The Final Stretch For Year Two

I love my 3x5 notecards for presentations

After next week is over, I can (I think) officially say I am a third year PhD student. It is the final stretch next week, although this week has been pretty unbearable. I had three presentations this week, a large paper due, and several meetings. I don't usually have any of these because I like to hide myself away from meetings and presentations. But end of semester = presentation time. Now I've just got one more big paper due and then I'm done, free from the claws of being a second year doc student!

I don't have to keep repeating that I hate presenting in front of people. But it is the life that I lead now, because being a grad student means I have to give presentations. Today, I gave one of my first presentations in a real general public forum. It was exciting, but also frightening. I was invited to give a presentation during a day long symposium, with a focus on contingent faculty. I have become somewhat known for being interested in studying this topic, and was part of a grad student panel. We were at the end of the day, after a few other guest speakers and a keynote, and thankfully it went pretty well. Although after my presentation and the dreaded Q&A, one of my professors came up to me afterward and said, "Oh, you did great, you didn't look nervous at all! Well, until you started chugging water right after you finished."