Take One Step at a Time Posted on February 28, 2006 Velma McBride Murry (bio) describes her career path as a developmental process.

How did I get here? I started out ... looking at senior scholars and wondering how you ever get to that place. Do you have to be born on certain days of the week and times of the year? What is the magic? And the magic is taking it one step at a time and realizing that by taking one step at a time the next thing you know you've walked a mile, and then the next thing you know you've actually run a marathon.

And positioning oneself around individuals that are that successful, not feeling afraid or reluctant to go and talk with people who have made it and say, 'Would you mind reading some of my research manuscripts? Would you mind talking with me about an idea that I have? Would you mind helping me figure out how to network with the people in the funding agencies, so that I can portray my work to a programming person that might be interested?'

In other words, feeling free to say that you don't know what you're doing, and asking for help for someone to teach you how to do it. And really placing oneself at a vulnerable state, because when you reach out, you're not quite sure if people are going to be receptive, but to take that chance, because it could be that that is the moment.

If you ask enough, the word will get around, 'This junior person or this mid-level scholar is really interested in doing this work. Have you talked to them about this? Oh, let me tell you someone else you may want to contact. This is not my area, but this is someone else you may want to talk with.' Feeling comfortable calling someone and saying, 'Can I come by and visit your lab or visit your center just to see what you're doing?'

You'd be amazed at how much people are willing to share what they do, because we all have one common goal, for me, and that is, to engage in the kind of work that's going to make a difference in our world. If junior people realize that that's the common goal that will bring all of us together, then there should be a level of comfort saying, 'I want to know how I can become a player.

The way to do that is for you to teach me, to share with me how to do this so I can become a part of this village. So the dauntingness becomes less overwhelming when you realize that you don't have to start running as soon as you start this journey, that it really takes first crawling, then walking, and then running. It's a developmental process just like growing up.

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