Conference Reflections | Racing and Not Racing
two conferences and a muddy pair of shoes
Scholar.
During the past week and a half, I’ve attended and presented at two conferences. One was in Denver, Colorado, the other in Indianapolis, Indiana. The former was the Association for the Study of Higher Education’s (ASHE) annual conference, and the latter was the Indiana School Counselor Association’s (INSCA) annual conference, to which I had never been prior.
The ASHE conference was amazing. After arriving on a Wednesday evening, I had the privilege to sit on a presidential panel titled Tracing the Arc: Justice-Oriented Inquiry in Community College Research and Practice on Thursday afternoon. Then, on Friday morning, I delivered the Barbara Townsend Lecture, which I called Understanding Community College Life through Critical Participatory Action Research: A Meta Reflection. The panel gave me the chance to sit, reflect, and discuss among good colleagues. The panel required some preparation, but nothing compared to the lecture, into which I put a lot of time, energy, and focus—right up to the night before.
My slides for this lecture are here (with links in the speaker notes). They are visually interesting, yet they mean little without the narration. Slides should complement the lecture. They should not be the lecture.
I wanted to give a talk that honored Dr. Barbara Townsend, stay true to who I am as a scholar—and as a person, and provide the attendees with much to think about. Mission accomplished. Someone shared that the talk was different. The best compliment. I most definitely droned on, yet the talk was a lively conversation with the audience, most of whom I knew, which helped calm the nerves. And they were nerving.
Friday evening consisted of the annual awards ceremony and the University of Pittsburgh reception, which I attended to represent the Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC), which is housed at Pitt. Because I was an awardee, I got a lovely boutonniere. It smelled delicious, and I loved it. ASHE knows how to put on an event.
ASHE also consisted of an utterly amazing project titled Imagined Futures, treasured time with colleagues-friends, quiet hotel room moments for resting and thinking, mornings on the treadmill, and checking out as many coffee shops as possible.
Each morning, I walked to a different coffee shop, which was a total treat. My standard order was an Americano with cream and some sort of pastry. On Saturday morning, I lounged on the patio at Blue Sparrow Coffee after chatting with the very kind barista. It was a lovely way to decompress and ease into Saturday, mentally preparing for the journey home.
The week post-ASHE was full. I had been gone for days, and the semester’s end is near. Many things needed buttoned up or moved along. Last week was for those types of things. And on Friday of this past week, I, along with three colleagues, presented a talk at the INSCA annual conference titled Community College is College: Myth Busting for School Counselors. We had a good crowd, and I was delighted to do work in support of #EndCCStigma. We had fun with it, incorporating a pop quiz (see below), busting 12 myths, and ending with a book raffle.
Now that the holidays are nearly upon us, it will be a few more months until it’s time to conference again in the spring. And for now, I have had my fill.
Sundries.
Yesterday, I completed my sixth running race of the year. Running is a strong word. One notch above walking is how fast I race in these races. Always among the run-walk people, it is an experience in passing and being passed. Five were 5ks; one was four miles. Most were on roads. Yesterday’s race was on a trail. After a day of rain.
I have not done this kind of activity in years, but I have enjoyed it quite a bit. One event per month since June. Getting up and out the door is a tad stressful. Packet picking up is exciting. Getting muddy is fun. The race environment feels positive, supportive, and inspiring. Folks are generally pleasant. Everything is better after a workout. Being done with a race is a thrill—and a release valve pressed.
On Thursday of the coming week, yes, Thanksgiving, I will be completing (hopefully) my final event of the year, another 5k. And afterward, no more events for another six months. Rather than focusing on these races, I plan to use the next (winter-spring) six months do to largely non-running-yet-still-active things.
There will be indoor activity. There will be soup. There will be wintering. There will be not racing.