Transcript: Staying the Course to Reach Graduation
RECORDING OF: YouTube Video Career Spotlight: Staying the Course to Reach Graduation
TRANSCRIBED: May 25th, 2017
FOR: Walden University
(Denise)
I'm Denise Pranke, a Senior Career Advisor with Walden University's Career Services Center. I've had the honor of working with Nathaniel Geyer on career management strategies during his doctoral program. Nate shares tips with us on strategies to reach graduation.
(Nathaniel)
Nathaniel Reed Gyer, Doctor of Pubiic Health, DrPH, and I'm part of the faculty at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey Pennsylvania.
(Denise)
Thanks Nate, and I want to start by congratulating you on the recent chief academic officer approval of your dissertation, and so that's wonderful news, so let's take a step back in time to when you first started your doctoral degree. What motivated you to pursue your doctoral degree in public health?
(Nathaniel)
Excellent question, Denise. I've always been interested in the populational health aspects of public health, and I started my career as a Bachelor in Science of Biology, and I moved on to biostatistics and epidemiology at Hershey, where I'm employed now, and then after that I wanted to pursue a doctorate at Walden University in public health, and I found that it was very motivating to interact online with people from around the world.
(Denise)
And I know Nate, in our conversations you've also always been really interested in research...
(Nathaniel)
Yes.
(Denise)
...as well. Okay, that's great. So during your program you juggled full-time work with challenging academic coursework. How did you stay motivated throughout your program?
(Nathaniel)
I say motivated through...my network has always been important, and has always been there to support me even during times of peaks and valleys.
(Denise)
What organizational and time management techniques did you use to stay on track?
(Nathaniel)
My...I've always tried...I could...I know later in my program, I created a Word document of key timelines that I want to complete my degree levels, at a goal for example, of graduating and attending the National Harbor graduation in July.
(Denise)
That's great! So you created a Word document to help you stay on track, and with all the important deadlines, and when you use that to kind of guide you through. How did you find out, like what time of day was best for you to study?
(Nathaniel)
I hate to procrastinate and I want to get things done soon as I can, and as we saw I tend to do things more in the evenings, and if I really had to during the weekends. During the weekend I always worked ahead.
(Denise)
Well, wow that's great advice! Thank you. So what strategies did you use on a daily basis to direct...to transition your focus from work and personal demands, to your academic work?
(Nathaniel)
Excellent question, Denise. I wanted to share with you that I've actually tried to choose a topic in my coursework that I can relate to work, while trying to avoid problems such as...such as confidentiality and personal...and disclosing information, so I did a topic relatively similar to my work, but not necessarily off the work that I'm doing.
(Denise)
The last question: What three tips would you like to share with other students to help balance work and school?
(Nathaniel)
That is an excellent question. To network, and network with people from all walks of life, and trying to communicate with different people, and you never know when you need them. That's what my family preached. Family members were very social, and they advised that I network. I also suggest seeing life as more of a spiral, with ups and downs, but for the most part after hills and ups and down they do succeed, and just like...so, you also have to be patient.
(Denise)
Excellent! Ok, well Nate, thank you so much for sharing your advice with others, and sharing your story.
(Nathaniel)
Yes, thank you.
[This text is being provided in a rough-draft format to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings]