Challenges of First Generation Doc Students (with Dr. Lamesha C. Brown)

In today's episode, I speak to my friend Dr. Lamesha C. Brown about her experience pursuing her PhD. We discuss everything from dealing with imposter syndrome, how she cultivated communities of support, and the steps she took to adjust the pace of her program to suit her needs.

About Dr. Lamesha Brown

Dr. Lamesha C. Brown (she/her/hers) serves as the Director of Advising, Testing, & Career Services at St. Cloud Technical & Community College. She is a proud first-generation college graduate and comes from a low-income background. As a person with multiple marginalized identities along race, gender, college generation status, and socioeconomic status, Dr. Brown sees creating access to educational opportunity and centering student success as key. She has experience in residence life, first-year and first-gen programming, staff development, and advising/coaching students at two-year and four-year institutions, as well as at an HBCU and PWIs. Dr. Brown is also one of the co-founders of @FirstGenDocs, a digital space platform that seeks to affirm the experiences, amplify the voices, and celebrate the brilliance of first-generation doctoral students. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Apparel Merchandising from Washington State University; her Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Valdosta State University; and her Doctor of Philosophy in Education, with a concentration in College Student Affairs Administration, from the University of Georgia.

Follow Dr. Brown on Instagram & Twitter. Also, check out her website - www.lameshabrown.com.  Follow First Gen Docs on Twitter & Instagram. Visit their website - www.firstgendocs.com.

Chapters

• 3:22 Lamesha talks about her graduate school research process
• 8:40 Lamesha discusses how she tackled imposter syndrome
• 12:14 Lamesha shares what motivated her to pursue her PhD
• 16:55 Lamesha talks about how she balanced school with work
• 25:14 Lamesha explains what she wished she knew when she started her PhD program
• 28:08 Lamesha shares what she’s doing now a
• 29:27 Lamesha discusses how FirstGenDocs began
• 35:52 Lamesha shares the story of how we met and the community that we developed to support our PhD goals
• 41:32 Three things that helped Lamesha in her doctoral pursuits
• 47:08 Lightning Round Questions