Welcome to My Journey To Tenure Track
So, on my blog on this cozy corner of the internet, I want to share REAL professional advice, career troubleshooting, Q&A brainstorm REAL LIFE problems we specifically face as women trying to make it in a "working man's" world.** Cheugy, but very true today. I don't know about you other professional ladies, really I've been living in an academic rock for a decade, what advice so you need? What advice would you tell your younger self, sister or niece?
**Academia is my career field and in research heavy jobs, men are often the Principal Investigators (PIs) that get the grant money to pay for the scientific study. Women are able to get money and grants and run scientific studies, but the ratio of male Full Professors to female Full Professors varies greatly from department to department.
Tuesday. First day back at work (remotely from 1 highway exit away from the University ha!). (Comment below if you're interested in my long break of from work. ) I meet with "Dr.C" online over the prominent video internet platform. In a nervous wreck! My boss and mentor had always been super laid back but I was expecting a backlash of harsh professional academic speak that amounted to a 30 minute scolding "I should have fired you a long time ago" in a tenured tone. AND yes know what ladies, I sat there with my makeup on and hung my head low, put my hands over my face and tried to hold on those tears. Kinda failed. Kinda held it together long enough to ask for my job to keep and continue the meeting with the questions I had for my projects to move forward.
I guess that's what working is sometimes... or, rather, just having trouble starting your career. Kinda failing while also kinda snapping it back to kinda hold it all together. You see, I always wanted to be a doctor. Always. I studied extra biology, statistics, aging, and later on post- graduate studying more on gerontology, Alzheimer's, and more abscess statistics. I've spent 13 years studying for my education to be called a doctor. But here I am, a young married woman in her 30s...crying on camera in her hands, then sitting up and holding it together like a m*thrf*king Full Professor. Life happens and work gets pushed lower down in priority because my family needed me. Then one day you push through the depression and anxiety... and you pick it up and GO! I don't mean go demean your physical limitations or mental illness. Those are real and legitimate barriers to be successful in any career. Academia gets pretty competitive.
But for most of you reading who are able- bodied or disabled, we as humans are sensitive. We get hurt and depressed by doing all the work while getting no recognition. But we all start our career somewhere. If you have more experience, do you remember your first real career as an independent woman job? How did you feel? Did you get respect, indifference, ignored or listened too? I'm genuinely concerned at how I am going cope with having a work relationship with coworkers, keep motivation to keep publishing or perishing, and take more time succeeding? I do admit, y'all, I still have some residual fears and neurotism held over from grad school. But that's another post, another day on how to succeed at graduate school, tenure, retention and promotion (RTP).
I find my best professional advice--and one way to get some of that depressy feeling to go away is, "If you can't be happy, be useful." My mother-in-law said it to my younger, now-husband if he was ever feeling down, bored or sad for no reason. And she was right. I even asked my therapist and she confirmed that one of the best things we a humans can do is to keep a schedule. Keep doing the boring things. Keep getting up. Make the need. So the laundry. Go to work. Eat. Shower. Exercise. Repeat. And eventually, my mood lifts enough to see the sunshine in the everyday.
One of those things I just love to get super involved in is baking and cooking (Above: My kitchen). More baking and making food stuff-- crafting artisan cheese made from local NY Jersey cows and goats. I would like to share my hobby of simple Midwest home cooking, artisan cheese crafting and adding, and sharing some first- career- job tales with you. I hope you like following my day-to-day and not-so-adventurous living as an early career professional.
Thank you for reading and spending some time on my corner of the internet. Fellow students and grad students and postdoc and Assistant professors, or anyone else trying to make it in your first career job, please start tuned for more as I document my first job... and cooking and baking my way thru my 30s.
JOURNEY to TENURE TRACK
Start Reading our Cover Letter Series:
- Cover Letter Series, part 1: The Crucial First Paragraph
- Cover Letter Series, Part 2.: Research and Contribution Sections
- Cover Letter Series pt.3: The Teaching-Centric Letter
- Cover Letter Series pt.4: The Worst Job Application Letter Ever Written
- 12 Sentences That Should Be Included in Your Academic Cover Letter
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