We Need to Name This. What exactly? The hidden curriculum of academia. For first-generation students, immigrants, linguistically-diverse students, students of color and students that live within those intersections often learn about the ‘rules’ of academia as they experience the process. Inspired by the “I wish I knew…” conversations we engaged in while attaining our PhD, we (Dr. Ebony Perouse-Harvey & Dr. Laura-Ann Jacobs) through interviews with Scholar of Color, aim to make plain the process from applying to PhD programs to finding employment after completing a PhD.