Mentorship: Secured

I spoke with Dr. Ruderman from the University of North Texas and it can only be described as “truly something else”. His profession was different from the others I’d interviewed as he focused heavily on philosophy and theory rather than contemporary practices. This is where we clicked. Although career-wise I do plan on working with contemporary politics, I strongly believe that having a basis in philosophy is one of the most beneficial things I can do for myself. I read theory and books on my own but often struggle to put the essence of the things I think into words. This interview, I almost completely threw out the prepared questions and rather sat and discussed topics such as neoliberalism and the effects of a hyper-capitalist society. It was an incredibly valuable hour and he seemed to reciprocate my excitement and gave me a ton of reading recommendations. I really see him as a potential mentor and hope it works out. All of the preparation and emails and calls seem to be coming to a end as I’m in the final stages of interviewing. Overall this entire process has been incredibly rewarding.