StephenBlogs

In this post, I'd like to talk very frankly about why I chose to leave not one but two PhD programs before finding my home here in Curriculum Studies. While this is less of a specific event as directed by the prompt, it has deeply effected how I approach my work, academic and professional, my identity construction, and how I choose to share these experiences. In some sense, this post is really about relationships, particularly with your advisor.  I think every PhD student remembers the day they got their acceptance letter/call. For me, the first time, it was early April 2014. I was set to graduate with my MA from Ball State in May and had spend much of the last year focused on PhD applications. I applied to 6 schools and was rejected by 5 of them; luckily, the school that accepted me, IU, was my first choice. After multiple interviews, a campus visit, and several emails, I finally received a formal offer letter to join the Telecommunications (Media Effects) program. It was one of t...

Yesterday, I attended a workshop called "Conference Paper Writing and Presenting: Strategies for Success," led by Matt Del Busto, a writing specialist at Purdue’s Writing Lab. Matt, who has an MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan, has a knack for blending creativity with practicality, which made for an interesting mix of advice on writing and presenting conference papers. It wasn’t a “reinvent the wheel” type of workshop, but it definitely offered some thoughtful reminders and a few new tricks to consider. One of the main takeaways for me was the idea of focusing on the so what factor of your research. It’s easy to get caught up in the technical details or the process of your work, but Matt kept coming back to the importance of framing everything around what the audience should take away. He talked about crafting a clear and concise central message—kind of like an elevator pitch, but less robotic and more tailored to the audience at hand. It made me realize how muc...