My 9th Year in College!!!!

Well, today was the beginning of my 9th year of college, and as my pedicurist said to me this week when I was taking a break "You are either really really smart, or really dumb". Some days I think that has yet to be determined. But I did start teaching again today, which I truly love. It is so exciting... And really mind-boggling to think I have now taught over 300 students!

Since my last blog I have been studying away for my comprehensive exams. They are set to take place on September 17th, so to say I am nervous is the understatement of the century. The great part about the exam is that it is 9 hours, so truthfully if you think of me at any point during that day, I will most likely be taking the exam!

But not to have a pity party about my comprehensive exams... It is part of the process, and being in the Ph.D. program has afforded me many opportunities. Just a few weeks ago I went to Montreal for the Academy of Management Conference. I had a paper presentation, the trip was amazing. I left on Friday August 6th and took a direct flight to Montreal with two of my cohort members. You would not believe the plane, the guy sitting next to me said "If this plane crashes, there will be a huge hole in the job market". I have never seen so many professors. There were so many professors going through customs in Canada that when I got to the agent, she looked at my tote, glasses, and business travel attire and said "Here for Academy of Management, you look the part". Well needless to say right when we got there we started the trip off right.

We all met up and went to a great dinner. It was Montreal fashion week, so there was a ton going on. We spent Friday night just walking around the city and seeing a little of Montreal. Pictured above are my cohort members and friends Ray, Josh, and Ray's wife Janet. (Sadly, Marcus took the picture, so he is not seen... but enjoyed the evening with us). Also, below is a picture of actual costumes from The Tudors, one of my favorite shows. They were on display because of fashion week!!!

The next day I attended a professional development workshop titled "What now", it was how to navigate the last two years of a Ph.D. program. I found it very beneficial and a lot of fun. Sunday, I had a meeting with my two co-authors on a paper I am working on on Social Identity theory and the rest of the day off. It was raining so I just spent some time in the room. My room was right next to the famous John Lennon Suite. Which in 1969 John and Yoko had a "bed in" for peace. So I thought that was really cool to be right next to a piece of history.

Monday, I attended different sessions relating to my field and had my own paper presentation. Monday night was the professor dinner, where everyone who went to Montreal meets up for a great time. I really enjoyed this part of the trip. The next day was filled with session and then I headed back to reality.

And reality set in really quickly, I came home to a gas leak, in which I spent 5 days without hot water and they had to dig up 38 ft of piping, so if that did not bring reality back in, I do not know what would... But since then things have been running smoothly. I have just been studying... and studying...and studying... :-)