In the four months since I graduated my Masters program, I have done some reflecting on the madness that is graduate school--this reflection is nothing new, but given that I have appreciated the advice I received from (much wiser) mentors and former grad students, I thought I would give some unsolicited advice about surviving 2-3 years of intense research, teaching, and academia-navigation.
Because while a lot has changed since May, my obsession with lists is not one of them.
This will be a lengthy post--I would apologize, but I've done enough apologizing for a while. So instead, I'll just say you have been forewarned.
1) You have a lot to learn.
There seems to be this expectation among incoming graduate students (myself included) that they should know everything prior to beginning their program. I can certainly see where this expectation comes from--we are frequently told that we have been selected for a highly competitive position, so please don't fuck it up, and that there will always be someone who is better and someone who is worse than us.
And this is all true.
However, professors have been in academia longer than we have (duh), and they have already uncovered the secret that we don't know everything--nor should we. In fact, one positive thing about continuing our education is that we have the opportunity to keep learning in a formal academic setting. We have the wonderful opportunity to learn from our mentors, professors, colleagues, and, on occasion, students.
Yes, you can learn from your students. 18 year olds have wisdom too (also keep in mind that not every college student is a traditional one!).
2) Priorities shift.
I went into my program with ubiquitous feedback that I was a theory person, so I was all "guess I'm a theory person now" (I was also once a formalist/new critic, so people change). When I began my program, I had never formally taught before, so a tremendous amount of my mental energy went into teaching freshman composition. I had a bit of an existential crisis in which I wondered if I had been a pedagogy person all along and was just fooling myself. Family members essentially asked me if I had forgotten that I was also a student. I would just laugh it off, and go, "no, loudly complaining that freshmen in college still don't understand rhetoric is actually my true calling!"
(In reality, I truly adore teaching. But sometimes one just needs some good old-fashioned seething sarcasm).
During my second year, however, I had teaching CO150 on lock (minus a pesky plagiarism case that lasted two months), and was able to devote my mental energy to research and unhealthy obsessions with every YouTuber and feminist theory ever.
Why my colleagues still speak to me, I will never know.
Basically, you will never be able to devote as much energy as you would like to to both research and teaching--but those priorities can ebb and flow, as can your feelings about higher education (but, unlike me, you should probably not make your frustration with academia known to anyone who will listen. This will come back to bite you.).
3) Lean on your mentors...
They are there to help you. They know things you don't. They are cleverly disguised superheroes who seem to lack a need for sleep and vacations.
4)...But not too much.
They are also exceptionally busy humans who have their own research interests and lives. While working with graduate students can be rewarding and fulfilling and whatnot, it is also a giant time suck because we have a tendency to be just a tad needy and obsessive. Respect their boundaries--they've set those up to keep both you and themselves sane. And don't be afraid to let them know how much you appreciate their help--it can be difficult to know when you've made an impact, so any sign of recognition can be hugely helpful.
Also, even if you do not get along with certain professors, be very careful about what you say about them. These programs are small, and any sign of shit-talking will get around. We are all adults who should forego the whole gossip and bad-mouthing stage of our lives.
5) Don't suck up to people for professional leverage.
Academia has its fair share of game-playing, ego-stroking moments. It also has its fair share of smart humans who can see through the "strategic friendship-making." It doesn't take long for professors and seasoned grad students to grow irritated with this game. I have been on both sides of this kind of sucking up and am not fond of the results of either side.
As a first-year in particular, even if you can read people well, there is a chance your initial impressions of the cohort will be wrong. You may think you know who the leaders are, only to find out the people you initially snubbed are powerful forces in the program.
As it turns out, sometimes those leaders can hold a grudge when burned. We can't always be emblems of maturity and grace.
It's in everyone's best interest to be civil to everyone around you--except when faced with someone who's trying to tear you down. Then it's in everyone's best interest to ignore them.
6) Supportive cohorts are best cohorts.
Support and let yourself be supported by your cohort members, even if you're not best friends. Talk to your colleagues who are different from you. Recognize that not everyone can be fully immersed in the program due to external pressures and obligations. Ask your colleagues questions. Learn from them. Challenge the liberal, elitist bubble that is the ivory tower and check your competitive streak--chances are, it's not as cute as you think it is. It's also not the only way to survive in academia.
And always, always remember to recognize and appreciate your friends and family outside of academia. Let them bring you back to the ground when you're floating on your academic high horse.
7) Challenge academic norms, and do the research that you want to do.
There will always be normalized, academic ways to get the publications or the recognition at the conferences. That kind of recognition fades. You, however, will be tasked with 2+ years of intense research about a very niche thing. If you research something because you think it will win you recognition/reward, you will burn out very quickly.
Even if you initially get some weird looks, do the research that excites you. Chances are there is some academic somewhere that also finds your research exciting.
And remember that academic research manifests itself in so many different ways. The formal, written research paper isn't the only way to do things. Just as the competitive streak isn't cute, neither is technological illiteracy. Take advantage of academia's resources and learn something like audio or video production (this is also helpful for the inevitable job search).
8) Don't get obsessed with academic stardom.
This is a "do as I say, not as I do" moment. It can be enticing to get sucked into the positive feedback and shiny awards. Academia frequently rewards the obsessive academics who are married to their career. Usually those academics (somewhat) easily claw their way to a PhD, and, if they're persistent and lucky, a tenure track job. But--what is the cliché?--the higher you climb, the harder you fall when you exit the intellectual cocoon of academia.
And that inevitable crash can be nearly fatal.
This is a bit of a sore spot for me, and I'm sure at some point I'll write about mental health implications in academia, but it's also worth mentioning that it is a good idea to prioritize self-care and free therapy sessions on campus.
Also, failure isn't necessarily a bad thing--resisting that failure can just make the impending crash worse.
As I'm still a relatively recent graduate, I'm sure I have a lot more to learn--as do all of us.
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