On taking a break…

This weekend I went with some friends to see the Giant Pandas at the National Zoo. Okay, really I went to visit my friends, but seeing the pandas was awesome. It reminded me a bit of the old song lyric “all creatures great and small.”

It seemed silly, amidst a crazy semester, to throw away valuable time. In fact, I returned home both energized and tired. What happens, though, when we take breaks, is that we allow our brains some time to heal.

Take some time to work, but remember to rest too. There’s a reason for the seventh day (or a weekend away).

Dispatches from Graduate School – Part 31

Cali Pitchel McCullough is a Ph.D student in American history at Arizona State University. For earlier posts in this series click here. –JF
(Cross-posted by permission of John Fea’s blog *The Way of Improvement Leads Home*)

I’m feeling ambivalent about the summer break. I need relief from the academic schedule, but something false is implied in this notion of a summer recess. I turn my last final into Blackboard at 5:00 PM, and the stack of blue books sitting on my desk continues to dwindle. The end is nigh. Yet, in nine days I must complete my first-year portfolio, which includes a compilation of my best work from the first two semesters, a reflection essay, and a tentative proposal and outline of my secondary field.

After I complete my portfolio, the real toil of the summer begins. Not only must I read as much as possible from the 100+ book Qualifying Exam list, I need to make significant headway on my secondary field (a formal proposal, a bibliography, and an historiography of the fifty most important titles from the field), and I need to write a proposal and competency goals for my Advanced Research Skill (ASU’s requirement in lieu of a language)—all of which could easily become my full-time summer job.

Summer break for a PhD student is a Catch 22. If I want to feel comfortable going into the fall semester, I should accomplish the aforementioned tasks. If I want to feel sane and rested going into the fall semester, I should relax and spend adequate time doing the things I love with the people I love. I suppose the best option is to find balance—a middle ground between productivity and rest.

And… We’re Back!

Hello All!

I hope you had a wonderful summer and feel rested and ready for the fall semester.

I took a month off from my dissertation writing to rest and travel, and was reminded how important seasons of rest are. They are incredibly vital to academics, because we carry our work with us all the time. Choosing a life of the mind means it is not easy to forget our scholarly endeavors. When I came back to my writing, it was so much easier, because I had a fresh perspective.

So I encourage you to take a regular sabbath and put your work aside for a bit. Happy Fall!