• About
  • Current Partners
  • Our Team
  • Past Partners
  • Our Alumni
  • Blog

Community-AID Blog

Programming Innovation for Youth-serving Organizations​

“The Importance of Self-Care in College” by Jazmyn Roper

3/25/2022

0 Comments

 
For many, college is a stressful time. As college students, we have many more responsibilities than we used to and must make decisions about our future in a short amount of time. As a graduating senior, I can say that this has been the most stressful and busy year. Taking four classes, working part-time, being involved in extracurriculars and research, getting ready for graduation, and planning for post-graduation has been overwhelming. Along with those responsibilities, I must make sure that I take care of my responsibilities outside of school. At times, it can be difficult to balance all my obligations.

It’s easy for me to overwork myself to fulfill all my obligations. Sometimes, I even feel guilty when I haven't done everything that I wanted to complete that day, or I wasn’t as productive as I usually am. Even on days when I’ve done a substantial amount of work, I feel that I should’ve done more. “I could’ve started on that assignment that is due in 2 weeks,” and “Could I have job-searched for a little bit longer?” are some of the thoughts I have.

I’ve learned throughout the years that it’s important to make time for myself. Carving out time in my schedule to practice self-care has been essential. Self-care is "a multidimensional, multifaceted process of purposeful engagement in strategies that promote healthy functioning and enhance well-being” (Dorociak et al., 2017). Self-care is really any activity that takes care of your health: getting enough sleep, hanging out with friends, exercising, and even playing video games. One of my favorite self-care activities lately has been going on walks around campus. I often remind myself that I don’t always have to be doing something that pertains to school, work, or my other obligations. It’s okay for me to take a break and do things that make me happy.

Self-care during college is important for several reasons. Firstly, self-care is a way to relieve stress. After a busy day of classes, it’s nice to unwind and do an activity that is relaxing and or boosts your mood. For me, calling a family member at the end of the day always puts me in a good mood. Furthermore, self-care helps us to be more productive. Now, this might sound contradictory to my point earlier, but self-care throughout the day can give us a boost of energy to finish our tasks and even start new ones. This is especially important as we go through college, as our workload and responsibilities tend to increase each year.

Moreover, it helps prevent burnout. If we don’t make time for ourselves and engage in stress-relieving activities, we can get to a point where we are completely exhausted. I feel that everyone, including myself, has experienced burnout at least once in college. It’s not fun. Burnout can make us feel miserable and unable to fulfill our academic obligations. Lastly and most importantly, self-care is important for our health. Self-care can improve our mental, physical, and social health to name a few. Doing activities that you enjoy, eating healthy, and socializing are all examples of self-care activities that promote a healthy lifestyle during college and beyond.

Incorporating self-care into my schedule has made a world of a difference. As I reflect on my time here at MSU, I feel that I’ve become happier and healthier. I encourage everyone, whether in college or not, to start making time for themselves. Life is too short to not do things that make you happy.
​

Dorociak, K. E., Rupert, P. A., Bryant, F. B., & Zahniser, E. (2017). Development of a Self-Care Assessment for Psychologists. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64(3), 325–334. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000206

0 Comments

"Grappling with the uncertainty of a gap year(s)" by Megan Shaffer

12/17/2021

0 Comments

 
As a senior wrapping up my second to last semester at MSU, I’ve been met with the same question more and more frequently-- “so, what are your plans for after graduation?” College seniors are supposed to be figuring things out, and making plans for our first time in the “real world.” Whereas some of my peers are in the process of applying to jobs, accepting full time offers, or applying to graduate schools, I’m undecided as to which direction I want to go next. I know that I want to go to grad school eventually, but I don’t know what for. As someone whose interests seem to be always evolving, I’m left to grapple with many questions. How does one focus their interests enough to make this big decision? And, perhaps a more immediate question, what should I do in the meantime while I figure it out? To put it simply, the uncertainty of a gap year (or years) has consumed my thoughts lately. 
Although it’s easy to fall into negative thought processes surrounding an unknown year ahead, there are positive aspects that have been helpful for me to focus on. For one, I am not the only person feeling this way. It’s natural to fall into the habit of comparing ourselves to others, which can be misleading. I try to remind myself that everyone feels this way to some extent at some point in their life. Every student graduating this year is entering a new phase of their life, and whether they have it “figured out” or not, they are sure to be dealing with some of these same worries. As alone in this struggle as I may feel at times, we have more in common with the people around us than we think. 
Additionally, accepting that a gap year may be challenging has been important for me. I’ve tried to let go of expectations and prepare to be out of my comfort zone. After roughly 16 years of structured school experiences, I expect I may feel unprepared or unfamiliar with my circumstances next year. At the same time, this could be a much needed period of relief compared to the chaos of busy semester after busy semester. It might be the hardest year yet, the best, or somewhere in between. Ultimately, amid challenges is often when we learn and grow the most. 
Lastly, uncertainty presents unlimited opportunities. The field of psychology is so broad, and this is part of the reason that I chose it as my major in the first place. It suits me to study an area in which I am constantly learning of exciting programs and positions that I never knew existed. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on just how unpredictable circumstances can be- and reminds us that things can change when we least expect it. It helps me to think about how much my day to day life changes from one year to the next, and the growth that inevitably comes with this. We never know what great opportunities might be around the corner. I’ve enjoyed so many of my experiences at MSU, and can confidently say that I am just as excited as I am anxious about the upcoming year of my life. 

​
0 Comments

"Graduating college amidst the pandemic" by Miracle Potter

11/3/2021

0 Comments

 
“Congratulations class of 2021!” was the celebratory statement I heard while turning my tassel to the left side of my cap. The excitement I felt and the smile on my face were hidden by my face mask. I couldn’t help but gaze into the audience and notice the abundance of empty seats. While I felt lucky to have even walked across the stage, this feeling was short lived. I began to think about all the people who could not attend their graduation because it could have jeopardized their health. I thought about all of the seniors, their families and friends, who would’ve been able to attend if their lives had not been taken by the virus. Then, I thought about us—the young adults entering “real” adulthood during a state of total abnormality. Would the job market for our degree still have the same outlook? Would graduate schools be able to admit students after taking large financial hits? Would everything we learned about adulthood still apply? All of these questions stem from uncertainty about this sudden change. Because change is inevitable, it could be helpful to look towards things that have remained constant during these uncertain times. 
Different circumstances allow for different and new experiences.
Within things that are immutable, there is a certain type of comfort that exists. Different circumstances can disrupt that comfort, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing. This lack of comfortability could influence you to do something new and different. This pandemic caused extreme changes for us and likely influenced us to do things differently. During the lockdown, many people used the extra time they had to rekindle their passion for certain hobbies or discover an interest in a new hobby. Some created innovative ways to connect with their loved ones. Others used this time to pursue business ventures, product development, or even self-improvement. Personally, I took the time during the lockdown to learn how to play the acoustic guitar. I am still not very good at it, but these things would not have normally occurred had circumstances stayed the same. 
Adaptability is one of the greatest strengths you can have.
From an evolutionary perspective, adaptability was a matter of life or death. If you could not alter your state of being to fit the new environment, you would die. Over the course of our lives, we have had numerous life-altering experiences that forced us to adapt. This particular experience of COVID-19 forced us to restructure our normal functioning to achieve the same goals. Attending classes through Zoom University, using computer-based software to simulate labs or practicum, and interacting with family, friends, and professionals virtually are all ways that we have adapted to this new normal. Although you may feel that you missed out on the in-person aspects of these events, you have gained a skill that is invaluable in your career and personal life. 
Things happen when you least expect it.
When there is a cloud of darkness, it can be hard to see the possibility of anything different. However, times like this are when amazing things happen, right before your eyes. Constantly worrying about your future narrows the view that you have of yourself. You are painting a self-portrait without even realizing how you received certain colors on your palette. In plain terms, constantly looking so far into the future limits your ability to live in the present. Allowing yourself to engage in present things that make you happy and healthy can lead you exactly to where you need to be in the future. So, take a bit of time to assess what “current you” needs to be the best version of “future you”.  
Personally, I was very stressed out about obtaining research experience, because I knew it would be vital for admissions into graduate school. Of course, the moment I obtained a research internship, the pandemic started, ruining my plans of traveling to Michigan State University for the internship–so I thought. The internship was converted to a virtual program that allowed me to still conduct research from home. That internship transformed into a research assistant position that I am still doing today. I had no idea that I would have an opportunity like this and I am forever grateful. 
Ultimately, the anxiety we feel about our future is inevitable. Entering a new stage of life can make anyone a little nervous, especially when the world is completely different. However, you are not alone. You and 4 million other graduates have this unique experience of welcoming new events, adapting to change, and removing expectations. These experiences are considered strengths and can be very useful in your career and personal life. So, when the world feels like it’s moving in circles around you, try to think back to things that have remained the same. As Heraclitus stated, “the only constant in life is change”, so, remember that even these circumstances will be different in the future.

0 Comments

"Back to Campus" by Antonio Gonzalez

10/12/2021

0 Comments

 
17 months. It has been that long since classes at Michigan State University transitioned to an online format and students were encouraged to return to their permanent residences. While in-person classes were reintroduced in the spring of 2021, my classes remained fully virtual for those many months. The tally of months finally stopped growing on September 1st, 2021. That was the first time in over a year and a half that I was able to walk back onto MSU’s campus with fellow students and faculty to attend an in-person class (a distinction that I never thought I would have to make in my college years).
My father attended MSU in the 1980’s and raised me to bleed green and white. I grew up attending home football games every year for as long as I can remember. I never realized until it came time to make my college decision that I had already fallen in love with MSU’s campus. I could not imagine being anywhere else as an undergrad. It all seemed to be going great in fall 2019, my freshman year, into spring 2020 as I got to enjoy the sights and sounds of a buzzing campus: classes, dorms, clubs, football and basketball games, and the occasional party even.
Obviously, this all came to a screeching halt in March 2020 when I moved back to Clarkston, MI and stepped into the new normal of Zoom meetings/classes back in my childhood bedroom. I was fortunate enough to be locked into a housing contract for the 2020 school year. I moved to an East Lansing apartment in the fall where I completed my second year of undergrad. During this time, I took frequent walks, runs and longboard rides through an MSU campus that after experiencing pre-Covid-19 normal -- I can only describe as a ghost town. On all those trips something just never felt right, and I was finally able to identify that “something” when I returned to campus recently.
Returning to campus for class, reminded me of those various sights and sounds that I had forgotten the feeling of experiencing pre-Covid-19. The buzz of campus that I grew up with and experienced 17 months ago was seemingly back. Seeing, hearing, and being a part of the crowds of people made me genuinely excited, a feeling that I think a lot of people have not had a lot of recently. As someone who has always enjoyed learning, it was discouraging to find myself resenting Zoom-based classes. Being back in-person, I found myself able to enjoy the experience of learning as it once again felt like everyone was an important part of the experience instead of another faceless “participant”.
This reminder of all the things I loved and missed about the in-person experience is bittersweet. Three of my four classes this semester are once again online, and already in these first weeks I have found it hard to enjoy those classes. I know that I must power through these struggles, and having my in-person experience two times a week has proven to rejuvenate and re-energize me just enough to do so thus far. At the end of the day, you must make the best of what you are given. While I do wish that I had more opportunities for in-person learning, I still feel blessed to have the opportunities that I do. I hope that one day we can return to the old normal, but until then I will embrace this new normal and what it has to offer.

0 Comments

"In Memoriam: Rich Milich, PhD" by Ignacio D. Acevedo-Polakovich

12/2/2020

0 Comments

 
For about half of my doctoral studies, I had three co-advisors; Tamara Brown, Betty Lorch, and Rich Milich. How I wound up in that (turns out, fortunate) situation is its own story, but what prompts me to write about it today is that--as of a few days ago--I have only two co-advisors left. A few evenings ago, a good friend and fellow Rich Milich mentee--Paul Rosen--let me know that Rich had passed unexpectedly. 

I did not do the best job at keeping up with Rich. My research developed in directions that took me away from shared professional circles and my jobs took me several states away. I saw and heard less and less of him, until I eventually lost contact. I understand that this often happens, and I have grace with myself in that regard. That said, I regret not saying a number of things to Rich that I should have and now cannot. Foremost among these is how thankful I am that he worked with me, and how invaluable I found the lessons that I learned from him. Every single one of my students has received pieces of wisdom that I learned from him. 

The lesson that I most often pass on to my students is the importance of good, fundamental science. In his direct-but-nonthreatening way, Rich would often remind me that impressive statistics cannot overcome the deficiencies of a limited design, and that a good design can be incredibly powerful even with the simplest of mathematical analyses. This lesson lives profoundly in the work of my lab, where--despite the challenges of implementing these when doing engaged work in applied community settings--quasi-experiments are a regular occurrence (along with the occasional randomized trial). 

Through his approach to mentoring, Rich taught me to be compassionate and professional with students. He mentored so many students, and did it so well, that he is my archetype of a good advisor. He was timely and thorough with feedback, direct-but-welcoming in his tone, and maintained excellent boundaries. Any good advising that my students receive indirectly comes from Rich. 

Through his approach to life and work, Rich taught me not to make work the sole feature of my existence. Rich worked as hard, or harder, than most faculty members. However, (at least during the time that I was in graduate school) Rich traveled somewhere spectacular for a healthy portion out of each Summer. Rich’s example has landed me all over the world, and I am a better person because of it. 

Throughout his career, Rich published almost two hundred scholarly publications, primarily on issues surrounding the development--and experiences--of children who are affected by attention disorders. Because of his work, we better understand the way in which children with these disorders develop over time and how to help them better enjoy the game of baseball. I think he found both to be important aspects of his legacy. 


Rich was a remarkable scientist and, arguably, an even better mentor. I am incredibly thankful for his influence on my life and career. If there is an afterlife, I hope it gives me the chance to get to sit with him again, enjoy his dry, sometimes awkward wit, and thank him profusely for the incredible influence that he had on my life and career.

0 Comments

"Kahunaman, the Super Indigene" by Malu Castro

2/26/2020

0 Comments

 
Welcome back avid readers and obligatory narcs. Lladito Biter here with another installment of Is this Decolonization? For this week, I have been reflecting on a strange phenomena that I have been experiencing since joining the academy. Namely, that I am a superhero called Kahunaman with superhuman scholarly abilities. I have found that regardless of what I speak on I am generally right. Moreover, I am lauded as “truly” scholarly because I have read from more than a handful of authors in a single discipline (I read 10 pages a day, people. That’s nothing special). Finally, people say shit like, “mind blowing” with regards to common sense points I make. Imagine how crazy it is that I can blow peoples’ minds away with some basic reflections? Everytime this happens I imagine how Neo felt when he woke up in that H. R. Giger Duracell ovary and how that all happened from a pill. No one goes up to my colleagues who aren’t as interested or labeled as interdisciplinary as experts on both their field and White Settler Studies regardless of how true that statement is. You might be asking yourself, “how do I know I have these abilities?” It is because they are all based on a magical relationship—I show up and things happen. The chain of cause and effect breaks down through my otherworldly might. No longer am I bound by the constraints of rigor or humble scholarship. I am the scholar supreme of interdisciplinary magic. Those of you who share similar genealogies of colonialism, trauma, and academic proclivity might recognize that you have these powers as well. 

But where did we get these fantastic abilities? Was it from some freak mutation born deep within our genetics or was it from the bite of a radioactive graduate student? It was none of these. Instead, our powers come from being the last children of dying nations which might as well be light years away. We are destined to translate the arcane practices of long dead civilizations to create a brighter future for the remaining masses...or at least that’s the story. Prop buildings, laws, and books have been made to help actors play out this story, but these props buildings are made of bricks and prop laws can kill will impunity. This story is so powerful it has made a witchcraft out of skin pigmentation and blood. For example, you can be killed because of your skin color. If that isn’t magical thinking I don’t know what is. So, in a way the story is true. We have been jettisoned from our homes into alien hands, but we aren’t the last of our nations and we never left the planet. Instead, we are stranded in a fiction. A tale where the reality of your people has been vivisected and placed in antiseptic examination rooms called “departments.” Out of fear of messing with the narrative flow, these departments rarely interact. Now us superheroes come from a reality where the world isn’t separate so when we try to navigate this story we end up reconnecting old pieces to build an escape craft back home. We aren’t even interested in finishing the story. Most of us just want to get home. But in our efforts, the actors find our work and scream “NOVEL!” “INNOVATION!” “MIND BLOWING!” “NEXT CHAPTER.” In the cacophony they clamour over your ship they dismantle it and add it to the props. Another chapter in the story. So, you are probably wondering how are you supposed to avoid this fate when the people who are substantive experts in the political and economic cultural realities you are interested in are physically housed in a separate department? When your willingness to meet other people who might be able to help think about something from a different angle is seen as catastrophic? When the screaming praise of actors fills your ears to the point you can’t concentrate? You can’t.

That would presume that a story can be changed when its ending has already been outlined and published. An ending where you are a superhuman...the last son of some far off planet. Destined to death. The best you can do is remember that back home you aren’t special or unique or magical. You are not having wonderfully novel ideas. That is not our future. Our’s is a future where the ideas and ways of being we have are normal, boring, and commonplace. Where we remember that we suck at hunting and fishing. We don’t know how our uncle knows when the taro is ready. That we are helplessly just trying to do what we can to get back home.
Thank you for taking some time out of the Matrix to share in the glorious splendor of our apocalyptic present. We will be back next week with a lesson from the course Visiting for Settlers 101 titled “How to be comfortable with not being on time to your next meeting.”
​
As always, It’s probably not!

0 Comments

"Dealing with Career Uncertainty" by Maggie Jenkins

1/29/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
“And what do you want to do after you graduate?” — the dreaded question. Soon enough, any college student develops some pre-packaged answer to this question, something that will satisfy nosy relatives and prevent too many further lines of questioning. After repeating my own answer enough times, even I believe myself when I say that I’m confident in what I want to do: be a therapist for children and adolescents. This confidence quickly fades once I allow myself to reflect on it for longer than five seconds, and waves of doubt set in. There are so many things that I find interesting, so how do I know that I’m picking the right one to focus on? In fact, am I even interested in the things I claim to care about? Will I really be happy doing what I say I want to? In an attempt to combat these panicked thought spirals, I’ve begun to reframe the way that I think about my future career in several key ways.

#1: Embracing uncertainty
Even though a part of me hates not knowing exactly what comes next, in a way it is actually quite thrilling. The sheer number of choices is at once overwhelming and exciting — there are jobs that I’ve never even heard of before, jobs I could have that do not yet even exist. Instead of being scared of this concept, I’ve begun to think of it as a wonderful thing. After all, I don’t have to commit to only one job for my entire life. With so many possibilities to explore, I can change my pathway many times throughout my life.

#2: Taking new experiences and passions as they come
Although exploring activities outside of my comfort zone initially brings me a lot of anxiety, it has also brought some of the most meaningful experiences of my life. Last fall, I began volunteering with 4th Wall Theatre Company, an organization that provides theatre classes for youth with special needs. I was hesitant to join at first, being one of the only non-theatre majors there and feeling unsure as to whether I would be any good at helping the students with theatre. However, it soon became one of the highlights of my week. At the end of a busy day, the pure joy in that class energized me. This experience broadened my view of not only which populations I may want to work with in the future, but also of the wide range of ways I could incorporate creativity into my work. Embracing experiences such as this one creates opportunities for the development of new passions that may influence my future pursuits.

#3: Realizing that career isn’t the only important part of life
Your career may take up a lot of your time, and it is definitely an important part of your life, but it is not the only part of life that has value. There are so many parts of life that can bring you joy — expecting your job to bear the burden of fulfilling you is unreasonable. It’s also unreasonable to think that every single thing you’re interested in can be incorporated into one singular job, but that does not mean that you cannot still engage with these things. Career isn’t everything, and your life outside of your job can be just as, if not more, fulfilling as your job itself.

I won’t pretend that I don’t still experience anxiety when thinking about my future, but I have found ways to reframe this anxiety into a more productive train of thought. Knowing that I have many options, being open to exploring new interests, and accepting that my career isn’t everything has soothed the fear I experience when I look forward into the unknown.

0 Comments

"Rekindling your academic flame" by Sara T. Stacy

1/15/2020

0 Comments

 
            Community-engaged research and scholarship is—in many cases—like a relationship. For instance, it is important to have honesty, trust, and respect with our community partners. We must maintain open lines of clear and consistent communication. We have to be willing to go the extra mile and be there when they need us. We need to demonstrate loyalty and commitment to ensure our partnership will stand the test of time. If I continue, I could practically write a romance novel about a community partnership. I’ll leave that idea for another day… but in this post I would like to discuss the importance of one specific relational practice that I have found is important to maintain within academia: Find ways to rekindle your flame.
            Rekindle. Definition: To excite, stir up, or arouse anew. The term “rekindle” is often used to describe ways of sparking with romance or passion in a marriage or personal relationship. People often describe how important it is to never stop dating your spouse, or to find ways to re-invigorate your relationship by doing new things together. While I without a doubt echo those statements for personal relationships, over the past year I have thought about how important it is to also practice this within academia.

Why you should rekindle your academic flame
            Over time, relationships can grow tired and stale. Relationships can often become routine. You wake up, eat breakfast with your family, and you’re out the door. You work all day, come home and make dinner, relax for a minute and head to bed. You wake up the next day and do the same thing all over again, day after day. If you don’t find ways to break outside this routine, you might begin to question: What is the point of all of this? The same can become true within academia. You go to work every day, attend the same meetings, work on the same projects or reports, and interact in very routine ways. That project that once excited you suddenly becomes just another thing on your never-ending to do list.
            If we don’t put intentional efforts to maintain relationships, they can gradually fade over time. I imagine most people have had the experience where they failed to routinely check in with a loved one. You become busy with other things and you forget to call on Sundays or you miss the birthday gathering. Perhaps you moved away or you just stopped making the time for them. While this is a natural experience with relationships, the same is true for our academic interests. We can get so caught up in the coursework, the projects, the deadlines and we can forget to read those articles that excite us. We stop doing the things we enjoy because we feel we are too busy. We wonder who has the time or luxury to do the things we love when there is so much work that has to be done?
            If any of this sounds familiar or relevant, then perhaps you need to rekindle your academic flame. You deserve it to yourself to be so brilliantly passionate about your work that you cannot wait to get back to it. As community-engaged scholars, often our work is driven by a desire to positively impact a social issue. Our ability to get things done is often fueled by a pure passion for our work and the change we hope to make. To maintain this focus, you need to recognize the small changes your work is making. You need to reconnect with your passion. You need to re-ignite the fire within your soul that made you want to do this work in the first place. Remember all those romantic ideas you had about the impact you wanted to make? Remember the vision you had when you were first getting started? This is the type of mindset that you need to channel when the work becomes overwhelming. You need that kindle burning inside of you to keep you warm when the going gets tough. You need to rekindle the flame.

How you can rekindle your academic flame
            To keep the metaphor going, here I’ve provided some suggestions on ways that I have found to rekindle and keep my academic flame consistently burning. These are by no means a prescriptive approach, but rather suggestions for what has helped me throughout my time in graduate school thus far.
            Keep dating your interests. I try to find new and exciting ways to keep in touch with my academic interests. Try to find different communities of scholars, activists, practitioners, teachers, or people that share your same passions and keep up to date on the conversation. Sign up for ListServs and follow organizations on social media that are doing similar work and sharing good content. You definitely don’t have to attend all the events or read all the articles, but make time here and there to do something just because it sounds interesting. Attend a webinar from a scholar you admire. Read a book about your interests. Go to a training or a talk just because it sounds fun. I never regret taking time to explore my interest in new ways.  
            Make time for your interests. This suggestion goes hand in hand with my last one, but I think is so important that it bears stating in another way. Seriously, you need to make time for your brain to think about things in new ways. Make time for yourself to read, attend events, explore online, whatever you need to do, and then DON’T feel guilty about it. Don’t get caught up thinking that this is time wasted because you don’t have a tangible product from it. (This is that academia mindset creeping in to your life to think that you are what you produce. Ignore it!!) Even if I don’t come away with something that is immediately relevant, often these are the types of things that plant seeds in my brain that I can’t always see. These are opportunities for you to grow in exciting new ways and you must make time for them, or they won’t happen.
            Rest when it’s needed. If all of this sounds overwhelming, then perhaps your best strategy for rekindling your flame may be to just rest. Take a day, a week, or whatever you need to rest your brain and reconnect when it feels right. We often trick ourselves that if we just keep working harder or power through our personal needs that the work can still get done. But your body normally knows when it needs a break and the best thing to do is to listen to it. Graduate school or careers in general are a marathon, not a race. The work will continue and it needs you to last the test of time. Rest when you need it, and come back fully alive with that spark that drives you. 

​Rekindle your academic flame and keep it burning. The world needs your spark to make a difference. 
0 Comments

"A message to current and prospective doctoral students: Do you need a PhD?" by Jen Gruber

11/26/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
I am two and a half years into my doctoral program and still struggle to articulate why I’m here. I moved to Michigan and entered the Ecological-Community Psychology program in Fall, 2017, after spending my gap year as an Americorps member at an elementary school. After being exposed to some of the dysfunctions of the U.S. education system, I decided to transition from direct service to focus on systems-level work. I applied to graduate programs with a specific interest in promoting health equity amongst youth through school-based initiatives. Thus far, graduate school has been filled with ups and downs and I have spent ample time reflecting on whether this educational experience is necessary. I have come to the conclusion that I probably don’t need a PhD to do the work I want to do, but it might help me do it better.

Part I: Getting a PhD is hard, and you might not need one
My first two years of graduate school were disheartening; I was completely removed from youth- and education-related work. In my department, people often ask your  “area of expertise.” If you do not have one, you are encouraged to find one. It felt disingenuous to answer that question when I had little work experience and most of my knowledge came from reading scholarly work. Other graduate students who struggle to find alignment between their work and research interests echo these sentiments; how can we claim competence in these content areas with such limited experience? I strongly oppose the position that obtaining a PhD makes you “an expert” in an area. Firstly, I think it’s impossible to achieve that status after five years, if at all. Secondly, only engaging with material related to one topic will not prepare me to work in cross-disciplinary, multi-sector, collaborative spaces. 

After two years of misalignment between my graduate education and the experiences that motivate me, working to improve the lives of students, I asked myself, do I really need a PhD? In retrospect, I should have asked myself this question before applying to graduate programs. It was instilled in me as an undergraduate student that if I wanted to major in Psychology I would need to go to graduate school to get a job, and if I didn’t want to be a mental health counselor I would need a PhD. In the frenzy and excitement of the application process, I don’t think I ever sat down and did a simple job search to see if there were any positions that could offer me similar opportunities for growth and skill development. Although I have found my place now, I would encourage anyone considering graduate school to thoroughly deliberate whether a graduate degree is necessary and why they want one.

Part II: Getting a PhD is hard, and you might want one
During the spring of my second year here at MSU, I had the opportunity to join the Community-AID Lab and work on projects related to service integration in education systems. Being a part of Community-AID rejuvenated the passion that initially led me to apply to graduate school. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for graduate students to explore opportunities with folks who share your values and substantive interests. I still, and always will, miss directly working with youth, but have found an environment that challenges and inspires me to be the best collaborator possible to those engaging in this important work.
​
Although I am sometimes tempted to leave with my Masters and enter the workforce, I have embraced being here by understanding what purposes my graduate education does and does not serve for me. A PhD will not make me an expert of any kind, nor will it qualify me for every job I could dream of. A PhD will make me a better consumer and producer of knowledge and research. I see it as an opportunity to gain as many skills as possible and capitalize upon the resources available to me at a large research institution. My end goal is to support individuals doing amazing work to address adolescent inequities, and my graduate school experiences are preparing me to do this. A PhD probably isn’t necessary to accomplish my end goal, but it might position me to do better work.

0 Comments

"Path to AmeriCorps and Community-AID Lab" By Emma Booth

10/30/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
I have spent the majority of my life in a classroom, preparing for the day that I would graduate from college and start a “big kid” job. In my head this would be simple, I would work hard in school and a job would just create itself for me. As my last semester of undergrad came around, it became pretty clear that a job would not just appear out of nowhere. I felt completely unprepared for the world outside the classroom. I had done everything that people said you were supposed to do to guarantee a job after graduation. I had held several internships, kept decent grades, studied abroad, and finished in four years. Still, I felt that there was something missing. Looking at job postings I was either significantly underqualified or overqualified for the positions that were remotely interesting to me. I think this was one of the most unsatisfactory experiences of my life. I had just spent so much time and money on a four-year degree and a job didn't just land in my lap. My friends around me were finding jobs right away and seemed like they had their lives put together. I, on the other hand, was struggling to decide what my next step would be. Moving home vs. staying put. Graduate school vs. “big kid” job. It was hard for me to conceptualize the fact that I would not be returning to school in the fall. Up until this point, my path was pretty laid out with only a few choices, elementary school to middle school to high school to college then a job. I was having trouble with the freedom of job hunting. I thought at this point in my life I would know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I didn’t.

     So after graduation, I took a break from thinking about the long term and picked up my usual summer job. For the past three summers, I have spent my time in a classroom for students with Autism as a paraprofessional. It was the first time that I maintained a full-time job. For four weeks, I greatly enjoyed my time as a parapro, and it’s something that I’m happy I was able to do, but it was not a forever job. Knowing that this position was only temporary, I went back to the drawing board on the job hunt. 
​
    The job search was overwhelming because I had no idea what I wanted to do. I enjoyed my time with my internship in the nonprofit sector, but the positions that I wanted were nowhere to be seen or were at organizations I was not interested in. Then, I stumbled across a position online that caught my interest, which happened to be an AmeriCorps position. AmeriCorps had never been out of the realm of possibilities, but I didn’t think they had a position that quite fit. It turns out, I was happily incorrect; it opened a whole new world of possibilities. All the AmeriCorps VISTA positions caught my attention. I felt that AmeriCorps’ focus on capacity-building complimented my undergrad degree in Community Leadership where I gained communication and time management skills. The AmeriCorps positions seemed as though they would provide the hands-on experience I felt I was missing regarding those skills. I ended up applying to about nine openings and hearing back from two. One was the Community-AID Lab, where I could not be happier. I feel that I will be able to develop research and professional skills that I had previously been lacking. I was looking for a place that would be a good transition from school. While I am not in school anymore, I go to work at the university which keeps me in my comfort zone while gaining skills that take me outside that zone. The work we do every day allows me to incorporate what I learned in undergrad into the “real world.” We serve students and programs in Lansing and all the way to Florida. I’m so excited to support organizations whose projects are so inspiring. I can’t wait to see where this year leads me!

​
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Authors

    Blog posts are written by our team members; they take turns writing about the topics they are most passionate about.

    Archives

    March 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    December 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016

    Categories

    All

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.