As I reach adulthood of my adult life, basically 18 years since graduating from college, here are the lessons I have learned. Some of the lessons are more applicable to academia but several others apply more broadly.
#phdlife #AcademicTwitter 1/n

If I remember a specific source of the wisdom I reference it below but most of these ideas formulated over time from my interactions with family, friends, advisor Dr. Abdel-Aty @UCF ( #GoKnights), family, friends, colleagues and students @calpoly, and not just from one source. 2/n

I am not proud to admit this but on several of these things, I used to either be agnostic or used to hold the opposite view. Also, since I just hit 'adulthood' of my adult life I have a lot to learn and I am open to being corrected. so here we go...3/n

There is nothing else I would rather be doing than working as a #professor @calpoly and working with great @CalPolyITE students. Thanks to my mentor Dr. Abdel-Aty @UCF for guiding me to my calling. Lesson: If you are living #phdlife consider academia! 4/n

It's a myth that you can’t make money in academia in general or at a public Univ like @CSU in particular; Many faculty don’t make money because that’s not the thing that drives them. But if that’s your jam at least in #STEMeducation STEM there is money! YMMV in other fields. 5/n

People tend to underestimate the value of a non-toxic environment when moving jobs certainly over intangibles such as prestige. Thankfully, I have been able to learn that through second-hand experience! #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter

I am still conflicted about if I need to say No or Yes more often. Saying “Yes” to a project == taking on debt on my time! When it comes to money I hate debt! But OTOH being asked to help with projects is a tremendous privilege like aving a high credit limit. 7/n

Speaking of #privilege being aware of your own does NOT undermine your hard work just acknowledges that the hard work by people who aren’t similarly privileged often doesn’t lead to similar outcomes. so let's #amplifyblackstem! 8/n

Teaching is a learned art; there are no good or bad teachers just the ones who have done enough of it to get good at it and/or enjoy it. #AcademicChatter #AcademicTwitter 9/n

#Academia is not without huge issues (take a look at #blackinivory) Here are a few more that I think remain underappreciated: It's a tragedy that most discussion in #USA about #HigherEducation is centered around the experience of a handful of students going to elite schools. 10/n

Most of the nation’s workforce is educated at 2nd tier or below schools where affordable quality education is absolutely possible. #COVID19 is going to wreak havoc in that system. Let's shift our focus to that part of the #highered system. 11/n

It is shocking to me that at our campuses in the US have clubs for so many hobbies but no club for #personalfinance (I checked it with @CalPolyASI ). If there is a critical mass of @calpoly students to create one I would be happy to advise. #studentlife

Before I get done with #highered I need to talk about #highered in #India. I mostly know the system as an undergraduate student. In Indian #collegelife even (especially?) at elite Engineering schools like @iitbombay hard work and efforts are constantly undermined by peers. 13/n

I owe a lot to education I got @iitbombay but would have gotten a lot more out of it if I didn't have to pretend to my peers that either I was good at stuff innately or was bad at a subject because I didn’t try! That culture undermines #learning, it did for me! 14/n.

Speaking of things that undermine #learning and moving onto ideas applicable more broadly...you don’t need to spend #10000hours to get good something. It creates a huge barrier #20hours is where it’s at! right, @joshkaufman
15/n

Exercise is not just good for the body but for the mind. I got this piece of wisdom from @coursera's @LHTL_MOOC on learning how to learn. The course finally motivated me to start exercising regularly about 3 years ago.16/n

I have been exercising regularly only for the last three years but I believe my best ideas have come while #hiking, #walking, or #bicycling in beautiful #SLO. So #getoutside working professionals! 17/n

Being good at #math and #reading is important and is a pre-requisite to be able to make sense of the world but is by itself not education. As my friend @pradeepdudi told me it is just literacy. You need the #liberalarts #18/n

The most important lesson of the #bestseller "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" is that you need to become independent (improve your own skills) before you can become interdependent (be effective at collaborating). Looking for ways to impart this wisdom to my kids. #19/n

#RichdadPoorDad by @theRealKiyosaki is a good book even as it feeds the myth that there is no money in academia. 20/n

#RichdadPoorDad led me to own/manage a couple of rental properties (also thanks @BiggerPockets/ @jrdorkin). One unexpected benefit of that for me has been the opportunities to learn about life of people in #USA who live outside my bubble of #Academia #21/n

Before I conclude I need to tell you what inspired this thread...If you are on #AcademicTwitter you know it! I am working on multiple @TRB papers that I need to wrap up by August 1. #procrastination 22/22