My Adventures at IUP

Pictures from left:
1) My husband, John
2) My son, Scott, and my daughter, Kristen
3) Kristen and me

I have survived my doctorate classes for an entire week. Hurray! Becoming a doctoral student was more difficult than being a doctoral student. I had to convince my husband that going back to school was a good idea, I had to trust that my daughters would not burn the house down in our absence, I had to believe that this separation would be a good experience for my son, and I had to create a viable plant to avoid killing my husband through the stressful experience.

We left Texas around mid May so that we would have plenty of time to get to Indiana. This was a good thing. We didn't even make it out of Texas when the motor home took a dive. I think we were in Lufkin when we were towed. Apparently the oil sensor broke and blew oil all over the motor which in turn caused a fire. How exciting.

Then we were following the tow truck (we had disconnected the Volvo) when my son's school called me on my cell phone to talk to me about disciplinary problems. Well, leave home one day and the whole world goes to crap. Finally, the vice principal determined that I wasn't really mentally available, and she decided she could probably handle the situation without my immediate input.

But, after five days on the road (the trip was supposed to take 3 days), I have made it, and I love it. It feels wonderful to be the student again. I don't know why I waited two years to take this leap. Dr. Dowdey would probably ask me the same thing.

Regarding the most interesting and positive experiences so far, I would say that I have had a liberating experience. I know that some of my fellow cohorts may feel like our curriculum is fast and difficult, but I feel like it is liberating. My classroom and research experiences provide me new ammunition, new ideas, and invigoration. I had felt a bit tired, perhaps worn down as an adjunct. In contrast, my experiences at IUP are really giving me motivation, new language, new ideas, and a sense of community. I feel like I really belong here.