DR. KATHERINE S. CHO

Earlier today, a friend asked about how I wrote reviews (i.e. academic feedback for manuscripts). In our text exchanges (because we are still practicing social distancing #Covid19), I realized this might have been the first time I verbalized and realized that I even had a process. So, I wanted to share how I think through my feedback and how I write reviews. 

I am an avid journaler. I started when I was in high school (typical angsty teen) and have continued into my adulthood (with less angst). Despite the occasional lapse, break, and silence, I am grateful for this practice. When people talk about writing in their journals, a lot of us, myself included, might think of the near-daily practice of writing thoughts or a summary of the day. But I think there are other ways to think through journaling that are wonderful exercises in reflection that I put together here: 

I might not be the best person for this, as I'm still figuring it out. But, in the spirit of moving forward in the ambiguity and learning process, here is what I've learned/been learning in constructing this website. 

The main thing for me has been the question of: but what is the point? What is the point of an (academic) website? 

I'm more at the stage of asking for letters of recommendation, as opposed to writing them. But I do remember writing some in the past and wish I had the foresight to think about the ways language and positioning adds to gender bias. Made by University of Arizona's Commission on the Status of Women, this resource is based on research from Trix Frances and Carolyn Psenka. Check it out!

Yesterday at a cafe, I had a random conversation that started with my bullet journal. When I write, I have my notebook out so I can bubble in my tomatoes as I go along. The person sitting next to me saw it and asked to take a look. We wound up talking about how I got started, and the conversation reminded me of how overwhelmed I was when I first started this process. ​

I've written a couple of posts now about conference proposals (e.g.  types of conference proposals, and the difference between a class paper and a proposal). With conference proposal applications deadlines floating around the corner: (check out the DUE DATES page), I wanted to share some templates I use to help keep myself organized for conferences and applications.

I thought that once an article becomes published, then you're good to go. But what I have now realized (thanks to some great folks in my life who consistently remind me to do stuff), is what you do with the article— specifically that you need to share it. 

With social media, you have the usual suspects of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and so forth where you can share within your existing networks. In addition, some other places and spaces to house academic work include ​Academia.edu, and BePress. The nice things about these sites is that you can upload a PDF of your work, in case the journal is on its last issue or will no longer be in circulation. If you know of others, feel free to comment below! 

Self reflective questions to ask yourself because writing means knowing yourself and your habits... 

• What time of day do you work best? (The evening? Morning? After 2AM?)
• Where are you most productive? What are the environmental conditions needed for you to be most productive?
• What are you writing goals? (Are they based on finishing an outlined section, meeting a page limits, hitting a word count, etc.?) ​

​When answering these questions, try to think of it outside and away from the times you operated under a deadline. Adrenaline is powerful so people who are usually larks (or early morning workers) can become owls (i.e. late night workers) when a due date is just around the corner~~

I have finished my coursework, so thankfully, I will not be writing (another) class paper any time soon. However, one thing I realized over the course of this year is that class papers and conference proposals differ quite a bit. ​

Here are some lessons learned in how I've translated my class papers to conference papers~

I often joke the PhD application process is easily in my top 5 of most trying times, which also includes a time I had bed bugs for a year.

But all jokes aside, my PhD application process was filled with a lot of doubt, questions, and concerns. It’s a big decision to make and after making it, can be hard to navigate through the applications.