Welcome!
This is a collection of essays on the theme "All I needed to know to survive (and succeed) in grad school, I learned from ...."
Waitressing can help someone overcome fear of public speaking. Raising a puppy teaches patience and a sense of humor. Flunking a class helps you learn to separate your performance from your sense of intrinsic worth.
While it's common to talk about academia and life in "the real world" as though the two rarely meet, in reality this is rarely the case. These essays reveal how different experiences outside the academy give us the skills to succeed within it. We know that students' identities, backgrounds and life experiences are sources of strength to draw on, not obstacles to overcome.
Succeeding in grad school, particularly a PhD program, requires all kinds of skills. Some are obvious, and related to "book smarts" and research skills. Others are less obvious, like persistence, grit, and generosity. Some essays articulate lessons that apply to particular parts of grad school, such as "working with my adviser," "writing my dissertation," or "preparing for quals." Others focus on experiences that remained important throughout the writers' entire graduate school career.
We seek contributions. Writers draw on their past experiences, highlighting the specific lessons they learned that, in turn, helped them to develop the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind that lead to their survival--and success--in grad school.
Every essay describes a personal experience and connects it to lesson(s) that apply to grad school. Each completed essay is published on this site, under Creative Commons licensing. The most recent essays are here. Someday we plan publish the entire collection as a book.
Waitressing can help someone overcome fear of public speaking. Raising a puppy teaches patience and a sense of humor. Flunking a class helps you learn to separate your performance from your sense of intrinsic worth.
While it's common to talk about academia and life in "the real world" as though the two rarely meet, in reality this is rarely the case. These essays reveal how different experiences outside the academy give us the skills to succeed within it. We know that students' identities, backgrounds and life experiences are sources of strength to draw on, not obstacles to overcome.
Succeeding in grad school, particularly a PhD program, requires all kinds of skills. Some are obvious, and related to "book smarts" and research skills. Others are less obvious, like persistence, grit, and generosity. Some essays articulate lessons that apply to particular parts of grad school, such as "working with my adviser," "writing my dissertation," or "preparing for quals." Others focus on experiences that remained important throughout the writers' entire graduate school career.
We seek contributions. Writers draw on their past experiences, highlighting the specific lessons they learned that, in turn, helped them to develop the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind that lead to their survival--and success--in grad school.
Every essay describes a personal experience and connects it to lesson(s) that apply to grad school. Each completed essay is published on this site, under Creative Commons licensing. The most recent essays are here. Someday we plan publish the entire collection as a book.
I want to participate
Click through to the Tell Me More page for information about how to submit an essay idea.
Why are we doing this?
Three things motivate this project.
The power of stories. Stories are how we make sense of our lives. Too often, grad students are reluctant to share the stories of how our lives outside of school have given us what is needed to succeed. Over and over, we have seen how hearing someone else's story--or telling their own story--gives grad students the courage to continue. And to define "success" in their own terms.
Demystifying grad school. One thing that makes graduate education, especially doctoral programs, mysterious, is that they are so different from other forms of school. Many doctoral students have only a vague sense of what it takes to be successful. We want to help demystify what often seems like an opaque process.
Diversifying grad school and helping every student succeed. Sometimes students see their backgrounds as a deficit; perhaps because they don't think that many people "like them" belong in, or make it through, grad school. These essays fight that misconception. We want our readers to draw encouragement and guidance by hearing from a wide range of people. We want current and future students to know: You are not alone. You are part of a vast and rich community. You have many more resources to draw on than you may realize.
The power of stories. Stories are how we make sense of our lives. Too often, grad students are reluctant to share the stories of how our lives outside of school have given us what is needed to succeed. Over and over, we have seen how hearing someone else's story--or telling their own story--gives grad students the courage to continue. And to define "success" in their own terms.
Demystifying grad school. One thing that makes graduate education, especially doctoral programs, mysterious, is that they are so different from other forms of school. Many doctoral students have only a vague sense of what it takes to be successful. We want to help demystify what often seems like an opaque process.
Diversifying grad school and helping every student succeed. Sometimes students see their backgrounds as a deficit; perhaps because they don't think that many people "like them" belong in, or make it through, grad school. These essays fight that misconception. We want our readers to draw encouragement and guidance by hearing from a wide range of people. We want current and future students to know: You are not alone. You are part of a vast and rich community. You have many more resources to draw on than you may realize.
What do people write about?
Every essay focuses on one formative experience that the author has had and the lesson(s) learned there that the author connects to their success in grad school.
Some essayists draw on aspects of their family or childhood. Others, on how a hobby or vocation proved to be a surprising source of key lessons learned. Some of our authors write of overcoming adversity: loss, addiction, illness, divorce.
Here's a list to show the range of possibilities for these essays and to spark your imagination for your own contribution. Some possible endings for the sentence, "Everything I needed to survive grad school I learned ....."
Some essayists draw on aspects of their family or childhood. Others, on how a hobby or vocation proved to be a surprising source of key lessons learned. Some of our authors write of overcoming adversity: loss, addiction, illness, divorce.
Here's a list to show the range of possibilities for these essays and to spark your imagination for your own contribution. Some possible endings for the sentence, "Everything I needed to survive grad school I learned ....."
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Who are the essayists?
Contemporary voices: current advanced graduate students and from recent degree recipients.
Disciplinary specialists and interdisciplinary mavericks. Essayists come from every field: neuroscientists, engineers, historians, chemists, mathematicians, artists, geologists, ecologists, and anthropologists.
Universities across North America: Public and private, rural and urban, elite and regional, US and Canadian.
Disciplinary specialists and interdisciplinary mavericks. Essayists come from every field: neuroscientists, engineers, historians, chemists, mathematicians, artists, geologists, ecologists, and anthropologists.
Universities across North America: Public and private, rural and urban, elite and regional, US and Canadian.