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Fall is upon us, and it’s a new Academic Year! Although the calendar tells us that January is the start of the year, September feels like the start of something new and exciting in an academic community. A new year is a great time to reflect on changes you want or need to make, or to improve some aspect of your life.
What are your academic new year’s resolutions?
Ana Dinescu, Berlin, Germany
As my academic life was on hold for a time, my Academic New Year’s Resolution is to slowly come back into the academic world. As I used my time off as a period of reflection, new projects and ideas for articles look clearer to me, and hopefully they will turn into serious pieces of research in the coming months.
Lee Skallerup Bessette, Georgetown University
I’ve started a new job (again) so I’m just trying to connect and get to know my new colleagues and institution. It’s easy for me to get lost in the work, so I want to make sure that I am talking to colleagues, exploring the university, and getting to know it a little better. I’m as busy as I always am, writing and editing, but it’s different this year because I’m working on things I care deeply about. I want to keep that mantra now that I have to luxury to do so: only say yes to the things I care deeply about.
Yves Salomon-Fernandez, Greenfield Community College
Speaking as much French and Spanish as possible on campus is among my top academic goals this year. I also hope to do much more reading in new disciplines. Finally, I hope to integrate more physical activity/fitness into my daily work routine. Walking meetings, rock climbing meetings as we have a rock climbing wall on campus, and exploring other ways to stay active are some of the things I want to do more of or try this year.
Anna S. CohenMiller, Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education
Coming back to Kazakhstan for a new multiyear contract, I feel excited to focus on a goal of molding my academic identity as a qualitative methodologist as clearly as possible. At times this feels like a simple and straightforward goal (e.g., redeveloping a website, Twitter feed, etc) and at other times a massive, ongoing goal that always involve adjustment throughout an entire career. Yet I am channeling hopefulness, as I channel the sentiments of my mentors: We are all on a journey of (re)invention. It will be busy, full of opportunities to say yes and to practice saying no to those paths not fitting our overall goal. So, for now, all we can do is take it day by day and enjoy the ride!
