graduate school, particularly the first year can be super-overwhelming, especially when you have snobs in class that know better than the professors :).

The other twisted version of graduate school in my experience was this high hope of having good mature friends, socializing, getting involved in engaging activities and so forth. In my experience, it is the complete opposite, except in those pathetic happy hours. Everyone goes into a shell and lives in that shell, unless you decide to do something about it, it can get very frustrating....

Having said all that, the only way to overcome all those hindrances is one mantra::::

Patience, Patience, Patience, Patience, Patience!!!