Historian Ryan Wilkinson, PhD finished and starting a tenure track job in the fall, writes a letter to himself at the beginning of graduate school. We hope it's a great encouragement, wherever you are on your academic journey. Dear Me, Well, congratulations—you're going to graduate school! So—this is your future self, writing from a decade ahead to let you know that you'll have a lot of fun. On the other hand . . . it won't all be easy. Hmmm? What do I mean? Well, let me give you some examples. … [Read more...] about Letter to My Self, Starting Graduate School
Transitions
Writing Captures the Moment (Writing As a Spiritual Discipline Series)
Today in our new series on Writing As a Spiritual Discipline, InterVarsity staff member Angelo Blancaflor shares his thoughts. See Angelo's other work for the ESN blog here. Previous posts in the Writing as a Spiritual Discipline series include Limits and Creation and The Spiritual Act of Naming: Truth Telling in Writing. Since finishing undergrad, I've moved back across the country—from school in Illinois to home in Orange County, CA. Writing has been a big part of the past 8 months as I've been … [Read more...] about Writing Captures the Moment (Writing As a Spiritual Discipline Series)
Summer Snapshot: The Secret of Solitude
Galina Pylypiv connected with the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) at Urbana15, where she served as part of the liveblogging team. See some of her previous work here, and browse other Summer Snapshots here. Same setting yet different pace of life. A transition from being an undergraduate student to graduate student at the same university is a place of mixed feelings. As I'm utilizing my summer by starting a research project, the reality of large time commitment is becoming very tangible for me as I realize how … [Read more...] about Summer Snapshot: The Secret of Solitude
Processing your PhD: on next-ness
What's it actually like when you finally finish a PhD? Recent PhD grad Will Mari wraps up his series on life after graduate school, Processing Your PhD. See posts on finishing here, teaching here, and further thoughts on being done here. I'm sitting in my office on a quiet, mid-summer afternoon, and my campus is silent. Sure, I hear the clunk-clunk of apples rolling off the roof above my office (outside an ancient tree stands vigil, and is raining forth its bounty early). We have a few summer camps going … [Read more...] about Processing your PhD: on next-ness
Summer Snapshot: Taste, See, and Obey
Angelo connected with the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) through the Urbana15 pilot ESN Scholars Program, which connected emerging scholars with mentors and peers in small groups before, after, and during the Urbana Student Missions Conference. He also served on the Urbana 15 liveblogging team, and you can read some of his previous work for ESN here. As Angelo considered graduate school and joined InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, this Summer Snapchat [1] offered a reflection on God's work. If you would like to … [Read more...] about Summer Snapshot: Taste, See, and Obey