Brittany Carlson has worked in GradSuccess as both our University Teaching Certificate (UTC) Coordinator and a Graduate Writing Center consultant.

What did you get your degree in, and what are you doing now?

My degree is in English. I study the history and culture of mathematics in Victorian and Edwardian literature. This fall, I am starting a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor of English at Iowa Wesleyan University.

What are the top 2-3 things you did while at UCR that helped you finish your degree (and get a position in your field, if you have)? What was most helpful to you as a student here?

The most important thing I did at UCR was apply to become a mentee in the Graduate Student Peer Mentorship Program (GSMP). I am a first-generation student and only attended small, teaching-focused institutions before coming here, so it took me a while to adjust to the campus culture at UCR. The GSMP program put me in contact with a strong network of peers in the GradSuccess community, and they provided me with so many opportunities to mentor, attend teaching development workshops, earn a University Teaching Certificate (UTC), then coordinate the UTC program. That combination of experiences, along with my teaching experiences in the University Writing Program and English department, really seemed to impress the 31 schools that interviewed me before I landed my dream job. All this is to say, GradSuccess was my metaphorical life-preserver while I was a grad student here.

What did you like best about your graduate work? What did you like least?

The thing I liked most about my graduate work was the ability to work in two entirely different disciplines. I am in an English department, but my research intervenes in conversations in the history and philosophy of mathematics as well. As you might expect, there were not many opportunities in the English department to do so. But they allowed me to take my third language requirement in courses that would benefit my dissertation research, and I made so many important professional contacts by doing so.

Is there anything you wish you had done or regretted doing/not doing while a UCR graduate student?

As a graduate student, I spent a lot of time stressing about (and overpreparing) for exams and the other big academic milestones. I also spent a lot of time feeling like I wasn’t “good enough” to be here and that I needed to compensate. The thing I regret most is letting that imposter syndrome get the best of me for so long and not enjoying the opportunity to learn all the time from my colleagues, friends, and students. I wish I would have taken the time to actually enjoy being a graduate student.

What are you most looking forward to in your new position/post-graduate life?

Where do I even begin? I look forward to returning a small, liberal arts college campus for so many reasons, but the first has to be the students. Iowa Wesleyan is a very small school, but has a diverse student body with many first-generation and community college transfer students. I am so excited to work with them and hopefully pay it forward!

What advice do you have for other graduate students at UCR about finishing their degrees, going on the job market, or life in general?

Don’t fear failure, and be persistent! This might sound a little cliché, and easier said than done, but YOU control your own destiny. Whether your failure is a poor grade in a seminar, the need to change a committee member, or waking up to 15 job rejections in one day like I did, give yourself a little time to grieve, find a mentor, have them help you figure out what you can do to improve, and learn from it. Do not let failure or setbacks define you or your career. Every opportunity you don’t take because you don’t think you’re good enough for it is a missed opportunity to learn something new.