Tag: resources

Article of Note: Navigating Vocations with a Chronic Illness

In this post, Deanna A. Thompson comments on Amy Colbert’s reflection on navigating academia with a chronic illness, which highlights the identity challenges faced after an unexpected diagnosis like Parkinson’s. While she successfully finds new opportunities, the transition may not be attainable for all. Colbert emphasizes the importance of redefining one’s narrative and recognizing diverse vocations beyond career roles.

Deanna A. Thompson

A recent Inside Higher Ed piece by Amy Colbert offers a brave and instructive reflection for anyone navigating a vocation in the academy while living with a chronic illness. In it, Colbert recounts her meaningful work as chair of a department—one full of great colleagues and abundant strategic planning—that provided her with a strong sense of purpose. Then an unwanted Parkinson’s diagnosis came along and interrupted it all, upending the vision she had for her life before she got sick. As she reflects, Colbert shares the lessons she’s learned about how to navigate this vocational path that she did not choose.

Continue reading “Article of Note: Navigating Vocations with a Chronic Illness”

StoryCorps: A Resource for Vocational Exploration

StoryCorps, a collection of archived interviews with everyday people talking about their lives, is a treasure trove of vocation-related stories. Becky Lahti shares her favorite stories that she has found useful in working with students about calling and purpose.

As Douglas V. Henry notes in the first line of his contribution to At This Time and In This Place, “Vocation has a narrative quality.” It comes as no surprise, then, that hearing the stories of others can play a helpful role in vocation exploration. In my experience, students love to hear the stories of faculty, staff, and other older adults in their lives. They enjoy hearing about how we came to where we find ourselves today, taking comfort in our stories’ winding paths and the rebounds from setbacks.

While there are many ways to create opportunities for such storytelling, we can also look to stories outside of our own communities. I don’t mean the stories of calling from larger-than-life figures like Mother Teresa and Gandhi. Such stories are important and have their place, but they can be a bit daunting to the average college student. For vocational stories of everyday people, I look to the treasure trove of archived interviews collected by StoryCorps.

Continue reading “StoryCorps: A Resource for Vocational Exploration”