Home Graduate Student Reflection

Graduate Student Reflection

decorative image

No Les Digas Que Eres Pobre!!! (“Don’t tell them you are poor”)

"Ya te dije! Y más te vale que no les digas que eres pobre!!!" Those were my mom’s last words as I left for...
decorative image

Letting Go of the Prime Mover: Interpreting Aristotle’s Metaphysics

Studying ancient philosophical works might seem to many students like an antiquated endeavor, akin to reading Euclid’s Elements or Newton’s Mathematical Principles of Natural...
decorative image

How Graduate School Confirmed My Passion for Philosophy

My first semester as a graduate student at San Jose State University reassured me that pursuing a career in academic philosophy was the right...

Taking Advice as a Graduate Student

As a graduate student, I’ve received plenty of advice, much of it contradictory. I’ve been told to attend as many conferences as possible, while...
decorative image

Rejection Blues: Finding Purpose in the Graduate Experience

After completing my undergraduate thesis, I applied to four PhD programs at top US universities. I received blanket rejections. In hindsight, it was a...
decorative image

A Letter on Dealing with Imposter Syndrome

Dear Potential Graduate Students, As part of one of my undergraduate courses, we were assigned to reflect on imposter syndrome, how it affected us, and...
decorative image

Doorways and Rivers: Reintroducing the Graduate Student Reflection Series

I recently taught an eight-week course at Trinity Episcopal Parish in Searcy, Arkansas, on architectural and liturgical semiotics. I sought to answer this question:...

Graduate Student Interview: Stewart Huang

Stewart Huang is a grad student at Brandeis, specializing in metaphysics and philosophy of religion. In this interview, he discusses his thoughts on the...

Letting Go, and Letting the Subject Come to You: Reintroducing the Graduate Student Reflection...

Before my Master’s program, I was a McNair scholar- a program aiding undergraduates in pursuing advanced degrees. I was looking forward to graduate school...
Decorative Image

My Experience With Heidegger

One of the most conceptually challenging courses I took before starting graduate studies was a course I took at the University of Iowa, taught...