Crunch Time - Back to School! (5/60)

Welcome back to my monthly Ph.D. blog! If you're new here, I'm blogging my way through a Ph.D. program in Internationalization of Higher Education at Cattolica University. These posts combine academic content with personal stuff and bits of randomness to hopefully result in an engaging and informative blog.

Let's get into it!

The Paper

You'll recall from last month's post that my first real paper was due. I shared the full text of that paper in July's post, so if you're interested in diving into the current state of my research plan, check that out here. Having finally landed on a general sense of direction for my research, I'm fairly happy with how the paper turned out - certainly for something short like this 1000-word research summary. 

My feedback from the Academic Board came in in late July, and thankfully, it didn't shrivel my will to continue. It turns out that my research has an "encouraging start"! Phew, thank goodness. My reviewers did note the major places in which I still need to do substantial work (reading more widely and exploring research around power dynamics and asymmetry outside of IE), but overall, I'm thrilled with the feedback.

I'm enjoying the format of the program immensely - having a stretched-out timeframe in which to massage my research interests and ideas without worrying about tight deadlines is an excellent format for those of us working full-time in the field, which I suppose is the point! Still, it's appreciated and worth saying so!

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Coming Into the Late Summer Rush

Things are BUSY at work these days, as I'm sure it is for all of you working in global education. The start of the semester is creeping up, and deadlines for next year's programs are rolling in. My main duties revolve around processing student applications for one of our main partners and supporting our virtual and in-person faculty programs. Even with modest uncertainty about how the Delta variant will impact global travel, we're forging ahead with the development of thirteen faculty-led programs. I'm choosing to remain optimistic, but as we've seen time and again over the past year and a half, things can change in a split second. Until they do, my days are going to be filled with budgets, itineraries, partner emails, etc. You know the drill.

I know that many of you reading this are in a similar boat, and since I'm finding it challenging to maintain that ever-elusive "work-life balance", here's your reminder to take care of yourself and unplug. There are two major growing trends on professional social media:

1. Do as much as you can for as long as you can. It's a race - be first and be a winner.
2. Your work isn't you. Take care of yourself and avoid burnout or something more serious.

I'm not going to tell you which to follow, because it's a spectrum and we're all comfortable in a different place, but do regularly take stock of your mental health. An overstressed, overworked, burnt out person isn't good for anybody. Hit the brakes long before you get there.

Read This!

Diversity Abroad's Global Impact Exchange released recently, and I wholeheartedly recommend that you read it in it's entirety. There is excellent work being done, and as usual, the Global Impact Exchange is full of excellent examples of that.

The International Educators Discord Server

And finally, as you're likely aware, I'm a part of the team behind the IE Discord Server. We've got all sorts of exciting plans for the upcoming year - including ways for you to get involved! In our recent State of the Server video, I announced the launch of our free presentation library, where our community will host recorded presentations contributed by colleagues around the world.

If you have developed a conference presentation or would like to, get in touch with us and we'll go over the details with you. In most cases, it's as simple as recording yourself giving your presentation via Zoom and then sending us the video file. Our aim is to enhance the sustainability and impact of presentations and to provide an opportunity for free access to the critical knowledge of our field.

If you're interested in submitting or just in joining the Discord community, you can start here!