My advisor and two colleagues and I presented our research on Saturday morning of the conference. Beforehand, we spent some time in the brightly and artistically decorated coffeeshop reviewing our notes. We also got to talk to new friends we had networked with including a professor from Gallaudet who, ironically, received her undergrad degree from UNCG! Since the conference, she has emailed me and put me in touch with two other doc students or newly turned doctors who have provided me invaluable advice about what's to come in terms of my dissertation proposal defense (that is on Wed. next week....yikes!). It's a good thing I don't live in Santa Fe because I have a feeling that I would spend a LOT of time in this cute lil' coffeeshop!
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| Dr. Klein, from IUP, talking during the business meeting. It was so surreal to be sitting in a huge conference room listening to someone who was so instrumental in my undergraduate career and life from 1998-2002 talk as I could glance across the room over at my current advisor who has made an impact on my life from 2010 to the present and see others I had met along the way from across the country and Canada. What an incredible blend of the old versus the new in a beautiful combination of the two. Also, where there, previously might have been a divide or a lack of connections due to national fellowships versus university/individual assistantships, thanks to Facebook and attending conferences like this one, we are a bit more connected. By the nature of our field, being a low-incidence disability/population, we are an isolated bunch. Then, being an itinerant teacher, where your car is your classroom, we are further separated from others. I'm so thankful for my mentors and role models I've been blessed to learn from and work with over the years! |
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| Hard at work! ; ) |
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| Fun centerpieces at the conference |
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