Evidence of life after escaping an abusive and toxic environment.
Tag: Academia
#1389: “I am taking over a course from a professor who died. How should I proceed?”
"Hello, I wouldn't be here if your actual professor hadn't died. Who's ready to LEARN?"
#1358: GUEST POST: “I think my professors $#@%-ed me up.”
Thriller author Amy Gentry answers this letter about abusive professors who feed like vampires on the potential of their students.
#1282: “I want to support my friend without helping him with all his class assignments.”
Hi Captain, I am trying to figure out how to still be supportive of my friend continuing on to grad school when I recently had to dropout of my own program due to a lot of different reasons (COVID striking my family, online course-work not being a good avenue for me, extra course-work due to … Continue reading #1282: “I want to support my friend without helping him with all his class assignments.”
#1167: “Tips for staying positive when your body hates you.”
Dear Captain Awkward, Thanks so much for this blog! I read most of the archives during a recent overnight hospital stay and it really helped keep me entertained. I (she/her pronouns are fine) was a year away from completing my dissertation when my body rebelled. I have two very large liver adenomas, larger than the … Continue reading #1167: “Tips for staying positive when your body hates you.”
#1093: “Urgent: I’m scared to ask my professor for help!”
Ahoy cap! I am a university student who's in the middle of those last weeks before the period ends that can be described as 'hell on racehorse steroids' and I'm failing one of my subjects. I feel super s***ty about, to the point that I haven't seen my last evaluations (only the grade) but I … Continue reading #1093: “Urgent: I’m scared to ask my professor for help!”
#1027: How do I handle a hands-off advisor who expects me to be a mind-reader?
Dear Captain, I am a 4th year PhD student in a STEM subject and I feel that everything has gone off the rails, in part because my adviser and I don't communicate well. I will try to be brief- there is a lot to unpack. I started my PhD at 23 without a Masters, so … Continue reading #1027: How do I handle a hands-off advisor who expects me to be a mind-reader?
#1023: “Academia, singlehood, + excuses.”
Dear Captain, My question today is about academia and/or job opportunities and being single. I am a PhD candidate in a Very Good University in the US, and I will be on the academic job market in a year. I have a very good publication/presentation/committee/topic situation, so I should be doing fairly fine. However, my … Continue reading #1023: “Academia, singlehood, + excuses.”
#870: “I was ghosted by my faculty advisor. How should we interact now?”
Hi Captain! Okay, here's the tale: I'm two years out of undergrad and was applying to grad schools this past winter, so emailed my senior thesis adviser to ask for a letter of recommendation (he'd already written me one for a fellowship a year ago). He never responded--after a month I checked that he wasn't … Continue reading #870: “I was ghosted by my faculty advisor. How should we interact now?”
#787: Trouble dealing with male grad students who take up all the air
Dear Captain Awkward, I am a woman who is a graduate student. One of my fellow students, a man who I'll call Nigel, takes up a lot of space in seminar. He speaks over people, interrupts, makes noises while other people speak, and doesn't wait his turn. If unchecked, he will dominate seminar and prevent … Continue reading #787: Trouble dealing with male grad students who take up all the air
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