2014 has flown by! Every year, I think that no year could go by as quickly as the one that just ended and 2014 is no different. In fact, sitting around the Christmas dinner table with my family, we reflected on how fast the days went. I feel like I missed about 8 months of the year! :)
However, despite being quick, this year was also one of the best so far. I believe the years keep getting better and better, which means 2015 has big metaphoric shoes to fill. Here are a few of the highlights of the past year!
January 2014
I began my year with big aspirations of dissertation progress. Starting on January 2nd, I hunkered down to complete my comprehensive exams. For nearly three weeks, I read, wrote, thought, breathed, and ate writing research. The final product was worth the investment as I passed my comprehensive exams with flying colors!
All ended well! :)
February 2014
I travelled with a few friends and colleagues to the wonderful city of New Orleans, LA to present at a regional graduate student conference. NOLA was a blast! I had never been to Louisiana or this famous city, but now have dreams of returning someday. While at the conference, I was surprised to win the overall graduate student paper award. It was nice to see my hard work paying off some dividends like this! This award has proven to be beneficial on the job search.
March 2014
March is always one of my favorite months because it gives me some time to catch my breath. The weather starts to change and things feel lighter. After some big accomplishments, I was ready for a break. I spent part of Spring Break week in Arizona with my bestie! We got some time to catch up, visited a fun butterfly exhibit, shopped, and just enjoyed time together.
April 2014
April was another big month! First, I traveled to Philadelphia, PA for the largest education research conference in the country. I had attended this conference the year before, but this year, I got to present some research I had been working on with my advisor and a team of colleagues. We were so excited to share our study at this venue! We also enjoyed time together and got in some fun sight-seeing to the the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.
I also spent the rest of April completing my dissertation proposal and setting my defense hearing. :) My advisor repeatedly told me that conceptualizing the dissertation study and selling it to the committee is the hardest part of graduate school. I agree! It took me approximately three months to pull the proposal together and it felt so nice to have it completed. Now, the hearing was the next major step!
In some of my favorite news of the year, April is also the month I learned I would become an "auntie" for the first time! My best friend and college roommate announced she and her husband would be expecting their first baby in the coming year. YAY babies!
May 2014
A month I will never forget is May! Two major events happened this month that have shaped my life ever since. First, I passed my dissertation proposal defense. We did this early in the month, just before finals. That way, I would be ready to work on my dissertation with my advisor gone on sabbatical to Norway (now that is a true adventure). At this point, I became an ABD (all but dissertation) graduate student. This means I have only to write my dissertation to be finished with graduate school.
The second major event is that I finally got to travel outside of the United States! I helped chaperone a study abroad excursion to London, England. This was a week-long, literary tour of the city. I was in Heaven. I've never traveled to a city that I thought matched my personality so well. London is a true gem! The city is beautiful and inspiring. I wanted to write and admire everything around me. I can see why so many great authors in history have come from this place! London has sky-rocketed to my favorite place on this green Earth.
June 2014
June included a few trips and some new adventures in teaching. I taught my first ever 100% online course. It was interesting to say the least. I feel like I spent the entire month grading, though it could be done outside and by a pool. Teaching online is very different from teaching face-to-face and took considerably more time on the instructor side of things. I had to be very strict about when I would reply to emails and even more strict on my policies for group work, etc.
Mom and I traveled to Baltimore, MD for a conference I was presenting at/girls' weekend. Mom came to the conference and it was the first time she got to see me present some of my research. I loved it! It was a special experience to share with her. We also got to see the Orioles and Ravens' stadiums, the National Harbor, and visited the aquarium and zoo. The weather was beautiful, especially for us heat-stroked Texans!
After traveling to Baltimore, I came back to the Northeast for a conference in Boston, MA. I got to travel with one of my colleagues who was originally from this city, which made the trip more exciting. I had my own personal tour guide! I've become very interested in American history as I travel to different cities, so Boston was a good location for site-seeing. We walked part of the Freedom Trail, ate yummy seafood, and visited the top of the Prudential building for a birds-eye view of the city.
July 2014
July proved to be a more quiet month. I chose not to travel during this month (at least by plane), and I spent much of my time writing. July is a busy month for proposal writing for conferences, so most of my work is spent doing that.
I did take a weekend to visit my best friend and college roommate and her husband. This was an extra special trip as I knew they would be welcoming a new baby at the end of 2014 or in early 2015. I enjoy trips where we don't plan much and just use the time to catch up. We did go to a Rangers game in the brutal heat, but besides that, had a very low-key weekend.
August 2014
I love August because my birthday is included in all the fun! August also provides another break from work before the craziness of the fall semester comes. This year, I was excited to be home for my birthday and wanted to spend the time with the people I love before school began again.
I also got to travel back to Dallas to see what gender the new baby would be. My friends hosted a house warming/gender reveal party with family and friends. It's a girl - which means lots of pink, bows, and sweetness in the new year. I also started my final year of graduate school. It feels amazing to be so close to the finish line, but also slightly sad to be leaving behind a place that has given me so much.
September 2014
Now, we begin the parts of the year where things get fuzzy for me. In September, I began data collection for my dissertation, which included collecting survey data from over 500 pre-service teachers and conducting 57 classroom observations with 14 different teacher educators. It was a lot of people and a lot of information to keep straight! I was so busy that I don't remember much from this time. I do remember that my bestie and her husband came to town for the first Aggie game in the new Kyle Field. We had a blast, even though the game was delayed two hours. I love having friends in town and cherishing the time together.
October 2014
October started my traveling season. I went to Delray Beach, FL for a conference. This marked the first conference I attended completely by myself. No other representatives from my university were there. It was a great experience that pushed me out of my comfort zone. I had to initiate conversation with faculty from across the country. In the end, I made some great connections and successfully networked! I also got a little bit of writing time on the beach!
November 2014
Without a doubt, November was my busiest month! First, I got to help host a baby shower for my best friend in San Antonio. The shower was perfect (her sister did an excellent job coordinating everything). I was so happy to get to spend the day with her and her family and give lots of love to the sweet baby and mother-to-be. These really are some of the sweetest moments in life!
Second, I travelled to Washington D.C. for a teacher-oriented conference to present some research. My mom came along since she had never been to D.C. I had been back in high school, but not since then! Though it was just before Thanksgiving, the city was already decorated with Christmas trees and lights. It looked like a winter wonderland. The weather was absolutely perfect! It was cool but the sun was shining so it didn't feel too cold. We enjoyed seeing all the decorations, went to the National Museum of American History, the National Archives, and walked by the White House and Capitol building. We also ate some yummy Italian and seafood and saw ice sculptures of Frosty's Wonderland. It was a great trip and so much fun to spend the time together!
After our trip to D.C., it was time to celebrate Thanksgiving! Luckily, with the help of my amazing research team, we completed data collection prior to the holiday. This meant I went to Thanksgiving break with all of my data sitting on my computer waiting for analysis. :) It made November very busy and stressful, but that's ok. I am also part of another research team that was actively engaging in data collection, too. From this experience, I can say that it is a bad idea to be collecting data from two studies simultaneously! It's just stressful! In fact, one day, I taught class, gave out three surveys, and administered a writing prompt to 7th graders. When I got home, I realized I had been wearing my shirt backwards all day!
Thanksgiving was a breath of fresh air. I loved spending time with family and eating yummy food! The Sunday after Thanksgiving, I was once again on a plane headed to my first face-to-face job interview! (More to come once my job hunt is officially over.)
December 2014
We made it to the end of a whirlwind year! By the time December hit, I could barely recite my own name. December is always a doozy because the biggest literacy research conference is the first week of the month. It also falls during finals and every faculty member at the conference agrees it is hard to juggle. As my last trip of the year, I traveled to Marco Island, FL. The weather was beautiful! Sunshine and the beach is exactly what I needed to end the semester. There was lots of good food to be eaten and catching up with colleagues at other universities.
I finished the year by celebrating Christmas with my family and pushing a very tight dissertation writing deadline!
That's 2014! I can't wait to see all the adventures 2015 holds!
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