Summer Photo Dump, Failure to Launch, and Leadership Growth

So many things have happened since the last blog post that I can't get to everything, but I will hit the highlights. Also, I had to have fuchsia as the thumbnail, because these beautiful flowers are always the harbinger of summer, to me at least!

1.

I was so proud of my Emerging Scholars REU student, Palak (below), from the Center of Excellence for Women & Technology for all the great work she did this year in the lab! She was a winner of the IU Research Hackathon (a big deal) and presented her first poster at the IU Women's Poster Competition in April.

2.

In mid April I successfully defended my dissertation prospectus with the support of my advisory committee and finally hit the ABD stage of my PhD training. Onward and upward from here, right?

3.

Had a fantastic time in New Orleans at the joint ASA/ICA meeting! Our lab had 3 posters and we were joined by 2 of our undergraduate RA's, Amelia and Rowan, who were first time conference attendees. The special sessions in speech communication were great. I got to meet the president of the ASA, and was recognized as the recipient of the West Fellowship at the awards plenary. It was an honor to sit in the front row and hear the stories of such influential researchers as they were awarded honors of the society. Also had a Minnesota/Indiana meetup with Ben Munson and his PhD students, Elizabeth and Eugene, at Brennan's Steakhouse, which was delicious. As always, ASA was a time for good science, good friends and good fun!

Failure to launch...

Although I am currently on the right track again, the beginning of the summer was a bit of a bust in terms of launching my dissertation work. It was hard to get a plan put together that I could stick with, especially with so many other projects going on at the same time. I kept talking with other doctoral students in the same boat, and I realized that it is not unusual to feel a bit of a lull when you're getting started.

What's worked for me is organizing my tasks using a kanban board for my dissertation on trello.com. It links directly to my manuscripts and helps me with tracking progress visually.

New opportunities...

This summer has also brought responsibilities in terms of leadership growth. I have taken on the role of chair of the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Subcommittee of the American Association of Applied Linguistics Graduate Student Council. I've assembled an all-star team and I am excited for the work we have to accomplish this year.

Just this week, I was extended another opportunity to serve as a member of ASHA's Continuing Education Board. This three year appointment starts in January, but I am so excited to get more involved in ASHA and I can't wait to meet the rest of the board on committee day in DC this November!

Until next time...