Guidance

Forward: This post has been edited slightly based on any drowsy accusations I may have made over the course of its editings. It is important to keep in mind that my successes as a graduate student are because of my independent endeavors which, as someone very wise reminded me, are based on the fact that graduate students should possess maturity, not entitlement. I by no means support opportunities being "handed" to me - I suppose what I ask is that they be mentioned at all, so that people like my peers realize they even exist and can take the necessary steps to their own successes. I am very lucky to have been admitted to such a reputable Masters program; I guess, I always feel the need to prove my point in being there when compared to others with far more experience. It's hard. Life's hard.

But if it were easy, it wouldn't be this rewarding.
-K

At approximately 4:32pm, I emailed my final abstract to the organizers of the CSA symposium happening in May. Writing is my strength but I felt extremely stressed concerning this project. I know it's my first time running with the Big Leagues, yet I can't help but feel absolutely alone on this one.

I don't have a mentor, as of yet. There are a few people who have provided excellent guidance, but some of them don't really specialize in what I want to do. I mean, I know that there is not an expert on Czech fashion, well, anywhere, but the people I would hope to follow in-step with - fashion theorists, historians, sociologists - are hard to approach. I had so many questions that I've never had to address before this, and I tried my hardest to find the answers to them on my own. But where do you go when you need information on copyright permissions? Or who can you turn to when it comes to proofing an abstract?

I feel like the resources I thought I'd obtain by going to grad school aren't panning out as well as I hoped.

My professors aren't very approachable. I understand that they have lives outside of the classroom, that they have their own projects to work on and their own knowledge to build upon. Even so, I feel that part of their job is to ensure the enrichment of their student's minds, and this means supporting their academic endeavors. Not providing the opportunities, not taking us by the hand and writing out the details, but encouraging us to push the envelope as far as we can. Maybe I'm just naiive, spoiled by the overwhelming support I received at my undergrad university, but I thoroughly enjoy the teacher-student partnerships that develop based on mutual interests and further exploration garnered from them.

But grad school, it's truly a dog-eat-dog world. Professors are meant to provide you with book smarts and that's it.

All right, I can take that. It sucks, but what else can I do? I can't feel defeated if a professor is not interested in my work or care that I am involved outside of the classroom.

So maybe I should create a repertoire of resources for students like us to turn to in a bind. What kinds of things do you think I should include?

If there are websites that have helped you in the past, send them this way. They can be anything - academic resources, crib sheets, policies that come in handy for field work or publishing, journals of interest, memberships and societies, etc. Anything to build up a virtual resource center for those interested in fashion studies.

EDIT: I picked up my bootstraps and decided to make the website. Google's site templates are so easy to use! Will keep you posted with previews and such, it's going very well so far.