Blog — Toddler on the Tenure Track

We were getting ready to have dinner one night when Ellie came into the kitchen and asked, “what’s wrong with the world?” Clearly, she’s been listening to Mike and I talk more than she lets on.

When the pandemic started ramping up in the US, my strategies for moving through grief began to change. I started pushing aside any feelings that came up, telling myself, "not now, just get to the end of the school year, and then you can more fully process everything." Turns out, that doesn't work so well, especially when the hits just keep coming.

Tenure and Life Updates, Academic LifeJillJune 6, 2020reflectionComment

Finishing Up Your PhD During the Early Postpartum Period

A while back I received a comment from a reader asking about my postpartum experiences while finishing up my PhD. One of the things this person asked about was how I managed my schedule during that time… so this post is all about what I did to manage my schedule while I was finishing up my PhD during the early postpartum period.

Academic LifeJillFebruary 21, 2020scheduling, planning, pregnancyComment

Living far from family: 6 questions to ask yourself before making a big move

Academic life often means following the opportunities, which may or may not match up with where your family has roots (which may or may not be where you want to live too!).

If you’re interested in being close to extended family you can certainly seek out positions that are located in the same area/nearby but it’s not always a guarantee that you’ll find an opening that’s specific to your area of expertise.

Academic LifeJillJanuary 24, 2020travel, family, living far from family, reflection, top post Comments

Advice to My Past Self: Third Year on the Tenure Track

Last month I posted my goals for year three on the tenure track, along with whether or not I met them. This month I’m following up with advice I’d give to myself if I had to do it all over again. Here are 8 lessons learned from my third year as an assistant professor.

Academic LifeJillNovember 15, 2019planning, third year on the tenure trackComment

Advice to My Past Self: Second Year on the Tenure Track

Similar to my advice for year one post, this week I’m sharing some thoughts about the advice I might give myself during year two, if I was going to do it all over again. Here they are, in no particular order.

Academic LifeJillAugust 2, 2019planning, second year on the tenure trackComment

Advice to My Past Self: First Year on the Tenure Track

Last week I shared what my first year looked like. This week I’m sharing some thoughts about what helped during the first year. Kind of like advice I’d give to my past self. In no particular order, here are some of the main things I’d remind myself of on a daily basis if I had to do it all over again.

Academic LifeJillJuly 19, 2019planning, first year on the tenure track, top postComment

Summertime and the livin's... easy?

Summer! That magical time of year when people who work in the field of education get to take a nice, relaxing ~3 month vacation… ha! In reality, yes, summer is a slower pace, but in my experience there is still a significant amount of work that goes on (and it’s often unpaid). I hear others talk about how wonderful summer is, because they finally get to work on all the things (usually research) that got pushed to the side during the school year. I guess I get that to some extent, but a huge part of me really balks at that mentality. If universities are paying us for 9-months of work, shouldn’t we, theoretically, be able to get everything done in those 9-months, or at least be in a position to pause for 3 months?

Academic LifeJillJune 20, 2019summer, planning, reflection, breaks, summer breakComment

A Day in the Life of an Assistant Professor (May 2019)

Time for another day in the life post! This particular Monday was the inspiration behind my 2-minute Monday post from a few weeks ago.

Academic LifeJillMay 30, 2019behind the scenes, a day in the life, mayComment

A Step by Step Guide To Moving Across the Country with a Baby + 2 Cats: Part 8

I did it! I got to the final entry of my super detailed multi-part post about the steps we took to move across the country with a baby and two cats. As I mentioned in my first post (steps 1 through 5), this process put the seeds of a blog in my mind, given that I looked around everywhere and couldn’t find anyone talking about moving in the amount of detail that I was interested in seeing. So… for anyone out there who might be trying to plan a cross country move with a baby and pets… here you go!

Academic LifeJillMay 11, 2019moving, job search, how to Comments

A Step by Step Guide To Moving Across the Country with a Baby + 2 Cats: Part 7

This next step involves taking care of the “little” details. For the most part they aren’t terribly difficult to do and they have the potential to make a big difference in your trek.

Academic LifeJillMay 3, 2019moving, job search, how toComment