3 ways I'm getting the most out of my summer

Recently, 12 more copies of A Field Guide to Grad School were shared with prospective and current PhD students in the United States bringing our total number of newsletter book winners to 96! Recipients included: Yixi Chen, Swati Goel, Olugbenga Joseph, Emily Lang, Rachel Miller-Moudgil, Amanda Mondschein, Lavangi Naithani, Bhumi Patel, Brenda Trejo Rosas, Julia van de Sandt, Jasmine Vargas, and Quadrat Yusuph. If you are a prospective or current PhD student in the United States and are interested in winning a copy of A Field Guide to Grad School, be sure to enter the book giveaway to receive your own copy. More information on how to do this is at the end of the newsletter.

It’s my second summer on the tenure track and I’m eager to be as productive as possible. Although I enjoy teaching, I’m unable to dedicate as much time as I would like to research during the academic year, so summers are quite precious precisely because they allow me to focus on what interests me most. Yet, it can be hard to know how to get the most out of a summer as someone in academia. In fact, as a graduate student, I lamented summers because they stripped away the structure in which I thrived and left me wandering aimlessly through weeks that didn’t seem to have a start nor an end. In this post, I share how I’m approaching *Summer 2024* in my quest to be as productive and happy as possible (this also means that this will be the last time you hear from me until the fall term).

Technical note. As a new graduate student, I didn’t realize that faculty (at least in the United States) are often paid on 9- or 10-month contracts. This means that faculty are usually left to their own devices to secure summer funding if they want to supplement their income. Yet, most institutions expect faculty to work in some capacity over the summer whether or not they have funding. Beliefs about whether someone should work when not being paid aside, this is an important technical point and one to consider when negotiating for summer funding as new faculty.

Position note. Below, I share how I’m going to get the most out of my summer. What works for me may not work for you. Additionally, I’m very privileged and afforded opportunities because of my financial circumstances and some luck that are not available to everyone. Nonetheless, I’m choosing to share what works for me to encourage you to reflect on your own situation and see how you can ensure your own well-being over the summer.

I’m going home.

I enjoy my job. I enjoy my colleagues. I enjoy my neighbors. But there’s no substitute for home. If you know me, you know I go hard for the Midwest (and have strong opinions on what constitutes the region!). So, I’m spending the summer in the Midwest where I can be with family and friends on an almost daily basis. This means spending a lot of time in Michigan and Illinois. I’m fortunate to be able to stay with my parents in Michigan and secure a rental in Illinois.

Why does going home matter to me? After an intense academic year, I want to be surrounded by the people who matter to me most. I also want to nurture my soul and be energized by the places where I’m most comfortable. I can’t wait to sit at Promontory Point overlooking Lake Michigan in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. I also look forward to eating pizza from a local pizzeria in my hometown that reminds me of my childhood. When I’m personally fulfilled, I do my best work. It’s quite literally easier for me to sit at my desk and complete a focused 6-8 hours of work each summer day. So, I see any financial investment in “going home” as an investment in my professional self.

How can you “go home?” As a graduate student, I benefited from having a partner who lived where I felt most at home. So, I could simply pack up my things (including Henry, my dog) and travel to his place for extended periods of time. This arrangement was quite lucky and certainly not an opportunity available to all others in my program. I know some students travel home over breaks and that’s wonderful. However, if you’re unable to travel and wanting to find home where you are, lean into those moments and things that bring you joy. For example, during the academic year, I can’t sit by Lake Michigan at Promontory Point, but I can sit by the Atlantic Ocean at Robert Moses State Park. And when I’m missing the experience of perusing independent bookstores, I can hop on a train to Brooklyn and work my way through several. Lastly, when I’m really missing home, I lean into who I am when I’m there. I call soda “pop,” say, “Ope, can I get past you?” at the grocery store, and unapologetically dip far too many things in ranch dressing.

I’m setting boundaries.

I’m making Summer 2024 about me and what I need to do most. This summer, I need to submit a grant proposal, wrap up two large projects, completely draft a new manuscript, and launch several new studies, among other things. I don’t need to be available to anyone at any time. So, I’m setting three important boundaries:

• Starting June 1, I will only take meetings between 10am and 3pm (with exceptions made for international collaborators). My best working hours are between 6am and 10am. I don’t want to give those hours up. And after 3pm, I want to be licensed to call it a day when appropriate.

• I’m not accepting new review requests for manuscripts. Of course, I will review revisions of manuscripts I’ve already reviewed. However, it’s May and I have already reviewed more manuscripts than I “should” (given general guidelines) this entire year. I’m open to making a rare exception, but in general, I will be clicking “decline” from June 1 through August 31.

• I am going to be “bad” with email. There are no awards for being the quickest to respond to emails, yet if responding to emails were an Olympic sport, I would be an elite athlete (Paris 2024 here I come!). I’m actually not proud of this. It’s a habit indicative of my failure to properly prioritize. So, I’m going to intentionally sit on emails that don’t actually require immediate attention (and they so rarely do).

Why do boundaries matter to me? Simply put, I have failed to prioritize myself to my own detriment. I need to be more selfish so I can continue doing my work, which includes hidden curriculum work.

How can you set boundaries? You get to decide how you want to spend your summer (for the most part). If you’re like me and know that you allow others to easily dictate how you spend your time, perhaps you would benefit from setting some of the boundaries described above. As most people who read this newsletter are graduate students, though, my worry is that you don’t recognize that you can set boundaries and that it’s very appropriate to do so.

I’m living.

As a graduate student, I was expert at tabling joy until I met some milestone. Unfortunately, however, reaching one milestone just brought another into view. So, for almost a decade, I refused to live. And I still do to some degree. So, this summer, I’m going to live intentionally. I’m not going to forgo opportunities to connect with others and experience joy because of some impending deadline or outstanding milestone. This doesn’t mean I’m going to lack discipline. In fact, I think I will be more disciplined if I build in opportunities to experience joy. For example, if I know that I’m going to meet my friend at the dog beach one morning, it’s likely that I’m going to wake up early to knock out a few hours of work so that the dog beach becomes a perfectly-timed break. And if that doesn’t happen—if I don’t work ahead of joining my friend at the dog beach—I’m not going to sweat it. I’m going to enjoy the dog beach and then get to work when I get home.

Why does living matter to me? This was a funny question to write out but it’s a very real question. I want to live, in the sense of the word as I’ve used here, because I deserve joy that comes not because I did something or completed some task, but because I woke up and chose it on that day. I think a lot about the impression I want to make on those around me and how I want to be remembered. Keeping the legacy I want in mind, I do my work, including hidden curriculum work. Yet I often fail to think about the impression I want to make on “future Margaret.” At present, I greatly regret forgoing so much and withholding happiness because I didn’t meet some arbitrary goal. So, I’m choosing to live for me now and for me in the future.

How can you live? Choose to live. Celebrate the small stuff; honor the not-so-good stuff. Take care of yourself and your community. Show empathy to yourself and others. Find, share, and give joy. This may all be easier said than done, but know that you deserve joy. You deserve to live in all senses of the word.

Wishing you all the best and see you in the fall!

Margaret

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How to reach me: You are always welcome to email me (letstalkgradschool@gmail.com). You can also find me on Twitter (X) @tweetsbymidge and Bluesky @bskybymidge.

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Let’s give away some books: Readers located in the United States are eligible to enter the book giveaway to receive a copy of A Field Guide to Grad School by Dr. Jessica Calarco. To do so, complete this survey and note that you only have to complete it once to be entered in all subsequent giveaways! I do hope to expand the reach of the giveaway; however, at the moment, the shipping costs are too great to scale. If you’d like to talk about ways your institution could secure an electronic (or hard) copy, please let me know.

Wishing you all the best!

Margaret