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You’ve embarked on an Ivy Plus Exchange program to do archival research in Portland, Oregon in your fifth year as a Sociology PhD Candidate. Covid hits, the archives close, what are you going to do? In this episode, we hear Dana’s story about finding a place within university life after more than a decade of trials, tribulations, and ultimately, successes with her “pivoted” dissertation project. We learn that time wasn’t wasted time, but instead a pause that allowed Dana to reflect on what about universities she loved and wanted to keep, and what she wanted to let go. If you’re curious about what I like to call “academic-adjacent” roles within the university, or roles that directly connect to and work with university scholars and teachers, this episode is for you.

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When asked to give a presentation in your master’s program, Mario’s story shows that it could lead you to a doctoral program at Yale by way of a watershed connection and eventual mentorship with an interested professor. In this episode, Mario Soriano Jr. describes his educational pathway from his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering at the University of the Philippines, to his master’s degree in Sustainability at the United Nations University and University of Tokyo, and to his PhD in Environmental Studies at Yale University’s School of the Environment. Through these programs, Mario both enhanced and leveraged his skillsets in the study of agricultural water systems. Mario also demystifies how STEM students often find their labs. Along the way, we’ll talk about why it’s important to attend workshops tailored to grad writing in earlier stages of the degree program, like prospectus panels, especially to manage feelings of imposter stress.