Real Academics Blog

Dear Real Academics, We are back! We hope all of you have found some amount of time to rest and reflect and find peace during this time of year. Thank you for your continued readership support. And welcome to the newcomers this year! Your continued support and sharing of this resource with others is so important, and we thank you. This week I am sharing a picture of Dr. Garza and myself at the Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam lies between Nevada and Arizona and was built during the Great Depression (i.e., the 1930's) in the United States. If you are ever in Las Vegas, we highly recommend you take the official "Dam Tour" and learn more about it. (And, yes, the tour guides will endlessly play on the word "dam" throughout the tour...dam tour, dam tourists, dam t-shirts...you get the idea).  The dam may not look as big as modern dams in other parts of the world, but for the time it was built and in the way in which it was built, the Hoover Dam is simultaneously a business...

Dear Real Academics, The month of October 2021 we gave our website a facelift. We had launched our website just 6 months before this date, but we realized it was already time to revamp it. Allowing our website to sit for some time and then revisiting it was a helpful exercise. Time "away" (i.e., distance) provided us with perspective to allow for quality revision.  Allow us to give you an application of the above story related to your writing. Writing Quality Tips If you want to improve the quality of your writing: Start as early as possible. Starting your writing project early gives you time to receive feedback from others and to provide you with personal distance (see points below). Seek feedback during different phases of your writing project (e.g., beginning, middle, end). External feedback provides a clear set of eyes to see your work and give you valuable reader-based feedback.  Allow personal distance from your project. Here, personal distance = putting a project...

 Dear Real Academics, What do bats, babies, and bicycles have in common? Apart from starting with the letter "b", my husband, puppy, and I ran into all of them on our walk/hike this weekend on the historic Railroad Pass in Boulder City, Nevada.  The Railroad Pass is a walking/hiking path that runs alongside the mountains adjacent to Lake Mead and leads to the Hoover Dam. The pass goes through a series of tunnels blasted into the mountains back in the 1930's when the Hoover Dam was being constructed (known as the Boulder Dam back then).  Railroad tracks were laid down to transport materials from Boulder City to the dam construction area. Today, the tracks have been covered and people like to walk (their dogs), push strollers with babies, jog, and ride their bikes along the trail and enjoy the beautiful views of the lake.  Here is a picture of us on the trail this weekend. If you look closely, you can see one of the mountain tunnels in the background where, of course, ...

Dear Real Academics, Did you know there's such a thing as a writing model? And, here, I don't mean a person holding up the palm of their hand under a piece of paper to display it. Here I mean an example of writing similar to the one you need to or want to (or both!) compose. When I was in graduate school, I knew I needed to write a dissertation in order to graduate. Early in my program, I had never written a dissertation, much less read one. So, I looked for dissertation models in my program and studied them -- not for the content but for the structure. I asked myself: How long are dissertations? (they vary tremendously depending on methodology, I discovered!). How are dissertations organized? (there are traditional chapters, but there are formats that include a collection of related journal articles). How does each dissertation section begin and end? (I learned they are fairly repetitive in the beginning and end of each section because they are so long and want to remind the ...

Dear Real Academics, Happy writers can be productive writers. Happy productive writers are aware of two important things: (1) Their time. (2) Their creative process. [Note: I provide a ton of resources in this post just because I was so excited to make all these connections and share them with you! Be sure to check out any that look useful to you]. BACKGROUND I recently watched a fascinating video interview with Dr. Ken Atchity -- author, professor, screenwriter, producer, literary manager -- which affirmed and solidified the above two points for me. His book, A Writer's Time: Making the Time to Write , is on my short list for reading now: (paid link) Ken mentions two types of productive people: the unhappy ones and the happy ones. The unhappy productive person can be the typical Type A workaholic and/or the stereotypical depressed creative. The happy productive people, according to Ken, -- get this -- are AWARE of their creative process and know how to manage it. I could ...

Dear Real Academics, If you are seeking an academic position in a university NOW is the time to apply (Fall).  Unlike other jobs, academic positions, especially tenure-track and/or full-time positions, are year-long processes.  Let me break down the typical timeline for you: (1) Applications are due in the Fall. (2) If chosen, universities contact you in Fall or Spring for the first round of interviews (usually phone or virtual). (3) If you pass the first round, universities contact you for an on-campus visit (usually 2-3 candidates get invited at this phase) - likely in Spring. (4) If you are picked, then you get an offer and negotiate your contract for a Fall start date. Within the steps outlined above, there are other steps and tips and strategies to help with the competitive process ahead. In this post, I'll provide some general tips, but for detailed information and awesome resources, templates, and tips that have helped others through this process, contact us at ww...

Dear Real Academics, This past week I finished a lovely book by Christy Wright for women starting their own businesses (link at the end of this post).   Towards the end of her book, Christy addresses a psychological issue related to increasing what I call joyful productivity and decreasing anxiety, namely:  " Stop Doing What Doesn't Matter".  Here is a powerful, direct quotation from her book:  " A lot of the stress and feelings of being overwhelmed in our lives come not from doing too many things, but from doing the wrong things. We say yes when we mean no, and we commit to things that we end up resenting and regretting later. We stare at our phones and miss what's going on right in front of us. We do things out of guilt or obligation, then get mad about it. We end up grumpy and disappointed about how we are spending our lives. There are a lot of things that take up our time that aren't important and don't actually matter to us...So if we ant to create...

Dear Real Academics, As faculty (at the time of this writing), I am on a 9 month-contract.  But, every summer for the past 7 years in my tenure-track position seems to be a non-stop list of things to do including attending dissertation defenses, reviewing manuscripts, reviewing conference proposals, going to research meetings, analyzing data, writing and submitting conference proposals, writing and submitting manuscripts and grants, setting up classes for the next semester, setting up meetings for the next semester,  answering student advising emails,  managing upcoming faculty searches, and more. So, you can imagine how annoyed I get when I hear people assume that I am so lucky to be an "educator" because I get summers off. I wish!  Around the end of July this year, I was near burn-out.  Around the first week of August , I was looking ahead to the gazillion of emails streaming into my in-box to get things set up for the start of the semester (not to mention the...

Dear Real Academics, At certain times of the year -- particularly the beginning, middle, and end of semesters -- I start feeling anxious about all the large and many small projects ahead of me. Large things could be dissertations, manuscripts, grants, large assignments to grade... Smaller things could be a seemingly endless "to do" list such as scheduling meetings, attending meetings, answering emails, setting up classes for the next term, and/or learning new systems.  If you are not an academic by profession, you may still relate to some of the above types of tasks. Everyone may also have long-term goals related to health (e.g., eating healthier), finances (e.g., getting out of debt), or other (e.g., figuring out life changes).  Whatever your large project and/or many tasks, one way to NOT feel overwhelmed is to break things down into small steps.  This is by no means a new idea. Perhaps you've heard the staying, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single s...

Dear Real Academics, In my line of work quantity and quality are important.  As a professor, I am expected to publish a lot and publish with quality. I won't go into what "a lot" or "quality" means here. Regardless, there is an expectation for both categories. I suspect in most lines of work quantity and quality are important.  For example, the neighborhood I currently live in is under major development. Started in 2007, this community is expected to be a 15 year project with up to 15,000 new homes developed, though I suspect they'll go longer given the 2008 economic crash and the current pandemic.  At this moment, some of you know the housing market is insane in terms of demand. In the evenings, when my husband and I walk our dog, we see the quickness of house foundations and pipes being laid, house frames which seem to appear from one day to the next, and finishing touches (roofs, walls, etc.) that seem slapped on overnight. Despite this quickness, the hou...

Dear Real Academics, This is the age-old question in our often-hectic way of living. What is the secret to life balance?   I don't know about you, but the idea of trying to achieve life balance stresses me out. I think about ways to do it, try, and still end up stressed out and feeling guilty for not accomplishing what I think life balance should look like. Very recently, I encountered a video on this topic that helped me understand more about life balance. The video is from the Rachel Cruz Show at Ramsey Solutions. Rachel interviews Christy Wright on her upcoming book Take Back Your Time: The Guilt-Free Guide to Life Balance . You can watch the 18-minute interview by clicking on the link at the end of this blog post if you so choose.  Here I highlight some of the ideas: (1) Life balance does not mean doing everything for an equal amount of time. In other words, it's not about compartmentalizing 50% of my day to work and 50% to family. Instead, life balance is about doin...

Dear Real Academics, Have you watched Hamilton, the broadway production? At the time of this blog post, a video version of Hamilton is currently on Disney Plus...for just 7.99/month (and you can cancel anytime), you can watch the play with the writer and creator, Lin Manuel-Miranda (the writer) playing the lead role. And no, Disney Plus is not sponsoring this post! I ask if you've seen the production because Hamilton includes a strongly woven theme of writing. Here, I don't intend to critically unpack this theme (or give away spoilers if you have not viewed it), but simply to encourage you to watch this breathtaking (in my opinion) production. And if you've already watched it, watch it again, paying attention to the thematic role of writing so beautifully interwoven throughout the play. With that said, allow me to muse on the question: "Is all writing a narrative"? As I watched Hamilton for the third time (in awe... and certainly not my last time), I concluded tha...

Dear Real Academics, For those of you even remotely contemplating starting a business, consider a lovely book titled, "Mind Your Business: A Workbook to Grow you Creative Passion Into a Full-Time Gig" by Ilana Griffo.  Written by a graphic designer who has started several of her own businesses, the book is both fun and interactive. Ilana's personality literally pops through the pages through her fun graphics and writing as she thoughtfully challenges and inspires her readers to work through phases of starting a business. The book is both practical and inspirational. Real and gritty. Fun and creative. And the graphics are...well...really cool!  I highly recommend this book for any creatives out there thinking about monetizing (and, yes, this is not a BAD thing) the gifts they've been given to share with the world. (paid link) I am still working through the book. I've read the whole thing, but I'm still thinking things through as I write in the workbook. Lit...

Dear Real Academics, There's an old Frasier episode where two of the main characters -- who, by the way, have Ph.D.'s -- are trying to co-write a book manuscript. For those of you who don't know, Frasier is a sitcom from the 1990's. 😊 They try to write at home, but they draw a blank on how to begin the first sentence.  So, they decide to lock themselves in a hotel to be free of distractions.  As one poses his fingers over the keyboard, the other finally comes up with one sentence, while the other elaborates on it.  But it's too late.  The sun comes up and they managed to only write one sentence by their due date. Of course, this is what I want to NOT happen to you.  But... Have you ever felt this way?  Perhaps you have so much you want to say but you don't know where to start. Or, like the sitcom characters described above, you are afraid of getting that first sentence perfect. Perhaps you just don't know what to say. Or,  you are afraid that if you s...

Dear Real Academics, YOU are real academics (why else would you be reading this post?). :-)  You don't need initials after your name (e.g., B.A., B.S., M.S., M.D., M.A., Ed.D., Ph.D.) to qualify, but if you have them or are in the process of getting them...great! What you do need is an insatiable passion for learning, knowing, growing, doing, and wanting to get to the truth as you live out your life.  In fact, we want to help you live out your life joyfully and meaningfully with the gifts, talents, skills, and passions you uniquely bring to the table. As real academics, you are on life adventures.  Whether you are  just reading this blog for the first time,  signed up to receive helpful newsletters delivered to your email inbox,  explored our website  with resources and cool events for you,  or have met with us personally for a coaching session, we are glad you are reading this. Until next time, Maggie and Tiberio www.therealacademics.com

Dear Real Academics, Confession: I'm dying to write. I am one of those strange people that enjoys writing (most of the time).  The last 12 years have demanded quite an enormous amount of writing from me. From writing doctoral level papers, to a dissertation, to over 25 publications (and counting), and everything else (e.g., job applications, award letters, letters of support, conference presentations/papers, annual review reports, course materials for online work).  I've enjoyed this writing for the most part, mainly because I love to learn, achieve, and keep growing. But...after waiting to hear if I received tenure (I did!) and the pandemic hitting at the same time last Spring (yes, THE Spring of 2020), I stopped writing. I was burnt out, thrown off, exhausted, and even de-motivated.  Well, I didn't completely STOP. I've kept writing. I've provided an insane amount of writing feedback for others (students, colleagues, journals -- oh so many journal reviews!). And I...

Dear Future Real Academics,  This is the.... drumroll, please ...first post for Real Academics.  It is exciting to think about what will be.   Until then,  Maggie and Tiberio www.therealacademics.com