The academic system teaches us to wait.
You wait for admission into a school or program.
You wait for approval to conduct research.
You wait for an editor to say your paper is good enough to share with the world.
Nothing wrong with institutional processes.
But oh, can this culture of “waiting” mess with your mind and make you think you always need “someone, somewhere” to give you permission to create your own opportunities.
To younger academics: We live in an era where waiting for opportunities and/or waiting for someone to give you permission will slow you down significantly.
If I could sit down for coffee with the 25-year-old version of me, I’d tell her: Don’t wait for opportunities. Create them. In whichever way you can.
A good book to read on the subject: The Entrepreneurial Scholar by Ilana Horwitz.
And no, you don’t need to start the next unicorn for the book to be meaningful to your career.
