As I sit in my windowless, cinder block department office, I reflect on my first semester in a Master of Science program in Geography at Pennsylvania State University and of the ways in which my English minor from OWU has helped prepare me for my transition to graduate studies. While my time at Penn State has undoubtedly been an educational experience thus far, what strikes me most about the distinction between undergraduate and graduate studies is the professionalizing and bureaucratic processes central to grad school. Coursework and reading are not just about the analysis and discussion of important concepts and ideas – instead, professors expect me to be critical of the concepts presented, methods and language used, and the ways in which coursework can be applied to my personal research interests and making a mark in the field. Term paper guidelines are framed in relation to manuscript requirements for leading research journals, and professors expect me to write to the audience, or in the style, of a journal I would hypothetically send my completed papers to.
My advisor has me attend job talks – a hazing ritual central to the hiring of professors – and she makes me analyze the organization of the talk, its strengths, its weaknesses. In talking to professors and visiting scholars, I am expected to have an elevator speech of my research interests prepared for conversation. Frequently, workshops on grant funding are held by my department, and professors discuss the language and organization used by successful applicants to major awarding organizations. In my position as a teaching assistant, I am expected to professionally interface with undergraduates in person and via email, create rubrics for written exams and essays, grade hundreds and hundreds of papers, and figure out how Penn State’s version of Blackboard works.
Admittedly, these professionalizing, bureaucratic aspects of graduate school were initially alienating to me. But, over time, I have come to learn that while graduate school is about continuing my education, it is also about practicing for a career in academia or a related field. My minor in English has been central in this transition from undergraduate to professional-in-training, as English courses gave me the skills necessary to think analytically about the content and form of presentations and written works, write to specific audiences, communicate effectively, and be creative about how I approach my own research and writing. (My independent study I took with Dr. Allison has also given me an edge over my peers in understanding Marx.) As I become more involved with the professional and bureaucratic processes of Penn State and the teaching of undergraduates, I feel grateful for Ohio Wesleyan’s liberal arts curriculum, its rigor, and the willingness of its professors to challenge, interact with, and teach undergraduate students, and particularly for the time I spent taking classes in OWU’s English department.