Perceptions

This week has been particularly stressful.  It's been one of those kinds of weeks where too many things are due and there is not enough time in the day to get to everything.  It's only Wednesday but already I feel as if I've been running a marathon and have been go, go, go-ing for 100 hours with the finish line not anywhere in sight.



Zumba has been my chosen stress reliever of sorts.  Even though it takes me 40 minutes to get to the facility, and it takes away from time that could be spent writing conference proposals, working on the dissertation proposal Powerpoint that needs done by next Friday, or planning out a scavenger hunt on campus for a friend's children I'll be watching tomorrow night, the 60 minutes spent dancing the stress away has been tremendously helpful in keeping what little bit of sanity remains.

It's one thing for those not in the world of higher education to not entirely understand what it is my colleagues and I are putting ourselves through right now....the late nights, the nonstop writing, the constant revisions, the race against time to complete projects and schoolwork, the never ending reading, the squeeze in this quick meeting here and there, and all the other demands that this chosen profession require of us.  I understand that, from the outside, we may look as if we are just "working on another paper" or are jetting off to exciting locations or that I'm "just a student" but there is so much more to that perception.  A lot of hard work goes into the conference presentations, more money that you don't have goes to travel expenses, and as soon as one project ends another is in the works or needs to be finished as well.  It's another matter, entirely within PhD land, to be viewed by your peers as just coasting through and being "free to do what I want"...this mistaken perception I've observed over the last 3 years from others baffles me.  I (and many of my colleagues who also happen to be parents, work multiple jobs, commute to campus, etc.) work hard to get to where we are....yes, I'm presently done with face to face classes but with that come additional responsibilities.  Yes, I finished my portfolio in January but that was no easy feat.  Completion of my artifacts was thanks, in large part, to working long and late nights last summer and throughout the last two years to get the portfolio done...it's not something that happens overnight.  In my humble opinion, nothing worth having is done quickly or in my experiences, easily...but again, that's just my perception.  So, I will continue to jump the hurdles and keep my head down as I plow on through and try to complete this ginormous race!  Only 13 months and 1 day to go!! 

Twice in the last week, I was told by others that I have more energy than anyone else they know...then I saw this picture.  How true this quote is!!  I suppose I need to brush off others' perceptions and just keep on keepin' at it!  =)