the encouragement lounge: Potholes and Detours

Monday, August 3, 2009

Potholes and Detours

"The road to true success is filled with big potholes and detours, but if you follow your heart, the path you create will be the only one worth living." David Terra, Founder and Publisher, Beyond Race magazine

I like the pothole metaphor in this quote. I think we are more accustomed to (when using the road metaphor for our journeys) noting detours and obstacles, but the pothole metaphor is important. Potholes can be jarring, sudden, and unexpected. And yet, we adjust, we regain control of the car or bike, we right ourselves and keep going.

What are the "potholes" in your academic journey? What experiences have jarred you and momentarily thrown you off course? How did you recover?

Keep at it!

Harriet

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Working adult students, on my mind...

I hope this blog will be helpful to friends and others involved in a variety of endeavors. However, I created the blog with students in mind and continue to develop it with that specific group as my focus.

I believe that with the increase in evening, weekend, and low-residency programs, students are working more and more in isolation. If we were all full-time students on campus, we would have the informal support that comes with being able to go down the hall and talk with a colleague, etc. But instead, we are working late nights and weekends at home in front of the laptop.

With that in mind, I hope the encouragement lounge provides brief moments of respite and energizing connection. This does not at all replace valuable face-to-face contact. Many aspects of the academic journey can only be addressed via in-depth conversations with colleagues and teachers. And I would always rather sit down and talk with someone than to communicate online. Nonetheless, my aim is to give you one more channel for quick hits of support.