Hello AMS Graduate Student Blog readers! I would first like to thank Caleb McWhorter and the previous writing team for their work and dedication to the success of the blog.
My name is Jasmine Camero and I am the new editor-in-chief for the AMS Graduate Student Blog. I am currently a Ph.D. student at Emory University with research interest in Algebraic Geometry. As a graduate student and a woman of color, one of my goals has been to create community among students so we can thrive in our studies and careers as well as in a social aspect. I would like this to be a space for productive dialogue about topics centered on the challenges students face while encouraging student success.
I cannot wait to start working with such a strong group of writers who have already volunteered their time to the blog with unique voices that can translate their thoughts, ideas, and experiences to other graduate students. I am confident they will provide readers with their special experiences, viewpoints, advice, and much more. To the writers: thank you in advance for your time, energy, and commitment to this blog. The team and I will work hard to provide a wide-ranging collection of articles for you.
My vision for the next year is to capture the unique and crucial experiences of graduate students on an academic, professional, social, and personal level. While doing so, I would like to emphasize the following topics:
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- Diversity: Graduate students are more than just students. We come from a large variety of backgrounds: genders, races, ages, countries, orientations, and more. It is crucial that we not only acknowledge this, but also celebrate it. We would like to highlight the varying aspects of a graduate students adventures. This can include stories about the barriers members of underrepresented communities face and advice for overcoming them as well as encounters of first-generation students and their personal navigation through academia.
- Resources: Graduate students take on many roles: students, mentors/mentees, teachers, and researchers. We will discuss useful internet sources such as qualifying exam repositories, problem solving, or teaching material. We also plan to share helpful tips and tricks, advice, and specialized templates for beginner or advanced users with TeX.
- Experience: Experience itself is an unparalleled affair. It will be worthwhile to display the experiences of students in varying years of their programs: first year, second year, etc. This can include navigating exams, building a CV, finding an advisor, traveling to conferences, and being on the job market.
- Mental Health: For many, academia can be a very toxic environment. This can be a space for students to witness and create a healthy dialogue about mental health struggles.
- Professional Development: A graduate program in mathematics isn’t just about the mathematics. Graduate students engage in a variety of activities. We will work to highlight mathematicians engaged in spreading the access to mathematics to groups in or outside of their respective institutions. This may include information about organizing and running a seminar, Directed Reading Program (DRP), Math Circle, attending conferences, or volunteering experiences.
Apart from these central themes, the AMS Graduate Student Blog is by graduate students, for graduate students. We want to hear your ideas, stories, feedback, and suggestions for what you would like to see on the blog. Please contact me, jasmine.camero@emory.edu, or any of the other writers to suggest ideas. If you want to take it a step further, the best way to see the content you want is for you to contribute! If you are interest in writing for the blog, contact me.
I cannot wait to see what this year has in store for the AMS Graduate Student Blog .
