Posts

Whelp, at this point it feels like my PhD has been at least partially a how to (how not to?) for grad school. Or, perhaps, a test bed for anything even remotely possible in a grad program. Well, regardless, let’s talk about this whole situation! So, I decided to radically change my research direction. Like, a lot. This is after three years, multiple research projects and publications. After completing candidacy – which included two chapters of a would-be dissertation. ...

I was speaking with a PhD student in my department this morning. I referenced a colleague and good friend of mine at a university across the country and they asked, “Wait, how did you meet this person?” The question caused me pause and I began talking through how I knew anyone during my time as a student, and now candidate. Here are a few reflections I have had: Inheritance First things first, a “community” and a network are two different, but often overlapping things. I will mostly be agnostic to those differences in my answers, so take that as you will. ...

I wrote this post in the summer of 2022 and a lot has changed since then! While it is still a useful primer for getting a general overview of what candidacy can look like, it doesn’t provide more granular, experiential details. Now that I am a PhD Candidate, I want to tell my story and answer questions I have been asked by eager PhD students. *I will reference the candidacy exam as the “A-Exam” as that is the terminology of my university. ...