ESN Roundtable: Applying to Grad School
The transition from undergraduate studies to graduate school can be challenging! There is the whole process of deciding what schools to apply to, taking GRE’s if they are required, completing applications, gathering references, visiting campuses, talking with students and potential advisors in the program and more.
When you have been accepted into a program and confirmed your acceptance, you likely will need to move. It means parting from friends and a place that has become home over the past four years. There is finding housing in a new city, finding the best grocery and pizza shop, and finding Christian community. This is even more challenging if you are studying in a country other than the one in which you are a citizen.
The Emerging Scholars Network exists for these times. We’re committed to supporting aspiring scholars at every stage of their journey, from undergrad to early career faculty, researcher or professional. This is definitely one of those stages!
We’ve pulled together a team of people who know what it is like, grad students who have recently gone through this process and a faculty member who both works with undergraduates headed to grad school and grad students in his program. They don’t consider themselves experts but are glad to share their stories and answer your questions.
Here’s the team:
Daniel Ang is an experimental physicist specializing in atomic, molecular, and optical physics. He expects to complete his doctoral studies at Harvard University in 2022.
Savannah Caldwell is a second-year PhD student in the Medieval Studies program at Cornell University whose interests lie primarily in Middle English and French literature, particularly allegories and dream-visions. She completed her B.A. and M.A. (in English) at the University of Georgia, and her master’s thesis centered on the role of “Reason†as an allegorical figure in medieval texts.
Dave Vosburg is a professor of chemistry at Harvey Mudd College. His research is in the areas of biomimetic cyclizations, natural product synthesis, green chemistry, and self-assembly. He and his wife Kate (an InterVarsity staff minister) co-wrote Jesus, Beginnings, and Science: A Guide for Group Conversation. He has been a frequent writer and speaker for the Emerging Scholars Network.
Hannah Eagleson, Associate Director of the Emerging Scholars Network will moderate the discussion. Hannah has a PhD in Early Modern Literature from the University of Delaware and a Master’s degree from St. John’s College. In addition to her work with ESN, she is the Director of Graduate Student and Faculty Engagement at Chesterton House, a Christian study center at Cornell, and is a gifted editor and convenor.
This live conversation on Zoom will occur October 14, 2021 at 8 pm ET (7 pm CT/6 pm MT, 5 pm PT, 2 pm HT). The conversation will NOT be recorded, allowing for free conversations among the panelists and participants.
So if you are headed to graduate school sign up now at https://tinyurl.com/ESNgo2gradschool to obtain the zoom link for this webinar. If you know someone who is headed to grad school, share this article and encourage them to join the conversation.
Resources: Responding to Racial Injustice
We are grieving injustice and racism, so evident in American society right now, and all too often in the structures and systems of academia. We wanted to share a few resources readers may find helpful in lamenting racism and working for justice at this time. We as ESN staff members recognize our own need to keep learning and growing in our work toward justice in the university and in campus ministry. Please feel free to reach out to us as you find it helpful with prayer needs and ideas for how ESN can support you.
—Bob Trube & Hannah Eagleson, ESN Director and Associate Director
Jemar Tisby, In the wake of yet more anti-Black violence: We must ‘fight the freeze’
Leader and scholar Jemar Tisby shares a helpful framework for finding a path to action when the weight of injustice feels paralyzing.
Kadrian Hinton, Through My Lens—The Master Liberator
Author and campus minister Kadrian Hinton models finding lament and hope in this reflection from earlier this year.
Danielle Cadet, Your Black Colleagues May Look Like They’re Okay—Chances Are They’re Not
A helpful read for colleagues of Black academics and professionals.
InterVarsity President Tom Lin’s Official Statement
Tom Lin shares his official statement, “InterVarsity Resolved to Pursue Justice and Reconciliation.”
A Prayer from InterVarsity Leader Greg Jao
Shared by permission.
“I can’t breathe.”
Were those the last words of 1.8 million enslaved Africans who did not survive the Middle Passage from Africa to America, as they suffocated below deck and died of disease and malnutrition?
Were those the last thoughts of more than 4,400 African American men and women, boys and girls—sometimes entire families—as they were lynched in nearly every state in our country?
Were those the last experiences of African Americans dying of COVID-19, at two or three times the rate of other ethnicities, in significant part because of the ways racism daily affects their bodies, their communities, their access to healthcare, etc.?
“I can’t breathe.”
That’s why the last words of Eric Garner and George Floyd resonate so deeply.
That’s why so many willingly say those words today as tear gas (and other chemical gasses) fill their lungs while they protest.
“I can’t breathe” is very different from “I’m holding my breath.”
That’s why I should not hold my breath when someone begins a racist comment, and I hope they will not finish it.
That’s why I should not hold my breath when I challenge racism and worry about how someone will respond.
That’s why I should not hold my breath wondering whether my church, my community, my company, my cause, or my country—and my leaders—will say something truthful and transformative about the racist realities we live in.
That’s why I should not hold my breath worrying about whether peaceful protests will be co-opted by those who wish to distract or profit by engaging in violence and looting.
You have entrusted me with the ability to breathe, Lord, so I will not hold my breath.
Give me honesty to use my breath to confess how I engage, participate, or am complicit in racism. Give courage to use my breath to speak up, speak out, and speak to. Give me faith to use my breath to sing lament, coming judgment, and the hope of transformation. Give me conviction to use my breath to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Lord, have mercy. I can breathe, so let me use my breath.
Why ESN Needs You: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
Give to ESN and double your gift! Generous donors have offered a matching grant of $6000 for ESN.
[Read more…] about Why ESN Needs You: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
Graduate School Survival Kit
New to graduate school? Or returning and wondering what happens now? We’ve gathered some of our most read and appreciated material on navigating graduate school in this post. One of ESN’s goals is to support Christian academics at every career point with thoughtful materials from other believers who have similar life experience. If you’re looking for encouragement/grad school survival advice individually and/or for your campus fellowship, check out these five options: [Read more…] about Graduate School Survival Kit