the encouragement lounge: Here's to our school buddies!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Here's to our school buddies!

Hi Friends,

Today I had the pleasure and thrill of watching my good friend Lisa defend her dissertation at Antioch Santa Barbara. Lisa did a wonderful job -- both with her presentation and in fielding questions after the presentation. Lisa and I have been each other's go-to person in our cohort. We have cheered each other on, vented when we needed to, asked for reality checks, laughed, and also helped each other with the work. Lisa and I didn't know each other before we began the Antioch program, but we became fast friends, and have both agreed that we can't imagine having done the program without the other.

For some of us, having a close friend in our class is an important element of managing the stress and celebrating the good stuff of academic journeys.

So this post is dedicated to good academic friends, the ones who help us through, help us laugh, and are there to lend a shoulder or kick in the butt when we need it. If you have a good school buddy, send this post along as a thank you!

I took the photo above earlier this year. Lisa loves pink -- so Lisa, excuse me, Dr. Graham... this one's for you!

cheers,

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.