{"id":46941,"date":"2019-02-19T11:19:52","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T19:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=46941"},"modified":"2019-02-19T11:19:52","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T19:19:52","slug":"bold-requests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/","title":{"rendered":"Bold requests"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nWhat was your last \u201cbold request\u201d?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

We are PhD students in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada who began our MA theses together in 2015. Both first-in-our-family graduate students, and lovers of learning, we were motivated to make the most of our experiences as graduate students. One way that we\u2019ve attempted this is through \u201cbold requests\u201d. Here, we explain what a bold request is, what might stop one from making a bold request, and some examples of the bold requests we\u2019ve made (and what happened).<\/p>\n

What a bold request is<\/strong><\/p>\n

Neither of us can remember exactly how \u201cbold requests\u201d came about, but at some point, we came up with the name and the general idea that we should be bold and ask for things we want\u2014things that may be outside our comfort zones. We both realised the luxury and privilege we had to be in the position of novice researchers. Graduate school is a bit like playing in the sandbox on a huge playground for us. Sometimes it\u2019s a bit rough and tumble, and you encounter bullies (among other obstacles), but there is also a sort of freedom to graduate school. If we don\u2019t dream big now, we mused, when will we?<\/p>\n

Sometimes the requests result in us getting what we want (what we really\u00a0really\u00a0<\/em>want), and sometimes they do not. However, although they entail action, bold requests are more than that\u2014they are an ethos. Bold requests have helped us to shift our thinking from \u201cwe could never do that\u201d to \u201clet\u2019s try it and see what happens.\u201d They\u2019re like an antidote\u2014or perhaps a multivitamin\u2014for imposter syndrome.<\/p>\n

It is all too easy as a graduate student to isolate yourself and quietly despair that you\u2019re not good enough, not smart enough, can\u2019t write well enough, etc. Bold requests can make you feel accomplished and proactive. Additionally, it\u2019s also useful to practice bold requests with other PhD friends. When we make bold requests, we can\u2019t wait to tell each other. We celebrate that request, no matter the outcome. The social aspect of bold requests is one of its key advantages; we could certainly make bold requests alone, but it\u2019s more fun to share. Planning and chatting about bold requests fosters a sense of community and makes us feel we\u2019re not alone in our struggles\u2014one of our core goals as feminist student researchers.<\/p>\n

Some examples of the bold requests we\u2019ve made (and what happened)<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve both boldly requested scholarships, awards, meetings (we even boldly requested to publish a blog post on the Thesis Whisperer, a site we both admire). Britt co-edited a special issue for a national journal as the result of a bold request. We both have emailed academic rock stars (gasp!). And they\u2019ve responded (double gasp!). Lisa emailed her academic idol, Deborah Cameron (the feminist linguist) to ask if she could work with her at Oxford. Professor Cameron said no (kindly) but offered some advice about Lisa\u2019s research, and some ideas about who she might work with in future. Wow! Rather than being disappointed with her response, Lisa was proud for trying. That\u2019s the thing about bold requests: even when you don\u2019t get what you want, just the act of requesting is empowering somehow.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve won awards, grants, and jobs; met big names in our fields; and created relationships with mentors and colleagues that we had not dreamt would be possible so early in our academic career. The key is in the practice of putting oneself forward. For anyone who has ever questioned their worth, engaging in a bold request is a big deal because it sends the message to ourselves that we matter enough to ask for what we want. Of course, it follows that not all requests will be granted\u2014but some will! All we can say is that bold requests as an ethos has worked for us.<\/p>\n

What stops people making bold requests?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, perhaps by now you are ready to sprinkle the seeds of bold requests far and wide and see what springs up. But, like everything, there are a few caveats that would be remiss of us not to mention.<\/p>\n

The first is not to bold request yourself right into a burnout. As you may have gleaned from our stories, bold requests can be simultaneously exciting and nerve-wracking, and we tend to choose our requests carefully in order to minimise stress.<\/p>\n

Second, don\u2019t be a stalker. While we\u2019ve never had any request-ee respond negatively to us, we also don\u2019t advocate pushiness. We find that generally, the golden rule applies: treat others as you would like to be treated.<\/p>\n

Finally, we acknowledge that idea of bold requests comes across as very \u2018neoliberal\u2019. It in some ways implies that we suddenly make everything new and shiny in the dreary world of times to completion and increasing pressures to amp up our productivity. Equally, it implies that one merely need to find a way to play the game but don\u2019t change it, as well as well as patriarchal (\u201cjust put on your best face\u201d) and white privilege-y (\u201cthe only thing standing between you and your success is a lack of bravery\u201d).<\/p>\n

These are important criticisms. We see ourselves as implicated in an institution that is at times incommensurable with our desires for liberation. Rather than attempting to wave a majick wand to clear this all away with a grand convenient statement, we like to think of bold requests as a way to engage in\u00a0\u201csystem hacking\u201d (de Oliveira Andreotti, Stein, Ahenakew, and Hunt, 2015)<\/a><\/p>\n

We may sound like sneaky salespeople but all we can say is to try it. Make a few bold requests and share them with a friend (but don\u2019t hold them too tightly\u2014as Britt\u2019s dad says, \u201cplan the plan, but don\u2019t plan the outcome\u201d). We came to academia to think as big as we can, so we encourage you to find some friends you can stick with and hold each other accountable to your best and brightest thinking. We hope this post is of benefit to you.<\/p>\n

Author Bios:<\/strong> Brittany Amell and Lisa Armstrong are both PhD students in the School of Linguistics and Language Studies at Carleton University, Canada.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What was your last \u201cbold request\u201d?\u00a0 We are PhD students in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada who began our MA theses together in 2015. Both first-in-our-family graduate students, and lovers of learning, we were motivated to make the most of our experiences as graduate students. One way that we\u2019ve attempted this is through \u201cbold requests\u201d. Here, we […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":46942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[269103],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-46941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bold-requests"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBold requests - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bold requests - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What was your last \u201cbold request\u201d?\u00a0 We are PhD students in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada who began our MA theses together in 2015. Both first-in-our-family graduate students, and lovers of learning, we were motivated to make the most of our experiences as graduate students. One way that we\u2019ve attempted this is through \u201cbold requests\u201d. Here, we […]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-19T19:19:52+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dream-Big.jpg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"340\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/bold-requests\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/bold-requests\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"Bold requests\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-19T19:19:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/bold-requests\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1054,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/bold-requests\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/Dream-Big.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"bold requests\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/bold-requests\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/bold-requests\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bold requests - World leading higher education information and services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/bold-requests\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/bold-requests\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/Dream-Big.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-19T19:19:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/bold-requests\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/bold-requests\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/bold-requests\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/Dream-Big.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/Dream-Big.jpg\",\"width\":680,\"height\":340},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/bold-requests\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bold requests\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"World leading higher education information and services\",\"description\":\"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\",\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevin\"},\"description\":\"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/author\\\/kevin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bold requests - World leading higher education information and services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bold requests - World leading higher education information and services","og_description":"What was your last \u201cbold request\u201d?\u00a0 We are PhD students in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada who began our MA theses together in 2015. Both first-in-our-family graduate students, and lovers of learning, we were motivated to make the most of our experiences as graduate students. One way that we\u2019ve attempted this is through \u201cbold requests\u201d. Here, we […]","og_url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/","og_site_name":"World leading higher education information and services","article_published_time":"2019-02-19T19:19:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":680,"height":340,"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dream-Big.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kevin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"headline":"Bold requests","datePublished":"2019-02-19T19:19:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/"},"wordCount":1054,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dream-Big.jpg","keywords":["bold requests"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/","name":"Bold requests - World leading higher education information and services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dream-Big.jpg","datePublished":"2019-02-19T19:19:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dream-Big.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Dream-Big.jpg","width":680,"height":340},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/bold-requests\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bold requests"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/","name":"World leading higher education information and services","description":"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee","name":"Kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevin"},"description":"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/world.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/author\/kevin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46941"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=46941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}