The emotional roller coaster of graduate advising

Dr. Shawna Malvini Redden (@drshawna) is a writer, speaker, professor, communication researcher, and consultant. In this heart-warming story, she talks about how “emotional work” and support is a big part of teaching and graduate advising.

This story was published on June 12, 2018, on Dr. Redden’s blog (available here), and has been republished here with her permission.

I wasn’t supposed to be in the office that Tuesday morning, but the deadline for a conference paper was looming, and I had to escape my house to concentrate on writing.

When someone knocked on my door — three loud bangs that made me actually jump — my initial feeling was severe grumpy cat irritation. I DO NOT HAVE OFFICE HOURS TODAY, HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW I’M HERE?!! (For those who find this response uncharitable, please keep in mind our advising context… with a thousand majors and open advising, it can be a zoo.) I contemplated not answering.

But I’m so glad I did because when I pulled the door open (standing in the way, so no one could just walk inside. I told you, grumpy cat style), Kyle was there with this knowing look.

Intrigued? Want to know what came knocking on Dr. Redden’s door that morning? Read the full story here.