International Student Advising: Re-Entry After a Career Break at Home or Abroad
Well, I am planning to continue writing in this blog in English most of the time from now on. Or, perhaps, I will migrate to another platform and leave this trusty LiveJournal (or ЖЖ, Живой Журнал, in Russian) as it was: serving as a vehicle to keep up to date on what my wonderful friends are doing and getting a scoop on the latest in politics and other news back at home.
Since I came back from my dissertation research trip in Japan in 2010 and defended my dissertation in 2011 at the University of Minnesota, I have had ample time to debate a variety of career options. It has been both liberating and terrifying. In the end, I realized that even though I was open to working in multiple fields, my passion lies with hands-on, daily work in international student and scholar advising, immigration case management, or some sort of combination of international programming, advising/teaching and evaluation/applied research. I miss working with students and applying the Internationalization at Home principles to build those bridges, enriching diverse academic communities in the United States and providing support for foreign students and scholars in navigating American academic and community life. When I was 23, I was one of those wide-eyed incoming students looking for adventures and academic career in the U.S.. Then I was unexpectedly given an amazing chance to serve as interim International Student Specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. That was it. I have been hooked on international education ever since.
So how can I re-enter the field I love, the field that has literally started my career in international education in the first place some 9 years ago? I have been reading on this topic for a few weeks now, starting with the NAFSA webinar on Breaking and Entering, getting all sorts of tips on how to re-enter the field I love. It has been very helpful, as well as Small Planet Studio, the Wandering Educators, David Comp's blog, and numerous other online resources at universities, international organizations, and career centers. Minnesota International Educators society meetings have been a great inspiration, allowing me to stay connected and on top of relevant issues in the field.
After a career break or transition abroad we know we’ve changed. But we often can’t articulate how (much) we’ve changed. Getting my Ph.D. in Comparative International Development Education (CIDE) made me shift my focus onto teaching, research and program evaluation for a while, -- weaving together the various strands of understanding American higher education history, college student learning and development theories, internationalization trends, program administration and assessment needs....Truly, the more you know, the more you realize you have to learn. Yet all of these experiences have really informed my understanding of the international education field. After immersing myself into all of these areas of research, designing those lesson plans and syllabi, advising study abroad students, teaching, talking to faculty and staff at countless meetings to identify their concerns and needs, and, finally, planning my own study abroad in Japan (stepping once again into the shoes of an international student/scholar), I felt my academic preparation in CIDE has really provided me with a unique perspective on all of the above. I can't wait to bring it back into the field.
Since I came back from my dissertation research trip in Japan in 2010 and defended my dissertation in 2011 at the University of Minnesota, I have had ample time to debate a variety of career options. It has been both liberating and terrifying. In the end, I realized that even though I was open to working in multiple fields, my passion lies with hands-on, daily work in international student and scholar advising, immigration case management, or some sort of combination of international programming, advising/teaching and evaluation/applied research. I miss working with students and applying the Internationalization at Home principles to build those bridges, enriching diverse academic communities in the United States and providing support for foreign students and scholars in navigating American academic and community life. When I was 23, I was one of those wide-eyed incoming students looking for adventures and academic career in the U.S.. Then I was unexpectedly given an amazing chance to serve as interim International Student Specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. That was it. I have been hooked on international education ever since.
So how can I re-enter the field I love, the field that has literally started my career in international education in the first place some 9 years ago? I have been reading on this topic for a few weeks now, starting with the NAFSA webinar on Breaking and Entering, getting all sorts of tips on how to re-enter the field I love. It has been very helpful, as well as Small Planet Studio, the Wandering Educators, David Comp's blog, and numerous other online resources at universities, international organizations, and career centers. Minnesota International Educators society meetings have been a great inspiration, allowing me to stay connected and on top of relevant issues in the field.
After a career break or transition abroad we know we’ve changed. But we often can’t articulate how (much) we’ve changed. Getting my Ph.D. in Comparative International Development Education (CIDE) made me shift my focus onto teaching, research and program evaluation for a while, -- weaving together the various strands of understanding American higher education history, college student learning and development theories, internationalization trends, program administration and assessment needs....Truly, the more you know, the more you realize you have to learn. Yet all of these experiences have really informed my understanding of the international education field. After immersing myself into all of these areas of research, designing those lesson plans and syllabi, advising study abroad students, teaching, talking to faculty and staff at countless meetings to identify their concerns and needs, and, finally, planning my own study abroad in Japan (stepping once again into the shoes of an international student/scholar), I felt my academic preparation in CIDE has really provided me with a unique perspective on all of the above. I can't wait to bring it back into the field.