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At this point in your academic career, there will be expectations of you, whether that comes from your family, your supervisor, your peers, or yourself.  You’ve been developing a CV that lists your professional development and impressive “accomplishments” that may be major or minor. There may not be time in your life now to focus on much else.  

But to limit your concept of accomplishment to career milestones is being too harsh on yourself, because most likely there are things unwritten in your CV that bring you fulfillment.

In this context, to “build a ladder” is an intuitive concept — setting short-term goals and achieving them are analogous to climbing the rungs of a ladder.  

Climbing the ladder may mean trying to reach a long-term goal that seems out of sight now, but as you gradually work your way up the ladder you will finally see that destination. Perhaps an even more important aspect of building this ladder is that it is self-propagating, i.e. you are the one building the ladder rather than simply climbing it.  In other words, you are in control of your life. You are also free to make adjustments in the placements of your ladder steps that may mean ending up in a career that you had not originally planned but have regardless built up to. Finally, in building this ladder upwards, you cannot go back down. In building a ladder with personal accomplishments, whether big or small, you can pull yourself out of the darkest pits (I’m talking about you, depression) and get yourself further and further away from that darkness.  

As we build our personal ladders, the community would love to hear about your accomplishments as well — spread the positivity!  There is an Accomplishments Board in the Grad Room for you to do so. Be sure to check it out and contribute. All accomplishments are worth mentioning! 

-Raymond