May 4, 2022
PhD, Semester 8: It’s Been a Lot
In February 2020, I wrote a post titled “PhD, Semester 4: An Inventory of Exhaustion.” It was a very long post about being tired. I guess I needed to think and write through this exhaustion, make sense of why I was so drained. Today, in May 2022, I’ve just wrapped
December 30, 2021
Qualifying Exams III: How-to (The Advice Post)
At one point, I decided not to write an advice post on quals. People seemed to have wildly different experiences. I didn’t think I could present my experience as typical; does a “typical” quals experience even exist? I’d also received advice that just didn’t work for me; maybe my advice
December 16, 2021
Qualifying Exams II: How They Fail
In my last post, I wrote about my day-to-day experience taking the qualifying exam (“quals”) in September. As I worked through that blog post, my narrative got mixed up with commentary, recommendations, and half-hearted attempts at advice. Instead of doing a poor job of cramming everything into one post, I
November 21, 2021
Qualifying Exams I: How It Went
I took my qualifying exams (“quals” for short) September 13-15, 2021. Then for the rest of September, I tried unsuccessfully to write about the experience. It took me four attempts – four separate word documents of brainstorming, notes, and partial drafts – to accept that I needed distance from the
March 29, 2021
It’s Okay to Be Surprised by a Horrific Event
“It’s terrible but I’m not surprised.” It’s been over a week since the Atlanta shooting and I’m suddenly feeling averse to statements about surprise. If I hear one more person describe a horrific event as “not surprising,” I think I may explode. I’m guilty of repeating the “no surprise” line
From March 1-5, I took my own spring break. Like many schools, my university shifted our academic calendar in response to the pandemic, starting the spring semester late, but cancelling spring break to make up for it. Understandably, I was not alone in thinking this was a terrible idea. Having