If I were to sum up my last five years in one word, it would be “change”. I have lived in four different houses, worked three different jobs, lived on two continents, gotten married, gone to grad school, and had a child. Read more…
In Transition? Find an InterVarsity Campus Group
Looking for Christian communities in a new place? Here are a few links to help, in the US and internationally. Read more…
Fall Snapshot: Depending on Christ
As an aspiring psychologist, I was recently in a training session that taught us how to validate clients’ feelings—to show respect for their feelings, display empathy, and exhibit active listening so that they feel heard. While learning how to empathize with the feelings of others, however, I’ve also been reflecting on my own feelings, especially transitioning into my first year in a Master’s program in New York City.Read more…
Inhabiting Transitional Time Well
My transition from being an undergraduate to entering graduate school was ambiguous. I simply did not know when or where I was going. Discerning my vocation was a long, but important process that took about three years that started in my junior year of undergrad.Read more…
Summer Snapshot: The Discipline of Simplicity
Two years ago, my husband and I packed our two-bedroom townhouse into my parents’ garage and flew to the U.K. with two bags each. During our postgraduate studies, we lived in a 300 sq. ft. apartment and shared one three-feet-wide closet for a whole year. Aside from traveling and making friends from around the world, we learned a few unexpected lessons which we are trying to integrate into our lives this summer.Read more…
Summer Snapshot: The Secret of Solitude
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 quickly time escapes from me.Read more…
Processing your PhD: on next-ness
As a young faculty person, with all the anxieties that are part of that identity, that quiet does tend to bring in some of its own challenges, however. It might even go to waste, slipping away into the voracious demands of the calendar. There’s a refrain of next-ness, for lack of a better phrase. What’s next, indeed?Read more…
Summer Snapshot: Taste, See, and Obey
This summer, everything is new. My plans have been pushed aside in favor of God’s, and He is constantly telling me that I know what’s best, and I will provide. I’ve just finished my undergrad degree in molecular biology and Asian American studies. I’m still torn between what to pursue for graduate school. Read more…
Processing your PhD: a further meditation on done-ness
My friend Nate recently asked me what I’d do next. “What do you mean, ‘next’?” I replied.Read more…
Summer Snapshot: Transitions, Instability, and Jesus
As an undergraduate and now graduate student, I’ve attended three institutions of higher learning in the last six years. Very little about my life has remained the same. Read more…
Pilgrimage: Life of a Pilgrim on Campus (Scholar’s Compass)
As we near the end of this series of devotions on pilgrimage, let’s return to where we began, on that highway to Jerusalem in Psalm 84. On that highway travelers have their hearts set on arriving in Jerusalem and worshipping in God’s holy temple. With their focus set on this story, the path they walk becomes one of refreshing springs even in the desert. When we encounter Paul in Athens, he is also following a story, a story that begins on a road to Damascus. Read more…
Pilgrimage: Communitas in the Academy (Scholar’s Compass)
As we muddle our way through liminal spaces on the path to a sacred center, especially with others who also see themselves on pilgrimage, not only do we change, but so do our relationships. A unique community arises that focuses on reaching that goal more than remaining within the usual boundaries and edges of social interactions. The lure of such a community often draws people to the academy.Read more…
Pilgrimage: Liminality in the Academy (Scholar’s Compass)
On a journey to a sacred center, pilgrims often leave behind known and familiar lives to step into an unfamiliar time and place. Even if they have a good image of their destination, they cannot predict what will occur along the way. In this respect, pilgrimage is essentially a time of liminality.Read more…
Scholar’s Compass Navigating Transitions: In the Middle of Things
On Transitions (Part III) -or- Some Thoughts on Hospitality
The Scriptures say: practice hospitality.Read more…
On Transitions (Part II)
In the previous post, I shared some thoughts with you about why we should engage during times of transition. Throughout this post, I’ll share about how we can weather these times of transition well, even coming out smiling and thankfulRead more…
On Transitions (Part 1)
As I sit to write, friends of ours from Boston are a few miles from our home, having stopped for a brief visit with us en route to their new town. They are in the middle of a major transitionRead more…
13 Ways of Looking at Graduate School: Part 4
Final piece of a 4-part series by a recent PhD recipient who has been involved with ESN and wanted to share lessons he learned during graduate school. Read more…