Going in Circles: Transitions, Connections, and Identity-Building - A Venn Diagram Paper

Oct 15, 2026

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Through doctoral experiences that reshaped personal and professional identities, the author develops a sustained, unexpected affinity for Venn diagrams. The text argues that Venn diagrams function beyond logical representations, serving as encouraging spaces for ideation, self-reflection, and research. As intersections and connections, the diagrams support growth by celebrating both commonalities and differences, and the paper positions them as a guiding, empathetic framework for teachers, students, and scholars.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

The Power of the Circle

From Organizing Ideas to Attracting Them

Transitions and Converging Identities

# Going in Circles: Transitions, Connections, and Identity-Building through Venn Diagrams Natalie Thibault ## Abstract Through a doctoral experience that altered my personal and professional identities, I developed anunexpected fondness for Venn diagrams. They meaningfully transformed my ideation, self-reflection, andresearch processes. More than logical figures, Venn diagrams are inspiring, embracing, and empatheticzones that offer room to grow and space to think, and where commonalities and differences can becelebrated. This paper is an homage to the inspirational circular shapes of the Venn diagram; not onlyhave they transformed me, but they can ignite ideation, nurture connections, and foster growth for allteachers, students, and scholars out there. ## Introduction When starting my doctoral studies at age 40, I could not have imagined how much this transition wouldtransform me. Beyond the impact the experience has had on my personal and professional identities,it has instilled in me an unexpected fondness for Venn diagrams. While I remember learning about Venn diagrams in elementary school, they did not make a greatimpression on me; while they made sense, I never used them in any meaningful way. How did mygraduate school journey lead me to becoming a Venn diagram aficionado? How have my transitionsfrom teacher to student, then from doctoral candidate to doctor, been shaped by intersecting circlesusually reserved for mathematical and logic problems? Those are questions I never thought I’d ask, butwell, here we are. From the beginning of my doctoral studies in 2018, I found myself drawn to the Venn diagram, andI have been consistently using it since. Could my newfound passion have been fueled by its increasedpresence in the public consciousness through viral memes and parodies in recent years? While it isdifficult to prove, this possibility cannot be excluded, considering that I began my doctoral studies inAugust 2018, the same month the famous “Put your hands up” Venn diagram meme went viral(Know Your Meme, 2023) . Regardless of how they penetrated my mind, Venn diagrams and theirrounded intercepting shapes became a reassuring template for wandering thoughts, a framework formaking points. I found myself drawing them instinctively, stretching and moving them around to makesense of messy thoughts or undisciplined arguments. At first, I was making lists draped in surroundingcircles, like a netflung around a flock of birds. With time, their impact on my ideation process changed. LEARNing Landscapes | Spring 2025, Issue 29 | 263 Natalie Thibault ## The Power of the Circle The circles—or boxes, or ill-shaped blobs deformed by excessive text and lack of symmetry—have hada reassuring quality I cannot deny. They gave me confidence that messes would get sorted out. Theyfreed me from rigid dichotomies and opened a path towards intersectionality. Placing ideas in virtualbins on the page helped make sense of the chaos I was trying to write or think about. Eventually,Venn diagrams became part of my scholastic identity; their evolution echoes the transitions I have beenthrough in the last few years. I used them in most of my papers in the doctoral program, my dissertationand doctoral defense, as well as nearly every work I have since published. In short, I found myself goingin circles. Venn diagrams, and their attractiveness discovered and nurtured through my studies, are the perfectvehicle to illustrate the transitions I have been through since starting my doctoral journey six years ago,and will guide me through the ones to come. The circle is an incredibly powerful shape. It embraces, flexible and elastic. There is always room formore. It is not a box, rigid and sharp; it is a hug, welcoming and forgiving. Circles are connections,communities. Aren’t circles symbols of openness? In Korea, where I live and teach, circles are used tosay “yes” (while Xs are used for no) . Ripples, too: circles that expand, echo, and

FAQs

How did the author’s doctoral experience influence their relationship with Venn diagrams?

The author reports that doctoral study altered their identities and simultaneously led to an unexpected fondness for Venn diagrams. They describe using the diagrams consistently since beginning the doctoral program in 2018.

Why does the author describe circles as more than logical figures?

The paper presents circles as inspiring, embracing, and empathetic spaces that make room for growth and thinking. Intersections are portrayed as opportunities for possibilities rather than only reflections of existing realities.

What change did the author make in how they use Venn diagrams over time?

Initially, the author tried to organize already-formed thoughts into diagrams. Later, they used Venn diagrams as templates intended to attract and generate ideas, shifting from illustrating thoughts to using the diagrams as an ignition point for ideation.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Riley