At ESN, we deeply value supporting and mentoring the next generation. In this post, Scott Santibanez, an ESN author who often writes for graduate students and faculty here at the ESN blog, takes a moment to share encouragement and advice for students finishing their undergraduate careers and moving on to the next steps in their vocation. If you are a graduating senior, we're glad you're here, and we hope this post encourages you in this key moment. If you're heading to grad school and want to find community along the … [Read more...] about Advice for Graduates: 5 Things To Do as You Enter the Next Phase of Life
after graduate school
Leaving Academia, Part 3
In my previous posts, I discussed my exit from the academy and questions to better understand a pivot to a non-academic career. In this third post, I discuss practical strategies as you navigate new job application processes. When I started applying for non-academic jobs, I felt directionless and did not know how to start. Providentially, I stumbled upon the simple realization that I can leverage skills and expertise gained in graduate experience to navigate these new unknowns. By adopting familiar practices of … [Read more...] about Leaving Academia, Part 3
Leaving Academia, Part 2
In my last post, I shared about my unexpected and abrupt exit from an academic career. In this post, I discuss how my examination of two questions helped me pivot to life outside the academy and become thankful for my graduate experience. Now what? As it became clear that I would not have an academic job, I felt lost and overwhelmed. Having given no serious thought to a non-academic career, I wondered if my academic apprenticeship had any value in preparing me for life outside the academy. And I did not know … [Read more...] about Leaving Academia, Part 2
Leaving Academia, Part 1
Leaving academia is hard and difficult. In this new short series on “Leaving the Academy”, I hope my experiences will encourage you as you explore and wrestle with God's calling for your life as you transition to a perhaps unplanned non-academic career. Editor's note: For more of Josh Wu's work for ESN, see this link. For the better part of a decade, my life ambition was to become a professor. I was confident that hard work and a few providential breaks would land me a tenure-track political science professor … [Read more...] about Leaving Academia, Part 1
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