Blau Exchange: Spring 2007 Roundtable (T5)

THREAD #5

Paul DiPerna:

What have been your biggest challenges and rewards in graduate school?

Sarita Yardi:

My biggest challenge is coming up with a dissertation topic. I think it's because there are way too many cool questions to ask in my field of study, sometimes I feel like a kid in a candy store when I'm trying to focus my research on a particular question. Every week I walk into Amy's office and she asks me "What's your research question?" We call my answers the "flavor of the week" because they change on a weekly (often daily) basis. This summer I'll be teaching an Introduction to HCI Curriculum for Teenagers which I am really excited about -- it is a pilot study that, if done correctly, will help lead me towards a dissertation topic.

Paul Lawton:

I think the biggest challenges, for me, come in that I am finding it increasingly hard to relate to non-academic type people. aka: real people. I think this is something that I notice, in that all I want to do is talk about my wildly interesting research and reading and conversations I had with so and so... but then you start to see people's eyes glaze over. Combine that with the fact that you can never really turn off being a sociologist, so when I am with non-sociologist friends, I want to analyze every little interaction or whatnot... and I know this annoys people to no end. That is it in a nut shell: staying rooted in the "real world" - it becomes increasingly difficult.

The rewards of doing grad school are many - For me, even things like being given the opportunity to teach, to be able to read and write for a living, to be able to have stimulating intellectual conversations with highly intelligent and fascinating people. For me, being a graduate student is a reward in and of itself. I know that sounds kind of cheesy, but really, I love it, and couldn't see myself doing anything different. I feel blessed to have such an opportunity - to follow my passions, and I really wouldn't trade it for anything.

Though, when I am marking a thousand exams in April, please remind me I said that...

Fred Stutzman:

In terms of challenges, I'd say the constant challenge is self-motivation. At this level, you're not going to succeed if you're not self-motivated. I get distracted easily.

When I write my dissertation there will be a special part where I curse out YouTube for time lost. In terms of rewards, and I know this is going to sound cheesy, but I feel like being in school is the reward. I'm happy that I've found something I truly enjoy, and I love being a student. The time is flying by too fast!

Miia Akkinen:

The biggest challenge for me has definitely been how to combine to be a graduate student and a mother of little children, and at the same time make some money for living, too. Currently I am home with two daughters (5 years and 6 years), and planning to continue working with my thesis this Spring. When the resources (time) are scarce, I have found out that I have become quite efficient in my work. I could, however, easily use some extra hours in a day. I remember to have studied qualitative research methods while taking care of my children in the playground. Fortunately this was quite an exceptional occasion, the both sides suffer if they are continuously done simultaneously.

The published papers are significant rewards in research work. It is also very rewarding to create solutions if you have some problems in your work, observe significant findings in your research data, for example -- it feels good to notice that you are smart and clever :) Last but not least, it feels rewarding to receive financial awards from foundations; you will get the feeling that your work is appreciated.

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