Well hi!

As you may have noticed, it’s been a long (long, long) while since I last posted a blog. But I’m back now! I want to reconnect, recommit, and share some insights gained from the time I was away.

So, where have I been?

The day we got our sweet doggo, Peetey the pitbull. Nothing but love for this guy!

I stopped blogging regularly shortly after I moved back to the US from Ireland. My then-boyfriend, now-husband and I moved to Portland, Oregon, and worked on building a new life and balance of projects, work, goals, and community. For a little while I moved away from work with colleges and universities, and felt like I didn’t have as much inspiration for the blog, although I had a long list of topics I intended to write about.

Then suddenly I got VERY involved in academia again, and it felt strange to be writing about what was becoming a “day job.” I worried about writing about current students, was focused on building that part of my career, and in some ways writing this blog felt “too close.” I decided to keep it live in the world because I was proud of it, and because I still had thousands of people finding old posts each month (the thesis writing advice and posts about internships and volunteering have been popular for years).

Now, because of the pandemic, my relationship with work has changed (as it has for so many). I have come to appreciate online communities more than ever, and to think deeply about how this bizarre and painful time will impact current students and recent graduates. I am finding that I have a lot to say. So I’m going to say it.

I am now professionally involved in three different academic ventures

I teach at a community college
I teach and am a program coordinator at a university
I am a board member and program director for the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights, which takes students to Oxford and elsewhere for seminars on human rights themes

I spend a lot of time thinking about students, student life, and the ways my current students could be more strategic as they approach my classes and their college years more broadly. I see the opportunities some students take advantage of that others don’t see, or don’t think are “for students like them.” I want to do all I can to help my students, and to help others to embrace their college years, whether it’s life during the pandemic or back to something like normal someday.

I’m hoping I can convince strangers on the internet to do some things I can’t seem to teach my own students – including how to read a syllabus and that you shouldn’t cite Wikipedia, no matter how dumb you think that rule is. In fact, I plan to post on that topic very soon.

Other topics to look forward to in the near future:

· Advice for “nontraditional” students

· How to ask for extensions on coursework (handy during a pandemic - and always)

· Easy steps to impress your instructors

· Networking while social distancing

I plan to post once a month, and to have a guest post at least every other month. I’m going to send around a newsletter once a month as well – it will have more topical/current content, with ideas not included in blog posts.

I’d love to hear from you – what are you thinking about and wondering about? What’s good? What’s been not so good that you’d want to talk about (and I’m sure there’s plenty of this as well)? Where has your life taken you since I last posted in 2016?

For now, it’s good to be back in your internet world.

Stay safe out there!