The Unemployed Academic

Hello Steemit community. My name is yasemingy and I recently received my PhD. Just a few months ago I submitted my 269-page tome (born out of two years of research and three years of writing) to my committee. I consider my doctoral defense (April 13, 2016) to be the greatest day of my life. My valiant defense went very well and from it I emerged a doctor! A month later it was made official with my hooding at graduation.  

https://i.vimeocdn.com/portrait/58832_300x300

Of course, this was the end of one era and the beginning of a new one. Now, almost two months after graduation and three months after the greatest day of my life I am trying to make sense of my post-graduate existence along with the immense amount of free time I suddenly possess.  

Like many recent graduates, I applied for jobs for the 2016-17 academic year over the course of the last nine months. I got a few nibbles, but no bites (a subject I will expand on at a later point)… So I am currently unemployed. This puts me in a very strange head space. 

The grind leading up to submitting my dissertation and graduating was brutal. Spring 2016 was by far the toughest semester of my life. This is why I initially welcomed my summer of freedom. Nobody needed a break more than I did. To this end I cultivated my garden (literally), cooked, cleaned, left town and visited family and friends, crocheted, reorganized my office etc etc.  

Now I need to return to my work and execute my game plan for my year of unemployment which I like to playfully call my sabbatical (or the more tongue-in-cheek: post-graduate retirement). The “plan” is involved and I will write about it, hopefully, in coming days… Suffice to say that regardless of the specifics the one thing I must do without fail is WRITE. As an American academic in the humanities writing is my bread and butter. Writing is the one thing I can continue to do regardless of my ability to secure funds from the standard venues in my field (research institutes/centers, universities, libraries etc).  

This is where Steemit comes in. As I ease my way back into the regular beat of writing I need to look for ways to stay on track and remain committed to “producing” despite not having an institutional affiliation and sponsorship. This requires self-propelled motivation and discipline. Indeed, by the time I reached the final chapter of my dissertation my writing habits were superb. Now, with the dissertation behind me I need to continue the writing.  

I know I am not the first person to compare writing to a muscle that needs to be worked and trained regularly (otherwise it will atrophy). My Steemit posts will essentially keep me writing about 500 words every few days. I also hope that it will help me open up a bit more. Having just finished my degree I am also recovering from a very strict and semi-secluded life. Ideally these“blogs” will achieve these two objectives.