What a HUGE bummer

So, I'm in the library working on the fifteen 500 word essays I have due for Monday kill me now, people, when Dr. Q. walks up with several books for a journal article she's revising to say hello (if you don't remember or didn't see my posts about Dr. Q. from the past check out this and this). I'm thrilled to see her, as always, because she's such a flipping rock star and I totally want to be her best friend (in a sincere and non-creepy way). I so wish I could accurately convey how amazing she is to y'all. She's really that excellent. No joke.

Anyway, we start talking a little bit and she explains that she's excited to have received an awesome gig to serve as a visiting faculty member at the school where she earned her PhD, which is also one of the best programs for higher education in the country. It's going to be a year long, and she's leaving next week, etc. etc. 

Now, she grew up in that state and has a lot of family very, VERY nearby. That's a massive draw. She also was already set up to be taking a sabbatical this fall semester to work on some really ground breaking research in an area that she is so clearly excited about, it's amazing. But, as she explains about all the awesome she's got going on, I begin to realize that she will not be here in the spring of 2014 if this position is for the next academic year. 

I was already bummed that I wouldn't be able to take a class with her this fall because of the sabbatical, but now she won't be back at OU before I graduate. I don't get to take another class with her at all, as I'm set to graduate in the Spring of 2014. I wish I was kidding when I say I am so sad that I want to cry about it. But, I am so not joking. I totally want to cry about this. 

I could blame the irrational emotion over a college professor on the upper respiratory infection I've got right now, but I'm pretty sure that cannot account for all the other times I've been an awkward crier in my life, so I'm going to chalk it up to the fact that I am really lucky to have had an opportunity to learn from some of the greatest educators in this program, and I'm bummed that I won't have a chance to take another one with the best of bunch. 

Damn. 

Presentation time!

Ahhhh! We definitely present in 30 minutes... I'm so excited and beyond nervous. It's going to be good, I have no doubt of that. Dr. Q. Would never let any of her students fall flat in their faces, and I've rehearsed several times, so I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

Eek! Short post today, but I'll do a couple of long posts when ACPA is over and I've got more time.

PS. It's AWESOME.

The best laid plans...

Campus closed today at 1:30. Both tonight and tomorrow's performances of The Vagina Monologues were moved to next week. My reaction to this news is utterly mixed.

Next week - Sunday evening to be exact - I leave to go to Las Vegas for ACPA. I am thrilled about this. I had a really good meeting with Dr. Q. today. She's such a badass. Really. I want to be her best friend, know her entire life story, and geek out over the awesome research she does. I mean this in the most positive, least creepy way possible.

That said, because of the weather the show has been moved to the Tuesday and Wednesday of the week I'm going to be in Las Vegas. On a scale of important things in my life ACPA is significantly more important than performing in TVM. I would pick going and presenting over being in the show every time. This doesn't mean that I didn't put a lot of work and effort into memorizing, getting excited about the show, and planning a lot of things surrounding the show. It just means that I'm bummed. It would have been fun to put up on the stage for everyone to see.

Part of me thinks this is probably a really good thing though. I need to do some research for practicum with D. tomorrow. Now, I have some spare time to get on it. I'm not really in the mood to buckle down right this second though. Oh motivation, where have you gone? I think it's hiding. *sigh*

I am going to hit the researching at 4:30. I've got 45 minutes to find the illustrious motivation to work. That will work. Hopefully. :)

Is that really what I see?

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for the crazy busy ridiculous that has been my schedule.

Now, I may just feel that way because I stayed at my office until 11:30 last night to "finish" the prezi for ACPA. I'll be referencing Dr. Q and D. again in this post so if you're interested in understanding who I'm referencing and why it's a big deal for me, check out this post. So, I say "finish" with the quotes because Dr. Q. hasn't looked at it yet. She may totally hate it, which is def possible and kind of makes me want to throw up because I really want to wow her. D. offered to look at it before I email it over to Dr. Q. D. Is a bit of a prezi genius. If you don't know about prezi you should totally google it. If you don't have time for that, think way more awesome powerpoint. WAY MORE AWESOME.

I worked on it for a total of six hours yesterday on top of work and meetings and other commitments. I'm really proud of the work I put in. D. is a prezi whiz. I'm really thankful that she offered to look it over. I have to hope D. will like it, too. We've already covered that I think they're both awesome. 

Woosa. 

On another note that leads me to think there may be a light at the end of the tunnel, I started the laundry. I know that this may not seem like something worth celebrating, but I was in desperate need to get it done. With everything else going on in my life that has just been something I haven't had the time or the energy to deal with.  My mom is coming up this weekend to see The Vagina Monologues on Monday night. She hasn't done my laundry since I was 14. She offered to do it for me because of all the other stuff going on. I seriously almost had a mild freak out about it yesterday, but it's a-ok. It's started, I will keep it up, and it will be finished. Thank goodness. 

And now, I need to hit the books and run my monologue about 75 times. It's memorized, I just want to make it second nature. Soon it will be over, and just one more thing I've checked off the to-do list. That is something I find exceptionally gratifying. So, I'm keeping my eyes on the prize and trying to work through ... well, EVERYTHING. 

Geeking Out

If you haven't guessed it already, I'm currently in grad school. I'm getting a M.Ed. in Adult and Higher Education - I want to work at a university with students. So far I LOVE this program. We've got some real rock star professors who are really all that and a bag of chips. I also have really enjoyed my classes and the people in them for the most part. It's really exciting.

This semester I'm doing a practicum. I'm working in Residence Life on some assessment stuff. My practicum supervisor is someone I have been in class with before. I'll call her D. D is a doctoral student in program I'm in. I think she is kind of awesome. I want to be best friends with her and follow her around all the time. This is not meant to be creepy. I just think she's really cool. I like the way she thinks about things. She's funny, down to earth, and really easy to talk to. When I imagine my best version of myself there are parts of that picture that I've pictured because D has already begun to influence things I think about in a really good way. It makes me really happy that I have an excuse to hang around her when I'm working for her on practicum stuff.

Dr. Q. is one of the rock star professors in our program. She's dynamic, engaging, encouraging, and a top notch scholar. She really is headed towards being a super star in the field. I am working with Dr. Q. to present some of her research at a professional conference in Vegas in a few weeks. I don't know why Dr. Q. thought I would be a good person to offer the honor of presenting with her at a massive conference like ACPA to, but she did. I leapt at the chance to work with her. It's a big deal. I also would love to just absorb the awesome Dr. Q. has got going on, much like I would with D.

I am learning so much from both of them. Really and truly.

Dr. Q. is also the chair for D.'s dissertation committee. They work together fairly regularly. D has admitted to me that she is also kind of in awe of the awesome that is Dr. Q. This only further validates how amazing I think both of them are.

Today, D. and I were chatting after going over some stuff for my practicum assignments and we started talking about ACPA and Dr. Q. I confessed that I am so nervous around Dr. Q. because I want to make sure I do so much better than the minimum when presenting with Dr. Q at the conference. I don't want to do anything that could be even the tiniest blemish on her legit-ness (yes, that's totally a word). It's a big deal and I don't want to be disappointing, ya know? Then, D. told me that she and Dr. Q. have talked about me and how they're both impressed with the fact that I'm doing the work of a full time job on a 20 hour per week time frame with GA pay scale (insert dropped jaw and rapid hand movements while trying to refrain from jumping up and down). D. said, "Dr. Q. really likes you."

1. They talked about me! Two of my semi-idols from this program talked about me. 

2. I've impressed two people who I seriously look up to and want to impress so badly it kind of hurts. 

Hence, I am totally geeking out. Ah! 

Do y'all do this, too?