Tag Archives: NC State

Giving Thanks, by Alessandra Dinin

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Chandler: So, when’s the big game gonna start?

Phoebe: You don’t have to do that, Ross and Joey aren’t here, you can watch the parade.

As we begin to celebrate “Friendsgiving,” like we did at the HEA general meeting this week (thus the above quote), and Thanksgiving, the sentiments are all the same — we contemplate the reasons we are thankful. To channel this sense of thanks, I asked a few of my colleagues in the higher ed program why they are thankful. Some of the reasons are more obvious:

  • “I appreciate the opportunity to study what I love and develop myself professionally.”

  • “I’m thankful for my assistantship. It helps pay the bills, after all… And I get to apply what I learn in class, too.”

  • “I’m thankful for the lack of rigid scheduling, wherein I can take my program requirements in whatever semester I want (with very few exceptions).”

While I agree with these sentiments, I don’t think they are varied from other higher ed programs. I think what makes our program unique are feelings like the following:

  • I am thankful for faculty who take a genuine interest in their students and the work that their students are doing. I have great relationships with the faculty here and regularly turn to them as mentors.

  • I am thankful for encouragement from faculty to ask questions and look for interesting problems to explore.

  • I’m thankful for being part of a program where the faculty are so tremendously supportive of the students, and where my fellow students are so tremendously supportive of each other.

  • I’m thankful for the new friends and colleagues I’ve met since starting the program.

  • I’m thankful for faculty members who care about their students and are willing to invest in them.

  • I’m thankful for the opportunity to build relationships with people who challenge and inspire me.

I wholeheartedly agree with all of the above and the following thankfulness directed at specific faculty:

  • I am thankful to have an amazing mentor and advisor in Paul Umbach. He has pushed me and believed in me to do more than I ever thought possible.

  • I’m thankful for Audrey Jaeger. I appreciate her positivity and creativity.  She epitomizes mentorship and she is nice 😉

  • I am thankful for my awesome co-teaching experience with Joy Gayles – I have learned so much and love working with her!

  • I am thankful for Alyssa Rockenbach’s tireless efforts to support the Higher Education program, students, and faculty by serving as program coordinator for the past year.

  • I am thankful for Steve Porter’s knowledge of advanced quantitative methods, his desire for future research to be more rigorous, and his awesome quasi-experimental course.

  • I’m thankful that Tiffany Davis joined our faculty — she’s a wealth of knowledge and she’s so fun!

Thank you to everyone that shared their thankfulness with me! And everyone else, please feel free to shoutout additional thanks in the comments below!

3 Questions to Ask Yourself When You Need Some Motivation, by Christina Morton

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Well folks, it’s November. The semester is winding down, assignment deadlines are quickly approaching, and your to-do list has a to-do list. At this point, you may be in need of some motivation. If this applies to you, I would encourage you to ask yourself 3 questions:

Why am I here?

What do I hope to gain from this experience?

What steps will I take to achieve my goals?

Why am I here?

I have found that reflecting on why I came to graduate school often gives me the motivation to stay the course. What attracted me to NC State the most was the opportunity to collaborate with faculty members who were engaged in research efforts related to my interests. Passionate about the retention and persistence of underrepresented minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, I knew that earning my Master’s would better position me to tackle these issues. Also, I recognized that continuing my education was not only an investment in my personal success, but in the success of the students that I hoped to work with in the future. So, I challenge you to think about why you decided to come to graduate school and the lives that will be positively impacted as a result of you being here.

What do I hope to gain from this experience?

For many of us, the decision to pursue a Master’s degree was driven by a desire to advance professionally. Whether you had prior experience in the field or this was a new endeavor, deciding to earn your Master’s was a sign of your commitment to your professional development. Personally, I wanted to gain the skills to re-examine my academic and professional experiences in Higher Education from a scholarly perspective. This program has allowed me to do just that. Next semester, I will be engaging in an independent research project, in collaboration with Dr. Tiffany Davis and my supervisor, Dr. Clyde Wilson, exploring the experiences of African American women in the Women In Science and Engineering (WISE) program at NC State.

What steps will I take to achieve my goals?

Realistically, there may be some long days and late nights on the horizon, but remember this is time well spent IF you use it wisely. If you have a specific interest within Higher Education already, utilize your class projects and assignments to explore your interests more deeply. If you would like to gain experience in a different functional area, pursue internships and opportunities to volunteer in that area.  If you are considering getting a doctorate after your Master’s, take a couple of doctoral level classes to get your feet wet. Taking these steps have undoubtedly made my experience more meaningful and kept me focused on the bigger picture.

So when the going gets tough, just ask yourself 3 questions. And maybe, just maybe, you will find the motivation that you need to tackle that to-do list.  

How to Become an Awesome Juggler (and maximize your time too)! By Jeremy Elmore

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“How do you do it?” is the question that I typically get asked nowadays.  Just in the last five months I quit my full-time job to start pursuing my masters while working in a Grad Assistantship and as a server (Longhorn Steakhouse) and all the while trying to balance the responsibilities of being a husband and father of two (a two year old daughter and 6 month old son).  No I am not a superhero and don’t have magical powers and I definitely don’t always have it together.  But what I have done is I have tapped into some awesome strategies that (most of the time) help me maximize my time.  I would love to share some of these strategies with you.

Be Intentional

When I think about my old life when I was only doing one job, I realize that I wasted a lot of time.  I could spend five to six hours a night watching television or playing on the iPad.  What I have learned through the balancing of all of my responsibilities is that I need to be very intentional in where my time goes.  Quite simply put, I don’t have time to waste.  I believe the first step in maximizing your time is to be intentional with every moment (this doesn’t mean you can’t have fun; see step below).  Honestly evaluate where your time is going.  Do you spend five hours on Facebook when you could be studying?  Or are you constantly watching “mindless” television when you could be volunteering at a local outreach?  These things aren’t bad, but in excess can really monopolize your time and ability to be that awesome juggler.

Be Selfish

Now you may be thinking what?!  How does this help me maximize my time?  Well let me explain.  In order to be the most productive you have to take care of yourself, both mentally and physically.  Take some time to read (a book not for school).  Take a walk.  Play a sport.  Get to bed at a decent hour (or even at a regular time).  Eat a healthy diet.  Start a new hobby.  Do something to take care of you.  Just make sure that it is in moderation.  You don’t want to spend an inordinate amount of time on any one of these things.

Be willing to say a two-letter word

Now most people would say to learn to say no, but I think this allows for us to have an excuse to do absolutely nothing.  On the other hand if you cannot say no, then you will find yourself pulled into thirty million directions.  I think the balance in the spectrum of saying no, is having the ability and knowing when it is appropriate to turn opportunities down.  Not every situation will require you to jump in with both feet.  And you shouldn’t just automatically say no to every opportunity that presents itself either.

Dispelling myths of research for a master’s student…by Patti Baynes

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What comes to mind when you think of a researcher? I think: Geek. Being isolated in a tiny space with a bunch of reading/data. A complicated system of notes that only the researcher can understand. And an independent process. Yep, that’s what I used to think about researchers. Until I got the opportunity to take part in an actual qualitative research study. I am working with Dr. Paul Umbach and a team of masters and doctoral students on a qualitative research study analyzing rural high school students’ perceptions of going to college. Thus far I have aided in developing the interview protocol, interviewing participants, to currently coding the interviews. And the cool thing about it all is that it’s nothing like I imagined!

Now I break down:

Myth 1: Researchers are all geeks.  TRUE! This myth is relative to one’s definition of a geek. And in the Baynes (my last name) Dictionary, geek is defined as a cool individual that displays an extensive amount of interest on a particular topic. So, yes researchers are geeks!

Myth 2: Researchers are isolated in a tiny space with a bunch of reading/data. FALSE. Research can be done anywhere! Sure, research can be done in a tiny little cubicle of D.H. Hill, or you can research data over pizza and cinna-stix with a group of really cool geeks!

Myth 3: Researchers use a complicated system of notes that only they can understand.  TRUE! Researchers come up with a methodology for their particular study that can appear complicated to those not involved in the research. The methodology is like the researchers map for conducting the research and drawing conclusions. So, I am extremely grateful for EAC 595: Research and Assessment in Higher Education for teaching me how to set up a complicated system of notes that only us cool geeks can understand.

Myth 4: Research is an independent process. FALSE! Research is even cooler with a group of people. I am involved in a 6-person research team, Dr. Paul Umbach, Dr. Stephany Dunstan, Ashley Clayton, Darris Means, John Conzelmann, and myself and we all have varying experiences with qualitative research. From Stephany who recently received her PhD, to Paul who hasn’t done qual research since his grad days because he focuses on quant research, to myself, a first timer – oh what an experience!

Lastly, I hope I have helped to dispel any myths that any of my fellow masters students may have regarding research. Become the cool geek you were always meant to be!

Raleighwood, NC: Top 5 Hits, by Kiley Moorefield

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I am an explorer by nature.  After moving every few years growing up I have yet to find a city, state, or country that is not worth exploring.  Each new place brings new adventure, including Raleigh, NC.  When I moved here in July of 2012 to pursue a Master’s of Education in Higher Education Administration at NC State, I was not quite sure what Raleigh had to offer.  I have been pleasantly surprised by the constant entertainment available in this city.  From First Fridays downtown to Raleigh’s city parks, there is always something to do—that is, if you can find time away from reading, class, reading, assistantships, reading, internships, and did I mention reading?

While I’m no Raleigh expert, I have developed a few Raleigh favorites over the past 14 months of living here.  In no particular order, the following are my (current) top five:

Lake Johnson (and the Greenway)

The Capital Area Greenway Trail System provides over 100 miles of trails around the city.  Lake Johnson is connected to the trail system and offers a three-mile trail along a serene lake as well as flat water canoeing and paddle boating.  But don’t be fooled, while the lake is calm, the hills on the trail can be pretty brutal during a run! More info here.

Ashley Christensen

Ashley Christensen is the name behind restaurants such as Beasley’s Chicken + Honey, Poole’s Downtown Diner, and Chuck’s. Beasley’s serves up some of the best mac ‘n’ cheese around and Chuck’s offers a unique variety of mouth-watering burgers.  Interested in supporting local farmers? Give Poole’s a try. More info here.

Museums

As visitraleigh.com notes, Raleigh is sometimes referred to as the ‘Smithsonian of the South.’  Some of the major museums include the Contemporary Art Museum, North Carolina Museum of Art, North Carolina Museum of History, and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.  Each of these provides great entertainment, particularly for a rainy Saturday, and most are at the right price for a grad student—free! More info here.

Food Truck Rodeos

If you’ve lived in other U.S. cities then you probably aren’t a stranger to food trucks, but Raleigh takes this idea to a new extreme.  On several occasions this summer over 50 food trucks parked downtown along 10 city blocks to serve up one-of-a-kind fare to thousands of attendees.  If you know what’s good for you (or perhaps bad for you in this case), you’ll cross your fingers in hopes that this becomes an annual tradition. More info here.

NC State Football Games

Perhaps I’m cheating here since this isn’t so much a ‘Raleigh’ favorite as it is an NC State favorite, but it’s worth including.  From the anticipation of the game, to the tailgate, to the final fan leaving the stadium, NC State football offers all of the excitement that one would expect from college football (I know, this is when those of you from the Big 10 and SEC think to yourself ‘It doesn’t begin to compare,’ but give it a chance!). While there are many collegiate sports to be enjoyed here, there’s just something about fall and football that make me happy. More info here.