my first conference

i am in philadelphia for a conference at drexel university. staying at club quaters in downtown philly. reached here early this morning and got breakfast with a bunch of australian phd students attending a conference on cancer research that i met in the elevator of the hotel. fun times!

now getting ready to go to the opening ceremonies.

because i have to

i want to use my research to help. these past few days i've been thinking about the suicides that have been reported in the media. you can read about them here.

my area of research is retailing and consumer behavior but it also includes dress and fashion. i want to do research on the perception of sexual orientation based on dress and how it may lead to bullying. or something around that area. i can't keep quiet and do nothing.

i HAVE to act. because i can at least do this.

from jk rowling to my professor

as someone who writes fiction as well as non-fiction i know one thing. concepts, values, beliefs become clearer when you write. the tag line of my private blog is "i read to lose myself. i write to find myself."

i was watching oprah interviewing j.k. rowling and she said something similar. that writing helps you solidify what you feel deep within your heart.

i think the same is true for teaching. i know my concepts better because i've taught them. because i've answered questions about them. given examples. it helps you realize what you know.

there is a sense to the madness. a reason why we cover certain things, emphasize certain things, etc. all of it is to help student learn the subject matter as well as grow as an individual (by doing things like working in group projects or making presentations).

now that i am a student, i wonder what my professor has in mind when she assigns our readings. sometimes the order make no sense to me. sometimes i am surprised at the choices of articles or book chapters. and i'm sure somewhere there is a strategy - that each reading (and the order it is in) is important and will teach us something of value. i just wish i could ask her what and why.

enjoy / die

how does time go by so quickly? in a week it will be fall break. the mid-semester point. and we'll have finished 7 weeks next week. wow! time flies quickly.

which means it will soon be time for term papers. and exams. yaay! not fun. but essential parts of grad school.

i honestly can't complain too much. i really love grad school. i am enjoying every single minute of it.

busy

i feel quite committed to writing this blog. but everyday i come home so tired, so bone dead tired that aside from doing laundry or dishes - it's hard to do anything else. i know some of this stress comes from the two classes i'm teaching and the ton of volunteer work i do. but still.

about 5 weeks into the semester - each day is getting busier. i've got exams and presentations and papers all lined up one after another. i need to start working on term papers, even if they are not due till the end of the semester so i'm not going crazy in the end.

when do i do my term papers?

another great week at grad school. i love the program so far. but now panic is creeping in. we have 11 weeks left and i have many term papers to do and i need to start working on them. i just don't know when.

sunday

one of the books that i want to own someday is called bird by bird by anne lamott. the title bird by bird comes from her younger brother realizing the day before school starts (i'm writing this from memory - so i'm mistaken somewhere - please feel free to correct me) that he forgot to do this big summer project about birds. and his father puts his arm around her brother's shoulder and says, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”

i was panicking this morning. and i'm still panicking a bit about the immense amount of work i have this week. and i've completed the two discussion questions for crs 620 and finished 2 of the 3 pages for crs 713. i am feeling a bit better. still panicking a bit. but i know i can do this. bird by bird.