Posts

Grad School Journey: Complete!

Image
Five years ago, I loaded up my Honda with all of my stuff (including my snake friend, Mojave) and drove from San Diego, CA to Stow, OH to start my PhD adventure. Somehow I'm at the end of this journey (already?!), and I thought I would take a moment to reflect on some of the things I've done during graduate school. ( google scholar link ) ( cogbites blog link ) I would not be at the end of this journey without the support of my community. I am fortunate to have too many people to thank individually here, but I appreciate everyone who has mentored, encouraged, or supported me in small or large ways. To my mentors, who have consistently challenging me to grow as a thinker and provided me the tools and support to become the researcher and educator that I am today - I will do my best to support my future students and colleagues by following your generous examples. To my peers, who have been the best critics and cheerleaders - may we continue to lift each other up. To my friends (so
Post a Comment
Read more

2018 in review

Image
(Apparently I had written this post in January 2019 but forgot to hit "publish"!) Some things I did in 2018: Met up with colleagues and friends all over the country Beignets in NOLA McMaster University in Hamilton, ON Santa Cruz Helped organize a research symposium at Kent State and joined an APA committee  Taught my first class (Research Writing for undergraduate Psychology majors) Successfully wrote up and defended my Master's Thesis , which went well and really helped me think deeply about my research projects. I am halfway through my program already! My next milestones are big ones - qualifying exam and applying for candidacy. Traveled a lot!  Both for work and play. I attended conferences in Washington D.C., Ann Arbor, Ontario, New Orleans, and Amsterdam. I also visited family and friends in Santa Cruz and Cape Coral, FL. In August I spent a week with my Mom on her property in Washington State, which was very relaxing. Mt. Ranier N
Post a Comment
Read more

Amsterdam, Brussels, and Bruges

Image
Dam Square, Amsterdam. Cruising through Amsterdam's famous canals. I just got back from two magnificent weeks in The Netherlands and Belgium!  One great thing about graduate school is the travel it has afforded me - I won an award that covered my flight, conference registration, and accommodations for an International Conference right in the heart of Amsterdam (and of course, extended my trip to explore the surrounding area). The conference was great!  Our conference was at the beautiful Beurs Van Berlage  center, which was only a 5 minute walk from Amsterdam's Central train station. The center was very accommodating.  I think my favorite part was the unlimited espresso throughout the day, and Heineken on tap in the evenings! I also got to meet some international colleagues for the first time, present my research (exploring how monitoring memory can improve memory performance) , and discuss ongoing projects with collaborators. Presenting my research at the Internatio
Post a Comment
Read more

Switzerland!

Image
I was able to see quite a bit of this beautiful country! Need to return for more of the Swiss alps (Zermatt area). View of Lake Zurich. This summer, I finally made it to Switzerland! For years, my mom and I have promised our former foreign exchange students we would come visit them.  In June, I met my mom in Zurich (she was "on the way" home from a vacation to South Africa) where we were greeted by Silvia, one of our former students and friends.  We went up to the top of a hill in Zurich, overlooking the lake and city.  Turned out this was just the beginning of our adventures with her - Silvia was an excellent tour guide, and she found some spectacular places to take us hiking and exploring. We also met her sweet boyfriend Iwan , who loved telling us the history behind a lot of the architecture and churches we drove by. They even cooked us a traditional Swiss meal called Raclette , which we devoured in their home in front of their HUGE aquarium. Toward the end of
2 comments
Read more