”I’m having difficulties communicating effectively with my advisor. As grad students, our advisors have a tremendous amount of power over our futures. My advisor has made some *ambiguous* comments about my work recently that make me concerned they won’t write strong letters of recommendation for me in the future. I’m not sure if it’s just my advisor being socially awkward or if this is something I should worry about. I find it difficult to ‘read’ what my advisor is thinking. Not knowing whether I have their approval is a constant source of stress. Expectations are unclear to say the least. I’m trying to avoid ‘outsourcing’ my sense of self-worth and to instead derive personal validation from my own internal sense of accomplishment. But the power dynamic makes this difficult.”
