Headed into the profession
Emma Langsford UA’23, C’25 and Jim Stellar
In previous blogs we discussed what it was like for EL to go from a good public university (University at Albany, SUNY) to an Ivy League graduate school (Teachers College at Columbia University). In both cases, she studied psychology. Now we are back and looking at what is next for her as the horizon of her potential professional practice is visible.
“If you have a goal toward which you are working, it gives you wings.” Graduating college and moving onto the “real world” is a terrifying experience. When watching the new graduating class embark on their journey, EL was reminded of the feelings she grappled with when she graduated one year ago. She is now full-time in both work and graduate school. Her life is an intricate balance of professional responsibilities, academic commitments, and personal well-being. She remembers wondering if she would be able to manage it all. EL works in child welfare, a job that can be extremely emotionally draining. On the bad days, she reminds herself that this is not the end goal of her career. The end goal of getting her PhD serves as a beacon, providing her direction and motivation.
“If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.” The effect of this old saying (attributed to both Confusius and Mark Twain) is what propelled JS to choose going to graduate school over medical school. In his junior-senior undergraduate summer internship, he fell in love with neuroscience research and never looked back. But there is something more. As a neuroscientist, JS believes, and writes, that many decisions are made in the interaction between the cognitive neocortex and the emotional limbic system, including his own career decision long ago. It is why he advises his own students to do an internship if they can and when he meets with them after, he always tries to ask how they liked it before they make a plan for graduate school. This reflection is key to taking the limbic learning from that internship and better integrating it with the cognitive planning for a career. JS also believes that this reflection and integration naturally calls many students to a higher level of accomplishment and that can, in turn, form a positive feedback loop leading to further accomplishments.
Being in school while working has given EL theoretical training and balanced her perspective on experiences she has at work. Being involved in organizations within her school, like a research lab and research journal, allows her to practice cognitive flexibility in adapting to her various roles. An effect of this that she was not expecting is that since she is experiencing all of these roles at once, she is able to clearly identify her interests, likes, and dislikes. EL’s path was different from many others, as she chose to pursue a masters degree in clinical psychology instead of going straight into her PhD. She wanted to make sure that she was well-informed in her area of study before committing to a PhD. So far, it has helped, but not in the way she thought it would. Her biggest takeaways are not found within the classroom, but instead, they are found in her conversations with other students, extracurricular activities, and even her work. She graduates in Spring of 2025.
This is a typical pattern of growth in academics and elsewhere. Form a plan, execute the plan, learn from how it felt, and make more plans to build upon what went before. As an example of that, EL once thought that she would focus on child welfare in her PhD. In order to understand the child welfare system further, she decided to get a job in child welfare. Now that she has a concrete understanding of the child welfare system, she can make an informed decision on whether she wants to continue studying child welfare or move on to another subject. In conjunction with this, having multiple experiences at once (being involved in various roles in different organizations), can allow a person to easily decipher their likes and dislikes. The emotional feedback from each experience, especially if they are concurrent, give the student an opportunity to take that comparison and shape their plans.
EL is now focused on honing her research skills, exploring potential thesis topics, and seeking out opportunities to help guide her decision. Her goal is to find a thesis topic that aligns with both her professional aspirations and desire to make a meaningful impact in the field. Following advice from a family-friend, she is less focused on the end goal and more focused on learning the ins-and-outs of the research process, from conception to completion. By going step by step she is attempting to avoid becoming overwhelmed by the process.
So what is next? EL graduates in the Spring of 2025 and it is time now to consider whether she goes into practice (perhaps for a few years) or applies for further training as a PhD student. If she chooses a PhD, is that direction focused on research to improve therapy and/or our understanding of clinical conditions? It could be a nice career to teach, do research, and see patients. It could be a strongly interconnected career. The question is what is in EL’s mind as she enters this last year at Columbia’s Teachers College. We’ll be back to report on that process.
