How I prepped for doctoral studies in 4 steps: First, read longform pieces

Like many before me, I heard the stories and warnings, “You are going to have lots of readings, and assignments, and tasks.” It was a consistent theme. I had a little over two months to get myself fit again for syllabi readings that I imagined would look like a CVS receipt at check-out in length.

So I did what just about any other librarian would do next. I researched strategies and tips to help me prepare for doctoral studies. There are a lot of them. And that was great. But not many tips and strategies on what to do before starting my program in Higher Education were available. Sure, there were the do this to apply tips and strategies. Not much beyond that.

I had to approach it differently. I decided to think of this like preparing for a 5k race after not running for a year. Steady pace and progress. Pushing further until I was where I needed to be. Guess what…it worked, and this is how I did it.

Read longer pieces for fun. Yes. I said that. You are about to start a full-time job as an academic student, probably working full-time now, and I’m recommending you start reading now. I went to one of my favorite sites, Long Form, as it offers interesting pieces that are longer, engaging essays. Just about the same length as many of the readings you will be assigned. In the search bar, I looked up “education” and it brought back essays (long form pieces) that could be relevant to my program. Search for what interests you, or search for topics that most relate to your academic program.

The advantage of reading long form articles is that the topic, subject, style, and tone are generally different. This is something you will find with academic research articles and textbooks with multiple authors. Your professors also will have different delivery preferences, and the more you are in a mindset to embrace different styles, the more rewarding you may find the experience.

Next in the series: “ Step 2: Listen to Podcasts”