I was really impressed with the UCSD Borders and Migration Grant Writing Workshop event because as long as I’ve been involved with CCIS (Center for Comparative Immigration Studies), I had never seen a grant writing workshop on this scale before. Of course we had regular seminars in which my faculty advisor discussed fellowships and grants for grad students, but we have never had a two-day event with lots of outside speakers, community discussion and writing time, and catering!!
When the conference organizers contacted me and asked if I’d be available to present, I was very pleasantly surprised that this event was actually happening. Typically, there are little department funds available to do workshops and events for graduate students. To do larger events, you often want to look for sources of funding outside of your department, such as grants, faculty or private sponsors, and collaborations with other campus units.
Furthermore, even when we do have workshops and events, we need a lot of labor to plan the agenda, delegate tasks, order catering and supplies, rent venues, and so on so forth. Above all, there is a real inertia in which graduate students and faculty are often unwilling to do such community-based service, because these acts are unrewarded by the university institution. In other words, organizing a conference or workshop does not always help you reach doctoral program or tenure milestones.
Such community-based service labor is also often unpaid, which means it is typically unacknowledged and invisibilized by the university institution. There is often little incentive to do such labor, and the time and energy you spend on doing community service is time and energy taken away from working on your research or publications. It feels very extractive when the university prioritizes these products instead of the community relationships that you build through serving your peers, mentors, and students.
Presenting on both days of the Migration Grant Writing Workshop really made me reflect on how there is a dearth of opportunities for graduate students to professionally socialize with each other, faculty, and non-academic experts to discuss research and writing. It is particularly interesting when you consider how both research, writing, and professional in-person communication are foundational skills for academia and many other industries.
I was really touched that I was referred to the conference organizers by Andrea Kvietok, who was one of my giveaway clients from last year and one of the organizers of the workshop. I get most of my clients through word of mouth and referrals, which makes sense because that’s what I observed while working at the university writing center too. Most students come to the writing center because their friends or faculty mentors recommended it to them. It really means a lot to me that people are not only satisfied with my consulting, but also trust me with their friends and professional networks. Thank you!
Onto the workshop events: on the first day, I presented a graduate student-focused workshop on writing fellowships and grant applications, and I was really pleasantly surprised that so many people showed up! The event was held via Zoom and in-person, so I thought everyone would attend virtually. But most participants came in person, which I think also goes to show the power of catering. When I used to give this fellowship and grant writing workshop, I would always use the example of the Ford Foundation Fellowship, but since it’s gone now (RIP), I used the example of the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship.
That example worked out great because on the second day, we workshopped several sample grant and fellowship applications together as a group, and one of those sample applications was for the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship. These activities were really helpful for participants to learn how to read sample writing and identify common pieces of feedback. Participants can also see how experts like myself work with clients and give feedback, which I thought was a really unique opportunity. Again, I really respect the organizers for having the mindset to build this workshop event and design all these activities. I can tell that everything on the agenda was intentional and planned to center the needs of the participants, who were mostly graduate students.
The organizers also sponsored me to provide additional 1:1 consultations at no extra cost to workshop participants! I really think it’s a great opportunity for participants to get some outside feedback and it’s a great way for me to raise awareness about my services as well.
Since I benefited a lot from CCIS as a graduate student, I was also happy to offer an exclusive 25% off discount on gift cards and consultation purchases to workshop participants. It was so great to see everyone again and be able to serve grad students from my UCSD communities too. So fun and the views from the event space were beautiful! Overall, a great way to start the fall quarter. I’m hoping to be able to do more workshops in the future too.
Have you ever attended a writing workshop before? I really like doing them since it’s not always commonly offered.
For my next blog post, I hope to be writing about research tools. I used to have a long list of research tools written up on my old personal website, and I figured it’s about time I updated and compiled everything. Please let me know if you have any recommendations for research software, citations, or productivity apps!
Thanks for reading!
Dr. Write-Aid 
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