Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

13 Ways of Looking at Graduate School

13 Ways of Looking at Graduate School: Part 4

Below is the final piece of a 4-part series by an anonymous contributor, a recent PhD recipient who has been involved with ESN and wanted to share lessons he learned during graduate school. In the fall he will begin teaching at a private Christian university. Praise God!

Click here to read Part 1, click here to read Part 2, and click here to read Part 3 — be sure to check out the helpful conversation in the comment section on 9. Don’t be afraid to be known as a fanatical Christ-follower. ~ Tom

“Finishing-up” and “Moving-on-to-the-next-job”

12. Pray for the next assignment

Pray for this 1st year professor and many others (including TAs) as over the summer they prayerfully consider/prepare for teaching full classrooms in the fall.

In times of transition, I have found it helpful to pray for the next assignment (especially the people with whom I will work).  This helps me to avoid getting burdened by sorrow about the friends I’m leaving behind, and reminds me that this entire earthly life is only a temporary sojourning from place to place until I go to my Real Home (Hebrews 11:8-16).  As Hebrews 13:14 says, “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”  This also reminds me, as I prepare to meet my new set of coworkers and friends, that my role is to serve them, agape-love them, pray for them, and point them toward Christ. . . . NOT to try to extract personal satisfaction or fulfillment from them. [Read more…] about 13 Ways of Looking at Graduate School: Part 4

13 Ways of Looking at Graduate School: Part 3

Below is part 3 (of 4) of a series by an anonymous contributor, a recent PhD recipient who has been involved with ESN and wanted to share lessons he learned during graduate school. In the fall he will begin teaching at a private Christian university. Praise God! Click here to read Part 1 and click here to read Part 2. ~ Tom

9. Don’t be afraid to be known as a fanatical Christ-follower

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9

Don’t be afraid of non-Christians thinking you’re stupid for believing in God and His divine Son Jesus Christ, and for talking about Him in public (as opposed to the common attitude of ‘you can hold whatever religious beliefs you want, as long as you hold them privately’).  We talk about other aspects of our lives that are important to us. . . . Why not God?  Whose opinion and approval matters most?   Whose opinion will we be concerned more about 1 million years from today?  I have learned how much I need to grow in this area.  “Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26). [Read more…] about 13 Ways of Looking at Graduate School: Part 3

13 Ways of Looking at Graduate School: Part 2

Last week, we began a new series by an anonymous contributor, a recent PhD recipient who has been involved with ESN and wanted to share lessons he learned during graduate school. Earlier this week, I received word that our guest writer has accepted a new faculty position at a state private Christian university. Praise God!

Here is Part 2 (of 4) of “13 Ways of Looking at Graduate School.” Click here to read Part 1. ~ Mike

5. Look for the “poor and needy” to befriend and invest in

Life is short
Life is short. God and other people are eternal.

Jesus said in Luke 14:12-14:

When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

I have been learning to look for the unbeautiful people, the unpopular people, the lonely people in the corner of the room with no one to talk to, the people who can’t help you in return, the boring people, the physically handicapped people, the international students who can’t speak good english, the nasty people who don’t have any friends, the poor people, the people who don’t have any connections, the weird janitor who never smiles, the frumpily-dressed grad student who smells like he rarely showers, etc… to seek to befriend them in order to point them toward Jesus… to agape-love them, to pray for them, etc.

I have a long way to go to consistently obey Jesus’ directive. As an aside, I have noticed that many benefits and wonderful friendships have come my way because of this habit. But that’s not a sufficient reason to do it. Rather, let us seek to befriend these people because of love for God. [Read more…] about 13 Ways of Looking at Graduate School: Part 2

13 Ways of Looking at Graduate School: Part 1

Today, we begin a new guest series by a longtime ESN member who has asked us to keep his name out of the limelight [as he has opportunity to serve in unqiue mission contexts — added by Tom, 9/1/2013]. All we’ll say for context is that he recently completed a PhD in the natural sciences at a major research university. We’re very grateful for his contribution to the blog. Thank you! The corny title, an allusion to Wallace Stevens’ poem, is my fault entirely. ~ Mike

Failure is normal in graduate school. Waterfall by 3sth3r, on Flickr
Failure is normal in graduate school. Waterfall by 3sth3r on Flickr

By God’s help, I have recently finished my PhD and am now transitioning into a faculty position. I was asked to share some thoughts for this blog about finishing a PhD and the things I’ve learned during graduate school. While many of the points will already be familiar to most of you, I hope that you can derive some helpful benefit or reminder from them.

1. Failure is normal

Most days of experimental work for a science PhD feel like failures (at least mine did), with only a few intermittently punctuating days of success. Experiments often don’t work or give data that are hard to interpret, exams are often difficult, and there are the normal workplace stressors like interpersonal relationship problems and funding uncertainties. Because my thesis tried to combine two very different disciplines, I often felt like I would never graduate. Somehow it took me years before I realized the “constant failure” nature of grad school. Simply recognizing the normalcy of frequent failure is part of keeping balance in the middle of it. I realized that I was not alone (most grad students experience similar failures at times), and that God’s promises of His good purpose and care were true, were for ME, and were meant to be applied on these depressing days. [Read more…] about 13 Ways of Looking at Graduate School: Part 1