This is my square one

[kt__w]

This is my literal day one, I graduated with a BA in Anthropology in 2009. After a discouraging conversation with a trusted academic advisor who pushed me to explore my employment options outside academia, I did not pursue any postgrad degree. I find myself at 31 and have spent the last 7 years in the food service industry partly due to family and financial reasons. I know I need to take the GRE to begin with, I am more looking for what else I can be doing to "beef up" my extracurriculars (field schools, volunteering, etc). Also if there is a time period to frame my expectations in between now and when I will be ready to apply. Any advice would help a lot, thanks.

[TheMagicMoment]

Although I got a MA in anthropology, my PhD is in a different discipline. I wanted to say that up front before you read my advice.

I think you've got a good idea with "beefing up" your extracurricular activities. First thing first though, I think a successful graduate school application is often about having a "narrative" that ties all of your experiences together and that can relate to what you want to do in graduate school. I suggest thinking about what it is you want to study with a graduate degree in anthropology and how extracurricular activities can connect you to that goal.

Try reaching out to local museums about volunteering. I know, for example, that the archaeology museum in the city where I got my MA in anthro would take any volunteer that was willing to be briefly trained on how to sort dirt and gravel looking for rough artifacts. That kind of experience might be useful if you want to pursue terrestrial archaeology.

@museum_geek pointed out in another thread that the AAA has a site for field school opportunities. So stemming from that you could 1) apply to a AAA field school, 2) become a member of the AAA and put that on your CV in your application and stay informed about future opportunities, and 3) reach out to departments listed by the AAA in your area about volunteering. If possible, it also wouldn't hurt to start building relationships with any of the schools you've identified as places you want to submit an application. Follow their social media accounts, get on their email lists if you can, and respond to opportunities that they advertise. If you can, find or request the CVs of current students at schools you're interested in and see what kind of extracurricular activities they describe.

But even if you can't do an anthropology field school or volunteer in an anthropology museum, pursuing related opportunities would also be beneficial. Let's say you're interested in local knowledge of environmental history in the deserts of the Western United States. Even if you don't live in the deserts of the Western U.S., finding organizations with a focus on environmental issues or saving local history in the area where you are could be beneficial if you can tell a convincing narrative in your essays and supporting documents about how your experiences in those contexts prepare you to do work in graduate school.

Another piece of advice, which comes through a little in everything else I just said, is to network. Reach out to people (faculty and graduate students) who are doing interesting work, going to school where you want to go, or have a background similar to yours. Ask them how they got to where they are and if they have any advice. Join the AAA and/or a smaller affiliate and meet people that way. Attending meetings, or even conferences if you can manage it, would be very helpful to you. Overall, it's better for your application if someone who may read your application, or be asked to endorse it, has a sense of who are you.

I hope any of this is helpful to you. It's mostly advice based on my own experiences, mixed in with a bit of what I wished I had done. Ultimately, I made the decision to get a degree in something else that allows me to work as an anthropologist but do other things, too. But I tried to make my advice more general/applicable to an anthro degree.

[lovekilledinos]

Oh man, I spent 3 years between undergrad and grad school working in food service, too. I used that in my application essay, my boss wrote me a letter of rec (I wrote it for myself and she signed it, actually), I had no extra-curricular activities to talk about, but mentioned a study abroad experience that tied into my research ideas. 

If you haven't done a lot, don't worry. No one expects you to have amazing shit before you're in the place where you learn to do amazing shit.