Students should focus on forging connections to build their experience: Opinion

Graduate students can forge connections across their campus ecosystem to enhance the way they spend their time and gain experience during their education, write Sonali Majumdar and James M Van Wyck. Students who connect with others outside their department can gain exposure to diverse ideas and perspectives, garner advice from others outside of their own departments, learn how to communicate with those outside their field, and build resiliency as they hear from others with shared experiences. The authors recommend that students meet with scholars who share an interest in broad areas; audit courses in other fields; and engage in experiential learning opportunities in areas such as academic administration, instructional design, or research development. Finally, Majumdar and Van Wyck encourage students to keep a record of their activities to use as “résumé fodder.” Inside Higher Ed (Acct. Req.) Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.