Bailey Update

Learning about Arab Culture, I grubbed on
some chicken and rice, and learned to
write my name in Arabic

I have passed the mid-way point for the semester. It just kind of happened. One way I could tell was because the students in the Bailey class that I convene were all commiserating about their mid-term exams. Good thing we don't have mid-term exams! I have been so impressed by the students in this class. They are intelligent, thoughtful, creative, funny, and super easy-going. Each class we rotate as a presenter, and that presenter provides a lesson on something they are passionate about or skillful in and then teach us about it. With that said, I've learned a lot! 

I learned about genealogy (as I mentioned before) and I have also learned about Arab culture, slam poetry, crocheting, and how to make Youtube videos and edit them. Tomorrow I present on grant writing - it is a skill I have that the students would like to know about, otherwise I might present on birding :) But I acquiesced and am doing grant-writing. Later in the semester I will be learning about records, debate, genetics, movie producing, and food culture. Awesome!

Small Town Wildlife

I am attempting to fill a new hashtag on Instagram, it is #smalltownwildlife. Right now most of the pictures are mine, and include mostly birds, and a little bunny I saw on campus (who was more interested in munching grass than moving away from me as I approached it for a picture). Another part of my small town wildlife catalogue includes the walks I take in my neighborhood. Although most of my "walks" right now include running, I do try to walk in the evening sometimes, especially since the fall is so nice and the leaves are so crunchy and the sun is so low. Soon a colder season will come, and with it, my inability to walk anywhere without fearing I will break my wrists. (I'm looking into Yaktrax). The other day we went for a little evening stroll, into the little pond park by our house. I really love it there.

Blogging - Journaling

The HALE department has two new faculty this year, both individuals I am extremely excited about. First, Dr. Kim who I was able to have lunch with when she was here visiting last spring, and who I squealed about when I heard that she was invited to join the HALE faculty at MSU. Dr. Kim does research in an area that I have no experience in, and likely won't do much in, yet she was incredibly encouraging when I met with her again at the beginning of the year. I stopped by her office to say hello and congrats on coming to MSU, and she of course, remembered having lunch with me and so we chatted about research interests, moving to Michigan, and my work in IR (Institutional Research). The woman makes me want to do research on financial aid. But I will resist. The other new faculty member, Dr. Gonzales, is someone who will be on my committee. Her area of expertise is right up my alley - faculty and organizations - and we've talked a couple of times already and I'm so inspired and excited to have her on our faculty.

Just last week I met with her to discuss some of the ideas that are rolling around in my head, and something that she offered as advice was journaling about my journey through qualitative research. I confessed to her that qualitative research has frightened me because it is just so.... personal. "I can't just pull a data set!" I said to her, and then I added "but the questions I'm asking are qualitative questions, focused on experience, understanding, perceptions... these, for me, can only be answered through personal interviews." So, journaling. While I was taking a qualitative class over the summer I did do some journaling, and also used my blog as a way to try to figure out what was rattling around in my head. I did save the blog from the somewhat existential crisis I had about qualitative research - and I will spare you from it here again - but I will confess that this may become somewhat of a platform for me to sort through my experience as a qualitative researcher (which feels weird to say) and get things in my mind into the world. Because sometimes the hinge on my brain into the world gets stuck shut. Hence, a blog to help oil it open.

A Year of Travel

When we moved to Lansing, we weren't exactly sure what the job market was going to be like. I expected it to be awful, but I'm sometimes a glass half empty kind of gal. Kevin was more optimistic. What ended up happening is that he took a part-time job at the local children's science museum to stay connected to the Lansing community, and then started working as a contracted employee for a national company that travels exhibits. That way he would work at the Lansing job, Impression 5, and also, you know, support me on my meager grad assistant wage by traveling. On the plus side, his traveling job provided great financial support! On the minus side, he was gone a lot. However, those traveling days are over! Having him away from home is exciting for the first 24 hours (I get the bed all to myself! I fling my coat onto the sofa and not hang it up! I eat chips and microwave burritos for dinner!) but then after that it's pretty awful. I tire of eating chips and microwave burritos and I sleep restlessly. I also end up flinging all of my coats and sweaters, and whatever else onto the sofa and then I can't find anything. Fortunately, he's back, and started at Impression 5 full time this week. Yay!

All of the states he visited, including Calgary and Sudbury, Canada. There was even a job in Kalamazoo!

The National City

An early morning run
through the Mall

I was in Washington DC (for the second time this year) on a policy trip for my doc program. To provide some context: There are five core/required courses for PhD students in the HALE program. The last class is education policy, and for that class, all of the students take a trip to Washington DC to visit with individuals who work in higher education policy. You might be asking, "How did Emiko make it to Washington DC on such a meager grad student salary?" Well, the College of Education pays for it. One of the perks of being at a large university with a reputable education program.

It was a tiring two days. We had back-to-back speakers talking about undocumented students, talking about budget appropriations, talking about student access and completion, talking about higher ed statistics, talking about how it's difficult to get an ear on the hill when it is in such disarray right now. I did have a little bit of time on the last afternoon to sneak in a walk to the MLK Memorial, but for the most part I was in a room with 18 others in my cohort listening, discussing, laughing, questioning about all things higher ed policy.

It Was Nicer Than I Thought

Over the last weekend I did a "practice comp." Without going into too much detail, it was a way for me to practice writing in a short amount of time, especially since I usually take my time and let things roll around in my brain for a while. I like to start with some ideas, create a little outline, maybe draw some pictures, then start writing. Then I'll do this a few more times and over the course of a few weeks and I'll have something worked out and then write a long paper. This time I had to do it in three days, which isn't the end of the world, but I did figure out the best way for me to do this. One thing that I learned through the process was that stepping away from my work is incredibly helpful. I basically mimicked what I usually do over the course of two or three weeks into a weekend. With that said, I did a nice long run on Sunday.

I'm getting to the point where I am able to enjoy my surroundings instead of just sucking in air and trying to make it through the length of my run. And what is so wonderful about it these days is that the leaves are changing, and as I've written about before, it is so freakin' beautiful here. I finally made it to a new spot on my run, down around a park called Hawk Island. So pretty! Indeed, the practice comp was nicer than I thought it would be, and my jog on Sunday morning to literally step away from it was even nicer.

Candy!

I had a day filled with candy, both literally and figuratively. First, I had my Bailey Scholars class, and we met in the library today because we were learning about genealogy. (And thanks mom for quickly texting me the middle names and birthdates of my ancestors because I forgot to ask over the weekend!) What a nice treat to be able to have free access to the website Ancestry, because if you are a student at MSU, you get free access! However, since my class was meeting in the library, I went to a classroom I had never gone to before, and it turns out there is an entire section of the library devoted to maps. Sweet! I love maps! I can't wait to visit this room again and pull out some maps and check out the geography. During class, my co-convener Dustin said, "I made candy this weekend, everyone gets some." So, voila, little jars of candy were passed around. I thought the day couldn't get any better, until I got home and there was a book against my door from the mail. I thought, "I don't remember ordering anything from Amazon lately..." then I saw that there was a custom's form stuck to it and Yay! The book that Jim and I wrote a chapter for arrived! What a super sweet day. For a Monday.

Zojirushi!

Many (many) years ago, I worked at a little store called Kitchen Kaboodle ("The KK", We help make your house a home) as a visual merchandiser. This is a Portland, OR store, with a few branches, and I was working at the downtown location putting some things together. I've always been a coffee drinker, and during that time, I used a stellar Nissan Thermos with a flip top to keep everything nice and hot on the go. The downtown location of The KK was notorious for having shoplifters, and I had set my Nissan on a shelf while I was re-arranging some dishes. Then, suddenly, a woman grabbed my coffee mug, a clerk screamed, "Drop it!" and a chase ensued. I was perplexed, because with my back turned, I didn't realize that it was MY mug the woman was stealing. Alas, I lost my travel thermos mug that day. Hopefully the thief dumped my coffee out before using it.

That was almost 10 years ago, and I never completely replaced that mug. Until now. I found the ultimate travel mug, and I use it every day. Each morning, we make an entire pot of coffee, each drink one cup at home, then fill up our travel mugs for our work/school. (Here I will call out that my loving partner commandeered my Nissan "bullet thermos" so I was left with finding something else). But after finding my new mug, I believe that I have the ultimate travel coffee container. Enter, The Zojirushi. I was familiar with this brand because of their rice cookers. One day I might own a Zojirushi rice cooker that plays music to me when the rice is done cooking. But for now, I own the best, and I mean THE BEST travel mug for hot beverages. I once left it at home (scandalous to forget coffee, I know!) and when I got home, it was still hot!! I love this thing. Best part, it doesn't leak! So when I throw it in my bike basket and it drops over on its side because I'm bumbling down the awful Michigan roads, all of the coffee stays put and nothing leaks. I have enough stains in my bag as it is and don't need more. Also,  *I was not paid to advertise for this mug. But seriously, if you're looking for something awesome that doesn't leak and keeps your coffee (or tea) hot all day, this is the one.

What They Say About the Goo is True

I'm pretty sure the countdown has begun. T minus 6 weeks until my half-marathon. (This also means that after November 8th I will no longer torture you with posts about running). I'm not obsessing over it or anything. Okay, maybe I am a little. But I admit it does give me something else to obsess over, and when I spread my obsessions out it seems to work better. Because being too obsessed about, say, school, makes me feel anxious, and then anxiety just makes me spiral into a black hole and question what I am doing. So, it's best just to obsess a little because then I take some of my obsessive behavior from one thing and kick it over to another. Another milestone was reached yesterday - ten miles! Double digits! You might be thinking, "Wasn't it kind of a while ago that she did nine? Why did it take her so long to increase by one tiny mile?" Well, I hit a funk. A running funk. I just couldn't get past it. Then I went running with my friend Heather and it really lifted my spirits. Then I just kept on kept-ing on and knew that I needed to bring it to ten. So I'm on schedule to get to thirteen because I usually increase by half a mile each week, or I just do two of the same then increase by a mile every two weeks. Either way, the run was great. I did some things before the run to help prepare:

1) I ate a very large banana
2) I chugged some EmergenC
3) I took two Aleve
4) I slipped a goo in my pocket

I'm not exactly sure what the goo is called, but I call it goo. It's gel energy, basically. Instant caffeine and sugar. I've never tried it, but I have felt myself starting to slip into a tired trot on other runs and so I thought I'd try the goo. What they say about the goo is true. That it will give you "2X ENERGY!!' At almost 8 miles, I sucked down half of one of those goos and not even half a mile later I felt like a wood sprite, flittering around the trail. Then, bam, I was done. Ten miles, yo!

What We Are Built To Do (Part 2)

I have been reflecting a lot about being here in Lansing, and transitioning to my second year as a PhD student. It has been over a year now that we've been here, and one of the thoughts I've had the most is that if this were a job I took, I'd be starting to look for another one. I used to joke about my 14-18 month itch, that after a time at any job, I'd start to get antsy and start cruising the job postings. Or I'd daydream more and more about finding a nice quiet job in the country. Then eventually, I wouldn't be able to take it anymore and I'd actually find another job. Between 2009 and 2014 I worked at four different nonprofit organizations. I was the poster-girl for nonprofit churn.

Where I build things

Even before I became the poster girl for churn I already was starting this habit. I think it's normal for most people in their 20s to have several different jobs. But I remember many of my peers started to settle in as we closed in on our 30s and then by our early 30s they seemed to have landed on something. I thought I did, until I realized that I was extremely unhappy. I try not to regret the job jumping and hunting I did for so long, and try to remember that all of that professional experience really did help me to get here. I admit that I do wish sometimes I had gotten to this point sooner, but then I think that there would be a possibility that I would have treated this like just another jobby-job and would have jumped. Maybe now that I'm closing in on my 40s is the only time I could have finally stayed put in something.  So I try to make myself feel better by reminding myself that some of the potential future faculty positions I will be looking for once I finish will insist on me having certain experience in the field. I can happily say I have lots of that.

So here I've been for 14 months, right about the time that I should be getting antsy and start looking for job postings. Right when I would start daydreaming about finding a nice little job in the country. Right about the time when I would start to get so anxious about what I was doing with my life that the only remedy was to find another job to give me stimulation and distraction from those anxious feelings. Yet, I don't have any desire to leave. I don't really have to go looking for stimulation because I am constantly being challenged, I'm learning, and I'm getting to explore so many new ideas and let them play out through my writing. Right now, this is what I am built to do.

Here is my post about what we are built to do from back in January.