I Made it to the Top!

I’ve known for quite some time that something I wrote was accepted at The Eastern Communication Association (ECA) conference in Boston this year, what I didn’t know is the panel I’d be placed on. Well, that’s no longer a mystery. Turns out my paper, somehow was determined to be one of the best papers submitted to the Technology Interest Group. Apparently through the blind review process (which determines if your paper will be accepted or not) my paper was judged to be one of the best. It may in fact be THE best. Rumor has it that typically the best paper, as judged by the reviewers, is the first to present on the panel. Mine is currently slated as number one. I’ll find out for sure at the business meeting during the conference in April. Regardless of where the paper placed I’m pretty excited, and pretty petrified since the top paper panel will likely get a larger audience than other panels I’ve participated in. The pressure is on!

Becoming a Wino

Indulge me for a second while I gush. I may have had one of the best Valentines days ever. I’m typically ehhh about the holiday. I’ve never felt the need to do anything overly special for it. In fact the last couple of years I’ve been pretty content to just sit and watch TV for a night. This V day however, we decided to do something different. We made wine.

Well, we didn’t actually *make* wine. We just watched it being made, and even that wasn’t overly exciting since it seems there are kits that you just put together. There doesn’t appear to be any real skill involved. But it was just a nice low key night in a local shop tasting wine and eating cheese and chocolate covered strawberries.

We’ll get a call in a couple of months to help bottle the wine if we’d like and take home 2 bottles of red, 2 bottles or white and 2 bottles of champaigne. I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was that made the night so great. Maybe it was the low key atmosphere, maybe it was the wine, or maybe the company did it. I’m not sure but I’m going to have to do it again.

Life Wins

I have a bit of a conundrum and it boils down to school or life. I like school. I like school a lot, but as any PhD student knows, it’s not only about going to classes and doing homework. It’s also about going to conferences and publishing. The question becomes at what point have you done enough, and the answer I fear, is probably never.

I have two papers I’ll be presenting at a regional conference in May. I’ve presented at this conference for the last 2 years, this year will be number 3. In an effort to mix up my conference presenting, I was planning on submitting to another conference for October, but now I’m rethinking. The past two years every vacation I’ve been on has surrounded a conference of some sort, and although that is a decent option, I think it’s time to have a week with no work or school commitments. Or at least limited ones. So, I’ve decided to put my “life” life first.

I may come across as all high and mighty on this one, but it’s hardly the case. The conference I was looking at was in England in October. I’m afraid I’m just not sure I’m up for a week of cold and rain for my vacation. Instead I’m thinking of opting in to a warm weather location. Not submitting to a conference isn’t the end of the world right? I have a publication out for review and a book chapter accepted. That has to outweigh a conference paper right?

Writing a Book Chapter is Hard!

This is something I should have known already. I’ve been writing academic papers for several years now and am well aware of the work it takes to write a conference paper, or better yet a publication. However, for some unknown reason, I really expected this book chapter to come together much more quickly , and more importantly easily, than it is. Let’s face it, I’m down to almost a month to get the whole thing done. A month to write a book chapter! How is that even possible?

Keeping my Resolutions!

I’ve said before that I’ve spent far too much time on school and work and left little time for myself and my family. This year my resolution was to fix that, and I’m taking the first steps.

For a LONG time I’ve wanted to get a massage or body scrub etc. but I just haven’t done it, lack of time, lack of motivation, etc etc. I decided to make this a reality. Come to find out my in-law side of the family was interested. So we made it a date. We decided to hit The Senator Inn and Spa, which was a perfect decision! I had a fantastic massage and have plans to make it part of my regular routine. And more importantly, I had a chance to spend some alone time with people I’ve never spent time with alone in the 11 years my husband and I have been together.

Insane!

My New Office – An Unveiling

My new office has actually been done for quite some time, but this is the first chance I’ve actually had to take pictures of it. The life of a busy PhD student right?

I realize that this probably isn’t that exciting for everyone, at least not as exciting as it is for me, but a real office was a huge thing on my list of needs. It’s tough sitting at your dining room table, or worse yet living room couch, and writing. I need quiet to write and think and that environment just wasn’t conducive. But now I have this…

It’s fantastic. I have a large desk to spread journal articles out on, with still enough room to hook up my laptop. And you can’t see it in its entirety here, but right in front of the blue chair is my mini library. Need information on computer-mediated communication, gender or communication theories? I’m your girl. All kidding aside, it’s a great place to sit and read for class or fun as my studies do intersect with my interests on more than one occasion.

Even more exciting are the custom features that were worked into the office to make it just the right home to a busy student. This looks like a regular cabinet to you right?

It’s actually a journal article “cozy” of sorts.

All my journal articles from my thesis currently live in there, all organized by subject. So far the new set up has proved to increase my productivity as well as my husbands, who is now allowed to freely roam the house!

Sure, I’m Down With Business

I’ve complained a lot recently about my business classes recently, that they are less than intellectually stimulating and see people only as a means to make money and not as individuals. I’m used to living in theory and the MBA program lives in practicality.

However, I am happy to report that the business class I am taking this semester appears to more closely fit my interests. I’m certainly not going to live in theory there. It’s still VERY practical. But it looks like we’ll be social science(y), at least superficially so.

Music Without Words? Can You Handle It?

This year I decided I would have more fun. No more spending countless hours locked in a room reading journal articles. I’m getting out and enjoying life!

So, in an effort to do just that, I went to see a concert with my husband. Matt is a big Eric Johnson fan, so when he saw that he was going to be in concert in Massachusetts he jumped at the chance to see him. And I went along for the ride.

For those of you who don’t know, Eric Johnson plays guitar.

He plays guitar really well, but he doesn’t sing all that much. And I have to admit, I’m a girl that likes to sing along at a concert. This may make me unsophisticated, but I just can’t get into music with no lyrics. I just feel lost.

Regardless, it was a fun time and it’s always nice to get away from the daily grind!

And really, look how happy it made Matt (if you can pick him out of the very, very dark picture!).

Letting go of perfection…maybe

In my never ending quest for success,  I’ve decided I can never achieve it without first defining it.  For the longest time I’ve thought success was equal to perfection. Now I’m not so sure. And does perfection in one area of my life outweigh misery in another part of my life?  Or can perfection only REALLY be perfection if it’s in all areas of my life? And is perfection even obtainable?

Hard questions to a answer right?  I don’t think I’ve ever had perfection in all aspects of my life. Far from it actually!  I’ve recently decided that my attempt to be perfect is silly. Why bother right?  Are perfect people any happier really?  It seems that I’ve spent so much time striving for everything to be perfect that I’ve only increased my imperfection.

So this year, in addition to spending more time withy family, I’m going to let go of trying to do it all and do it all without errors. My.hope is that everything will then come together perfectly.

Keeping Life Balanced

As a PhD student there are a number of expectations on you. You are expected to publish, attend conferences, present at those conferences and of course keep up with class work. It’s a lot. It’s especially a lot if you’re working a full time job in the process. With all that going on, how do you keep your personal life in the mix? How do you keep school and work from taking over your life completely?

This is my dilemma for the new year, and my resolution for 2012. Not only will I have a personal life, I will have a good personal life! So, how do I do this? Well, like any good graduate student I’m attempting to come up with a plan. I’ve already committed myself to presenting two papers at a conference (should they be accepted) and to coauthoring a book chapter. The two conference papers are already partially written, they just need some cleaning up to make them presentable. The book chapter on the other hand, that’s a start from scratch deal. Now, this will most definitely take a good chunk of time to do, however, anticipating this workload, I decided to take only two classes this next semester instead of my normal three. One of the classes will be online only and the other one takes place during normal work hours (and my job has agreed to let me leave work early once a week to attend). This means that my three days a week of leaving the house at 6am and getting home at 9pm will be over, at least for this coming semester.

So, with this new found time, I’m going to do things for me. I’m going to try to go to some exercise classes, at least once a week. I’m also hoping to involve my husband in at least one class a week, so we get out and do things together. I’ve also already scheduled a couple of outings with friends to keep me busy.

I recognize that it will be constant work to keep all three of my lives in equal balance. It’s something I’ve been working on for several years now, but the time has come to decide what is really important, and although school is definitely important, I also need to have a life outside of school.