Academics and Gifts

Dear Real Academics,

In Mexico, where my parents and my husband's grandparents grew up, El Día de Los Reyes Magos (The Day of "Three" Kings) is on Jan. 6. On this day, children receive gifts and families gather around and eat a special bread called La Rosca de Reyes (The King's Wreath), usually with some steaming hot chocolate. The tradition comes from remembering when the wise men from the East saw a star and followed it to Jerusalem. There, they looked for and found the child Jesus and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh and worshiped Him. Those interested can read the account in Matthew 2. 

So, when I see old photographs of my parents as children at Christmas, they are not sitting on Santa's lap but standing in front of Los Reyes Magos. In  honor of our families tradition, then, Tiberio and I took a picture with the Kings of the East after the spectacular Living Nativity performance put on by the church we attend.

What does any of this have to do with writing or academics? Good question. Well, apart from you getting a min-culture lesson, I've wanted you to think about what kinds of gifts you have given or received in academia. 

Thinking about academics and gifts is an exercise I personally need to do at this moment in time -- mainly because, the information in this article resonates a little too close to home for me right now -- but, read the article after you finish this blog post please! haha.

What gifts have you given within academics, whatever you role (e.g., student, professor, staff, other)?

Perhaps you've engaged in a research study that was deeply meaningful to you and you worked hard to write it and share it with your academic community (and it made it through the review process!). Perhaps you wrote your professor a thank you email for teaching you this semester. Perhaps you wrote a staff member a letter thanking them for their tireless support and work during this very, very difficult year. 

What gifts have you received within academics, whatever your role?

Has someone thanked you for your work? It wasn't until I started teaching that I realized how far just one thank you from a student can go. Have you seen a long project come to fruition? Sometimes I wonder if academia was the wrong profession for me because things move so SLOWLY, but when something finally happens, I see this as a gift. In retrospect, I also see the waiting as a gift in helping develop my character and patience. Have you felt the satisfaction of turning in that last assignment, graded that last paper, or processed that last report for the year? (Maybe this is still looming in the near future...).

Closing and Thank YOU

I'm sure you all can think of more and better gifts in academia. If so, we'd love to hear from you! You can always reach us at inforealacademics@gmail.com. Also, as things wind down for the holidays, please know Tiberio and I are still here for you to help with any writing or statistics support. Please also note that I may not be posting a blog weekly for a few weeks, but that we are still "here".

With that said, thank you for the gift of your readership and support. 

Until next time, happy writing!

Maggie (Tiberio, Rocky, and Rebekah)
Find out more about us here and spread the cheer: www.therealacademics.com


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Need a Boost of Encouragement? The Accomplishment List

The Power of Logging

Writing Models