Emailing is one of the most pervasive forms of professional communications, and yet, no one ever actually teaches you how to send a professional email. You're just supposed to know how to send professional emails, cold contact people you've never met, and ask for favors in writing. And we can all agree that hidden expectations are bullsh*t, so let's discuss this one. If you're pretty sure that you already send emails like a pro, you can skip this blog post. But if you're not 100% certain, please read on. 

There are two types of mentorship - mentorship between you and a person who is older / more advanced in their career or life; and mentorship between you and people who are in your same position in life (aka peer-mentorship). I have written about peer mentorship before. This post is about the other type of mentorship - the kind between you and someone who is more advanced in their career. This kind of mentorship is very useful when you want someone who can shine a flashlight up the dark road ahead, describe the lay of the land, maybe give you a road map. Bear in mind, of course, that their road map might not perfectly match your eventual map. They might be walking in different shoes, have different advantages or disadvantages, or whatever else - I think I'm belaboring the metaphor. So let's get to a few FAQs about mentors: 

I got a student request this week for advice about how to manage stress and anxiety around classes. I feel like it is important to say, up front, that I am not a therapist or psychologist. I am most definitely not an expert at managing stress and anxiety. However, most universities offer counseling services for students and I absolutely encourage you to take advantage of that if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed with stress and anxiety, whether that is school related, or over other things. That being said, I'm happy to give you some general advice for managing anxiety or stress around school. Understand that these are tools for your toolkit, but they are not a substitute for actual help when you feel like you are drowning. 

This post is the second part of a series, aimed at making online education more approachable. If you missed the first post, you can find it here. 

Previously I noted that, when talking to college students, a few themes emerge regarding the particular challenges of online learning:

1. It is much harder to stay organized and keep track of assignments when classes are online
2. Community is lacking in these courses and students don't know their classmates 
3. Courses are more self-paced, which requires more self-discipline to avoid falling behind 
4. Some professors do not make themselves accessible through zooms 

This post is going to tackle how to build a classroom community when everything is online. You might think that this is the professor's job, and it is (to an extent); but it is also your job. As bell hooks eloquently says: 

“When everyone in the classroom, teacher and students, recognizes that they are responsible for creating a learning community together, learning is at its most meaningful and useful.” ― bell hooks, Teaching Critical Thinking

In other words, there can be no classroom community without engaged students who are willing to take responsibility for their own education. Professors can hold office hours, create discussion boards, and encourage students to get to know one another, but ultimately only the students themselves can take the final step. 

​Students can help create community in their online classrooms in both large and small ways.

As we have all been thrown abruptly into the world of online education, both professors and students have floundered. While online classes have existed for some time, few of us were prepared - mentally or emotionally - to suddenly move entirely online. As zoom and asynchronous classes have over taken higher education, we all find ourselves needing to suddenly adjust our strategies and metrics for success. What does it look like to be a successful college student when libraries are operating with limited hours, study rooms are restricted, and your professor only holds online zooms instead of in-person office hours? 

Talking to college students, a few themes emerge:

1. It is much harder to stay organized and keep track of assignments when classes are online
2. Community is lacking in these courses and students don't know their classmates 
3. Courses are more self-paced, which requires more self-discipline to avoid falling behind 
4. Some professors do not make themselves accessible through zooms 

All of these concerns and challenges are very real, and frankly, they suck. But there are a few things that you can do to make them suck less, or at least lessen their impact and succeed in spite of them. I'll tackle these challenges in a short series of blog posts, aimed at helping make online classes just a little less painful. 

First, I'm going to tackle the challenge of staying organized in online classes, and I won't bury the lede. When it comes to keeping track of assignments for online classes, the key to success is actually exactly the same as it was for in-person classes. Read the syllabus. Print the syllabus and hang it on your wall. Frame the syllabus and hang it over your bed.

Here's the problem: professors are not necessarily any better at online classes than you are. Many professors have no experience, no idea, and no help with setting up an online class. They do not necessarily understand the user experience. Some professors might be putting discussion boards in one place, assignments in another place, and readings somewhere else; while other professors reliably use modules. Every class you take may be structured differently, according to how well or poorly the professor understands the learning management system and how much experience they have taking and teaching online classes. You cannot control any of this. But you can look at the syllabus, figure out what assignments are due when, and keep track of what you need and when you need to do it. In this sense, nothing has changed from when you took in-person classes. The syllabus is still God, and you can still put those deadlines on your personal calendar, keep track of readings, and find the class materials exactly the way you did before everything moved online. 

If you are taking four online classes, and each class has a different method of online organization, posts assignments in different spots, and readings are scattered across hell and back, then don't rely on the LMS (canvas, blackboard, whatever) to tell you what to do.

Take charge! Here's how

I haven't written many blog posts recently because, like many of you, I've just been trying to keep my head above water and get through the end of the semester. But here it is, we've made it through. Whether you passed or failed, are exhausted or invigorated, you are here. At the end of every semester, no matter the circumstances, I like to spend a few minutes taking stock of the last 4 months. 

1. What were your accomplishments? No matter how challenging your semester was, how exhausting your personal life was, how difficult the last six weeks were, you accomplished things. Write that list down and give yourself some major kudos. Accomplishments do not have to be awards or publications or anything else "big." Accomplishments might be paying your bills in spite of hardships; leaving the house regularly for a walk and staying stable during incredibly challenging times; realizing that you volunteered and helped others get through this time... 
   
2. What will you adjust, moving forward? No matter how much of a success my semester was, there are always areas where I think I could improve. In that spirit, I like to leave myself notes for the next semester. Small things I want to change about the classes I teach, the writing I do, or the way I approach my home routines. 
3. What are your goals? As I close out one academic semester, I like to think about my future goals - both big and small. Setting attainable short and long term goals is an extremely important driver in feeling motivated and working with purpose. If you know your goals, then you can begin to map out a path for getting to those things. These goals should fall into 3 categories: short, medium, and long term. I like to start with the long term goals, then work my way backwards. This allows you to think strategically about where you want to go and how to get there. 
   
   • 3 month goals: What are your goals for the summer / next academic semester? These goals center on things like grades, exercise, applications for jobs or graduate school, internships, etc. 
   • 1 year goals: This still falls into the "short term goals" category, and they are basically the same as above, but with a slightly longer time horizon. 
   • 5 year goals: These goals have to do with more major aspects of life and career. Where do you envision yourself being in 5 years? What would you like to be doing? These goals might center on career, home life, finances, or personal relationships. But they should give you an idea of some of the bigger things you are working toward in your life. These goals help us find purpose to motivate the short term goals. 
   • 10 year goals: These are big, long term goals. These goals are often more vague, and they might change over time. That's okay. Very few people (no one) really knows what their life will be like in 10 years. But, it's a good idea to have a general idea of where you see yourself going and what you might want to do to get there.
     

Once you have done all that, reward yourself because you are done! You accomplished some shit. You made it through another semester. You are a human being worthy of love, joy, and rest. Give yourself those things, because you absolutely deserve them. 

​Did you know you can nominate yourself for things? You can nominate yourself for awards, scholarships, fellowships, grants, etc. When it comes to scholarships in particular, you can, and should, actively seek out options and apply. Awards can be a little more specific. There are some university awards, for instance, that require a faculty member to nominate a student. You can ask a faculty member to nominate you for these. Your professors may absolutely love you and think that you deserve every award in existence, but perhaps the specific awards or deadlines aren't on their radar. It does no harm to bring it up with them. That being said, let's talk about how to ask a professor for a recommendation or nomination. 

1. Before asking a professor for a letter of recommendation, you should be sure that you have a relationship with that professor. This doesn't mean you are friends with them. This means that they know who you are. Ideally this should be a professor you have known for 2 or more semesters, who you have visited in office hours, and in whose classes you have made A's. 
2. You should give your professor plenty of time to write the letter of recommendation. Ideally, you would ask them at least a month in advance. However, two weeks may be sufficient if you are on a tight deadline. If you have to ask with even shorter notice, don't let it stop you, but be aware that they may have to say 'no' due to other, previous commitments. 
3. Ask politely. This can be in person or via email, but your request should be respectful and polite. 
4. Provide your professor with the information they will need to write the letter or make the nomination. A resume, personal statement, a reminder of the courses you took with them and your grade in that course, any information about yourself that you hope they will highlight in the letter, and important deadline and submission information. 
5. Finally, thank your professors (literally, just say thank you), and tell them the outcome! Email them and say that you got admitted to law school, got the scholarship (or didn't), etc. If they care enough about you to write a letter of recommendation, then they will also care enough to want to hear the outcome. 

Good luck out there, y'all, get those scholarships, get those acceptances, get those awards! 

I got really behind over the last two weeks, it doesn't matter why. The point is, this week I needed to dos some damage control and get back on track. There are two types of recovery that you may need to do when you get really off track or behind. The first type is the practical recovery of re-focusing and getting back on track. This involves many of the same steps as we've discussed previously regarding goal management.  

If professors were brave enough to get forehead tattoos, just about every single one of us would choose to have "read the syllabus" emblazoned across our faces. But, I'm not sure that everyone knows exactly what we mean by read the syllabus. Are we just asking that students look over the syllabus at the beginning of the semester? No. 

"Read the syllabus" involves much more than just glancing through in August / January, and you'll find that there are significant benefits to having the syllabus available throughout the course of the semester. For most professors, the syllabus functions as both a class calendar, and as a kind of contract. The syllabus contains most of the information that you will need to be successful for the class. Every professor writes their syllabus a little different, but almost all syllabi share some common components. Here's what to look for. 

Getting started on writing an essay for class, or anything else for that matter, can be incredibly challenging. Having the confidence to share your writing or knowing that it is ready to submit is even harder. Below are just a few resources that can make the process just a little less intimidating. 

1. Write shitty first drafts, then write a second draft, and a third draft, and so on. Eventually you will have written something that is not too embarrassing to share. 
2. Use the resources available to you. Almost all universities have writing centers and your tuition dollars are paying for the center - USE IT. 
3. Try reverse outlining. If you aren't sure that your paper is fully coherent or that it flows logically, making a reverse outline can help you clarify your main arguments and check for the logical flow of your paper. 
4. Read your work out loud. It feels really weird to do this, but it is an excellent way to look for grammatical errors and the flow of your writing. If what you wrote feels stilted and awkward to read out loud, it will feel the same for others to read. 
5. Use a checklist before you submit anything. This will help you catch last minute errors, ensure your citations are there, and verify that you met all the assignment criteria.

If you want to think more about writing, whether fiction or for an assignment, I highly recommend reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (excerpt linked above).