Helping You Unlock Your Next Chapter,
One Step at a Time
Miriam Grant, Ph.D.,
Certified High Performance Coach (CHPC)
My Non-linear Grad Journey
Coach Miriam’s Grad Journey- & Beyond
Thanks for dropping in to read this. I thought I would share my grad studies (and post grad studies) journey in the hopes that some of this will resonate with you. As you know, we often assume that successful people were ‘lucky’ or that everything just aligned for them at the right time.
What we don’t see are all the struggles, the failures, the self-doubt along the way. I’m willing to be vulnerable here, since I will expect you to be willing to be vulnerable if you become one of my coaching clients!
My grad studies journey was definitely NOT a straight pathway. In fact, part of it was an unintentional consequence. To start with, I did my thesis-based Master’s entirely part-time while working full-time. As most of you know, this means you and your loved ones sacrifice most of your personal time to work on your grad degree. When it came time to write my thesis, after teaching all day, I had to be disciplined about writing from 7-10 pm every weeknight, writing all day Saturday, and then taking at least some personal time on Sunday before starting work again on Monday. It felt endless!
But at last, I defended, graduated, and my ‘reward’ was to take a 2-year leave of absence from work to go and volunteer in Africa. My plan was that this was my one big trip to Africa.
John Lennon is credited with saying “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” I can definitely relate to that! I liked teaching high school and I really had never seriously considered doing a Ph.D. However, then life happened. One day- a year after I returned from Africa- I returned to my empty classroom to get ready for my next class. A different teacher and class had been in there in the previous period. Unfortunately, two boys in that class used a guitar wire to set up a trip wire intended for that teacher. He didn’t notice it, and they left it up. That was the aisle I walked down quickly, falling over the trip wire hard enough to put a hole in my knee cap.
My knee surgeon- who had just patched me up from a squash injury- was livid since he knew that my knee might not heal at all. I was off work from that time on, in a brace, trying to figure out the future. My surgeon’s well-informed advice was to find another career where I wouldn’t have to stand for long periods all day. As frustrating and painful as this injury was, this event changed my life course completely. Although I was angry with those boys for a while, I finally accepted that forgiveness frees you from carrying a toxic burden of resentment and allows you to move forward with your life.
Eleven months later, I started my Ph.D. full-time. I was excited but also apprehensive. I still wore the knee brace, every step was painful, and I tried not to take pain pills since one needs a clear head in Grad School! In addition, I was returning to Grad School after a gap of 4 years so knew I had a lot of catching up to do. That was the most challenging year! I worked really hard, felt drained from pain, somehow made it through, and spent the first summer recovering from the removal of my kneecap- in the heat, in a hip-to-ankle, fluorescent pink cast! During Year 3, I returned to Africa to do my research, and eventually completed my Ph.D. (Just as a sidebar, my ‘one trip only’ became 21 trips to Africa- so far).
EVERYONE HAS A STORY AND A DREAM
I have had decades of experience in supervising and mentoring fantastic grad students, many of whom were international. I have also worked with great teams, as an Associate Dean Research, an Associate Dean of Grad Studies and as a Dean of Grad Studies.
High Performance Coaching is quite different from grad leadership, but I’m grateful to have such an extensive background in being an advocate for grad students- and of having an acute awareness of the wide range of challenges which many grads face. On the one hand, a lot of grads have a fabulous experience in Grad School working with awesome supervisors who also serve as effective mentors. At the other end of the spectrum, so many grad students struggle for countless reasons: they may not feel adequately prepared, there may be serious issues with their supervisors, they may just feel completely overwhelmed by all the expectations and the workload. And this is only one part of their lives as they juggle family obligations, health issues, financial issues, cultural differences, exhaustion from working part-time… the list is extensive.
Everyone’s Grad Journey is unique to them. I am extremely grateful for the support I had during my own Grad Journey, but I am also acutely aware of how my journey could have been so enriched if I had received High Performance Coaching. This is one key reason why I want to help you through High Performance Coaching.
