3 Interviews / New Flow Chart / New Problems

Final Three Interviews

These interviews turned out to be very valuable both in jump-starting my dreams and building bridges from my dreams to reality.

This was a bit difficult, yet convenient because I have changed my goal to be a professor/activist. So although it’s inconvenient to restart my flow chart, problems, etc. it’s convenient in the sense that, as a student, I am surrounded by professors. Because I am Sociology major and a qualitative researcher it is ingrained in me to change the names of my interviewees.

I decided to interview 2 graduate students at UIC, both from the Sociology department.
1.The first I will call Anna. I asked her about her journey and how plausible it is to be both an academic and an activist. She described to me the way she came to be at UIC, its difficulties and triumphs. The most valuable thing I took from this conversation is that she described to me that some universities are activist friendly, while others do not want professors to be activist. She told me that I should look into each university and the professors there and that will help me find a program where I can grow as a student/academic and grow as an activist. I found this very interesting and valuable because I did not know that such favoritism existed in universities. This interview will definitely help me with finding grad programs as well as motivation to get to grad school.
2. The second grad student lets call her Brittany, mostly spoke about how-tos of getting into grad school. This was extremely helpful because as someone from a large family to be the first to get a Bachelor’s degree and the first possible graduate school candidate it seems like an unfamiliar life path. She described to me the do’s and don’t’s of applications, searching for the right grad program and most salient to me contacting those in the grad program to speak with. I found this amazing because although we are doing these exercises it still seems like some people are so far away. But she suggested that I contact professors that I would like to work with because this will help me better connect, understand and possibly get me through the door. Another important tip that I learned from this interview is funding for grad programs. I did not know prior to this interview that I could get so much funding and that I shouldn’t pay for the program, but that they can pay me! This is huge because on of my problems was financial constraints! I learned a lot from this TA and realized how much other people can be such a source of information! She spoke more about her story and the more I heard both her story and my other interviewee’s story the more I realized the possibility that I too can get into grad school.
3. Lastly I spoke with a Professor who very respected academically and also is very active in social issues that are important to her. I asked her about her story, how she got to graduate school, why she chose Sociology, how she juggles academia and social activism. Although she did not have much time to talk as she had wisdom to share, I did get a lot out of this interview. She actually was a completely different major before Sociology and went right into school. But when I told her that I was taking a break from school for at least a year she said that this was a good plan because she had gotten so burned out from going straight to school. She was great in giving me a lot of helpful tips and telling me about great Sociology grad programs and what I could do during my break between my undergrad and grad school. I left feeling like I could do just about anything and had won a million dollars worth of advice, which is so valuable. I also left feeling that I had a contact with someone who could set me up with people from other grad schools. The interview helped motivate me and open doors and possibilities.

New Flow Chart
Research grad programs that interest me-Find my top ten grad programs-Study for the GRE-Pay and schedule time to take GRE-Pass the GRE-Get three letters of recommendation- Write a great personal statement- Contact people in grad program I’d like to study under-Apply to funded grad programs- Contact financial aid at grad programs-Get accepted into a grad program-Make sure financial aid is available for me-
GOAL: Get Into Fully Funded Ph.D. Program

Problems
-GRE (bad at standardized tests)
-Money
-Finding the right program
-Lengthy applications
-Know-how