Goodbye 2021, Hello 2022
Our 12th and 13th book winners are Natalie Brown (prospective PhD student) and Sarah Moody (current PhD student)! Be sure to enter the book giveaway for your chance to win a copy of A Field Guide to Grad School! More details below (at the end of the post). Note that this will be my last newsletter post of the year. I’m very much looking forward to taking a break and enjoying time with family. With that in mind, student hours have also concluded for the year. Now, onto the good stuff!
With the year coming to a close, I’ve taken time to reflect on the past 12 months—both the good and the bad. For prospective PhD students, this time of the year can be especially difficult given uncertainty around admissions decisions. Current PhD students may also be grappling with uncertainty themselves as fellowship and job applications may both be under review. As we wait together (I’m on the job market and dealing with my own uncertain future), let’s also take time to reflect and look forward!
Take time to reflect. As you reflect upon the past year, take time to celebrate your wins and honor your losses. To do this, answer the following questions for yourself:
What are you proud of?
What gave you energy?
Who inspired you?
Where did you meet, exceed, and fall short of expectations?
Were the goals you set for yourself truly attainable (setting good goals is hard!)?
Because you’re a whole person and not just your work, how did you grow personally?
In what ways did you surprise yourself this year? In what ways did others surprise you this year?
What do you want to let go of before the start of the new year? What needs to happen for you to do that?
Take time to look forward. Given how this year went for you and your plans for 2022, take time to set yourself up for success. To do this, answer the following questions for yourself:
In what ways do you want to grow personally and professionally in the new year?
When different people think about “2022 you,” what do you want to come to their minds first?
What concrete goals do you have for yourself? Of these goals, which are truly in your control (i.e., do not rely on decisions made by others)? Of those not entirely in your control, what aspects of the process/goal do you have in your control?
Given the goals you have for yourself, how are you going to prioritize them? With whom can you check in to review your goals (both personal and professional)?
How are you going to track progress against your goals?
How are you going to celebrate your wins and honor your losses? How are you going to help others celebrate their wins and honor their losses?
A BRIEF REVIEW OF “LET’S TALK GRAD SCHOOL”
On April 4, 2021, I asked #AcademicTwitter whether there would be any interest in me writing a newsletter for prospective and early-career PhD students and the response was quite positive!
The newsletter officially launched June 14, 2021 and was sent to just over 275 subscribers!
Since June, the newsletter community has grown to include almost 700 subscribers and this post brings the total number of posts to 18. Posts have averaged about 1,200 views each, with the most popular posts being about Urgency vs. Importance and Holiday Gifts. Conversely, the least popular posts were about Recommendation Letters and Planning for the PhD App Process.
In late August, I also began giving away copies of A Field Guide to Grad School by Dr. Jessica Calarco to subscribers. To date, 13 books have been mailed to students and I have 17 more to give! So, be sure to sign up for the giveaway via the link provided at the end of this post.
In August, I also started hosting student hours on Monday evenings (well, evenings for me). During these sessions, I met with students from around the world to largely discuss the PhD application process, provide feedback on application materials, and answer pressing questions about navigating the first year of doctoral studies.
My hope is for the newsletter to continue to grow its reach! If you have found the information I’ve shared helpful, please consider sharing the newsletter with your friends, colleagues, labs, and departments (letstalkgradschool.substack.com).
Although I will be taking the next few weeks off from posting, get ready to learn about navigating Zoom/Skype/phone interviews which may precede invitations to visit campuses during the PhD application process (among many other things)! If there are topics you’d like to see discussed, please let me know. You can email me at letstalkgradschool@gmail.com.
SCHOLAR PROFILE #15: DR. ELIZABETH MUÑOZ
The purpose of these profiles is to highlight and connect you to scholars at different career stages doing interesting and important research and service work.
This week, we get to learn about Dr. Elizabeth Muñoz, who is an Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.
Now, let’s learn about Dr. Muñoz’s academic journey.
What are your research interests?
My research centers on identifying early predictors of adult cognitive health. I specifically focus on the role of psychosocial and environmental stressors across the lifespan with a particular focus on how early influence accumulate across the lifespan to shape cognitive health in adulthood and old age. A particular focus of my ongoing research is to understand these association among Latinx adults in midlife and old age.
Where did you earn your PhD and with whom did you work?
I earned my PhD in Human Development and Family Studies at Pennsylvania State University. My advisor was Dr. Martin Sliwinski.
Why did you choose your PhD institution and advisor(s)?
The Human Development and Family Studies program at Penn State was always a top choice for me given its history in the field of lifespan development and aging. One of my favorite theorists and scholars, Dr. Paul Baltes, taught there so I thought it would be neat to study where he once worked. After visiting different departments, it was clear to me that I needed to go to Penn Sate for my PhD. They had the most rigorous training and resources for graduate students to succeed. My advisor was doing research closely related to what I wanted to pursue and was working on starting projects that were really interesting to me. An added bonus was that cohort who I would be coming in with was really friendly.
Please share more about your academic journey.
Post high school, I was really into math and wanted to major in something math-related, so I started pursuing engineering. Two things happened during the same semester in my first year of college: 1) I took a developmental psychology course, and 2) I volunteered at a long-term care facility. My interactions with the older adults at this care facility really awakened a passion to do something to help people like them, and my developmental psychology class dedicated only one class meeting to older age, which left me wanting to learn more about that stage of the lifespan. Through some amazing mentors I realized I needed to pursue research opportunities and sought out one faculty member who was doing research in aging. I emailed her lab, and got no response so I decided to just go knock on their door. The graduate student was so surprised that I was so persistent that they welcomed me in. I got involved in the research lab and had the privilege of attending research conferences my junior and senior year where I met other scholars in the field. I applied to developmental psychology and human development programs that had faculty doing research in lifespan development and aging.
How did you navigate the PhD application process?
The application fees were a limiting factor, so I first made a list of schools I was interested in and looked to see if they had waivers. I then went back and removed schools that I knew were not the best fit—I did all this in consultation with my undergraduate mentor. I ended up applying to 8 programs. The key for me was to revise my statements multiple times and give it to multiple readers. All of the graduate students in my lab read my statements, as well as my undergrad advisor. Back then, it was embarrassing to share personal statement drafts and such, but I am glad I did because I am certain their feedback made all the difference.
What is one bit of advice you'd like to give new (first-year) PhD students?
One piece of advice that I took seriously was to not compare myself to my peers in my program. Some of your peers will come in with post-baccalaureate experience or master’s degrees. It will be hard not to compare, but you just have to make sure you are focused on your goals and making progress on them every day.
Beyond having to compare myself to my peers in terms of their educational experiences, I also focused on not comparing myself to their socioeconomic status, or home experiences. A lot of my peers had parents who had gone to college and had graduate degrees. My peers could share a lot of their experiences with their families, whereas my parents did not understand what I was doing, despite their best efforts. As an immigrant, first-generation student of color, it was hard not to wish to have the experiences that my peers had.
This leads me to my last piece of advice, and that is to try to find mentors who share your same background. Although I received great training from my advisor, I could not identify with his experiences and background and so I sought mentorship from the only Latina professor in my department. Even though we did not share the same research interests, she mentored me on how to survive grad school and how to keep on going at times when I felt like I did not belong.
I have found that building a team of mentors has been the most helpful things for me. You will need a research mentor, a professional development mentor, a mentor who you can share your doubts with and will help you stay on track, and a mentor who will help with your productivity. I think some graduate students rely on their primary mentor to fulfill all those roles, but that is not always possible.
Is there anything else about you or your journey that you’d like to share?
Asking for help is okay. Do not hesitate to reach out to faculty, graduate students, or postdocs when you need help. You will find that most folks are always willing to help or share some advice.
Many thanks to Dr. Muñoz for sharing more about her academic journey!
How to reach me: You are always welcome to email me (letstalkgradschool@gmail.com) or find me on Twitter @tweetsbymidge.
Let’s give away some books: Readers located in the United States and Canada are eligible to enter the book giveaway to receive a copy of A Field Guide to Grad School by Dr. Jessica Calarco. To do so, complete this survey and note that you only have to complete it once to be entered in all subsequent giveaways! I do hope to expand the reach of the giveaway; however, at the moment, the shipping costs are too great to scale. If you’d like to talk about ways your institution could secure an electronic (or hard) copy, please let me know.
Until next time!
Margaret