ABSTRACT
This chapter is an expression of gratitude to all my former graduate students, in particular those who have so generously organized this volume of essays in my honor—and with special appreciation to Cheryl Lero Jonson and Travis Pratt. In the past, I have written essays and given an annual seminar intended to help mentor doctoral students and young scholars. At age 70, I felt fortunate to take advantage of the opportunity to address this audience. I do not anticipate authoring another work of this genre, so that is why I refer to my advice as “my final five lessons.” Let me hasten to add the caveat that advice from any scholar—particularly an older one—is based on a unique academic biography, shaped by idiosyncratic personal experiences and a particular social context. These realities limit the generalizability of the wisdom being shared. That said, I have received confirmation from former students that my insights have proven valuable. In this chapter, I offer, as the title suggests, five pieces of advice. First, scholars should realize that they are the architects of their own career. They must be proactive in learning how to navigate the exigencies of academic life (or life in a research organization). Expecting to be “taken care of” and mentored is a recipe for failure. Second, young scholars “do not know shit.” Most doctoral students have excelled at earing A grades and gaining entrance into the next level of the academic program. Now, as doctoral students, there is no program left to which they will gain admittance. The new challenge is to develop deep expertise by mastering the extant research literature on given topics—that is, the goal is to “know shit.” Third, successful scholars organize their life around their research. They always have a research paper on their desk and in some stage of being written. When asked when the last time was that they were not working on a paper, the answer invariably is, “Never.” Fourth, when teaching, the goal should be to “break the Bell Curve.” Research shows that high-level success can be achieved for nearly all people if they are taught tasks through deliberate practice. If all professors do is to reproduce the normal curve in student performance, they have done nothing special with their instruction. Fifth, people matter. At the end, the most enduring impact scholars have is through their students. My students are my legacy.
