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Knowing that half of doctoral students never receive their Ph.D. and only half of the Ph.D.s get tenure-track positions, I new choosing a graduate school was a critical decision. Ultimately, I decided on an Ivy League school. Then a personalized, persuasive letter arrived from an EALC professor and my destination shifted from the East Coast to a cornfield. This year, after completing my Ph.D. and being hired for two tenure-track faculty positions in East Asian history, I realize how privileged I was to be in the graduate program at EALC. I believe I have made a smooth transition from graduate school to full-time faculty because my graduate training provided a nurturing intellectual environment and steadfast professional training. From the first-year graduate proseminar through my final innovative cross-disciplinary course in EALC, I learned not only the facts but also methods in the established scholarship of East Asia across temporal, geo-political, and disciplinary boundaries. The department's flexible approach to independent study exposed me to various sources while incorporating my specific needs. EALC teachers provided not only epistemological sensitivity but also organizational skills, consciously involving me and other graduate students in workshops and conferences on campus. EALC also provided me with valuable teaching opportunities. So, by the time I graduated, I had considerable experience in research, teaching, and professional services - critical parts of my career. Needless to say, I went through moments of crisis in the frustrations and confusion of the maturing process of the doctoral program and of myself as the first Ph.D. in the department. But ambitiously taking five courses at once only to end up with several paper extensions, sleeping with hundreds of borrowed books from the UIUC library in my tiny apartment, staying up all night preparing for my TA classes and crying before my mentors, also had a part in teaching me what it means to become an independent scholar, engaging colleague, and caring educator. In the tireless support and care of exemplary professional role models, I observed the power of collective efforts in creating a nurturing environment for graduate students. As I see how much I have grown, I cannot help but feel excited about the future of the department and what it will contribute to the field of Asian Studies. So I thank my exemplary mentors Professors Toby, Abelmann, Goodman, and Chow in Champaign and Haboush and Doak, now at universities on the East Coast - my debt to whom I can pay only by serving and caring for my students and colleagues as they have done throughout my years in EALC. Jin-Hee Lee |