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Archive for the ‘perseverance’ Category

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For several weeks now, since completing and defending my dissertation, I have wanted to write about the process and share some words of wisdom for my  friends and colleagues who are still in process. The mere quest to do so has been exhausting. I can barely put pen to paper, let alone fingers to keyboard.

Several tasks have kept my brain occupied for the last month, an on-campus conference, the departure of a colleague, a professional conference, and some much deserved spring break R&R with my family. I completed text revisions for my committee. I condensed my dissertation to an article for a research competition. I forgot, then remembered, to order my commencement regalia. I reacquainted myself with the elliptical. I watched this thing called television.

And yet I still feel in a state of flux. As if the pattern buffer shifting my subatomic particles for transport back to the real world is having trouble locking on my position.

While I check in with fleet engineering, enjoy these posts that were helpful during my writing process.

From the Lab to the Laptop: Writing your Thesis

How Blogging Helped Me Write My Dissertation

10 tips for being a happy thesis writer

Why writing from day one is nuts

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My 2013 one word is DO. And to be precise, it is not Do. It is DO.

As I reflect on projects nearly completed and opportunities ahead, it makes sense.

Wisdom of YodaDaddyPlus.com

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Your best story

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The pages of 2012 are filled. It is time to begin our new stories for 2013. Great adventures await us.

Each new day is a blank page in the diary of your life. The secret of success is in turning that diary into the best story you possibly can.  ~Douglas Pagels

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When I read yet another article minimizing the value of a college education I am challenged by thoughts of privilege.  Yes, Steve Jobs, an individual I greatly admire, was a college dropout, but at least he had the opportunity to give it a try. Mark Zuckerberg’s intelligence and initiative is without question, but how many students can realistically include Harvard on their college wish list? And then walk away from the opportunity?

I do not discount hard work, enterprise, and determination. But for those of us who are simply above-average, or first-generation, or of a marginalized population, college is the pathway to get a step ahead, a leg up, a move toward potential success. Yes, student loan debt and college costs demand answers, but denying the value of learning, but for an elite few, is not the answer. Just say Go. Go to college.

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Happy Anniversary to to the eighteen and life blog!

Much has happened here in the last four years. Each post reminds me of the events, coursework, research, and friendships that have framed this blog. The topic cloud on the right highlights my work and my passions: student affairs, higher education, first-year students. As the posts have been sparse this year while I work on my dissertation, I appreciate that you are sticking with me.

Here’s a video reminder that as doors open for you, be sure to pay it forward and open doors for others.

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I have written before about how challenging I find suggestions that college has no value. When research suggests that learning or critical thinking is not occurring on the college campus, I know that I see otherwise at my university, with my students. Does the academe have work to do? You bet. But creating a society of education privilege where only certain individuals are encouraged to pursue a degree is not an answer.

This Chronicle editorial suggests we are already creating that privilege by pricing a large portion of the population out of the higher education pool.

…going to college is worth it, but going to any college at any price may no longer be worth it. ~Jeff Selingo

But for another viewpoint here is an interesting debate of whether too many students are attending college. It highlights the argument that increased access to higher education has little influence on economic growth. And although I find this argument insulting to education and our students, it is worthy for discussion. Who decides who attends college?

To ask whether too many people are going to college begs another question: If too many people are going to college, then who are these people?  How should we as a society ration a more restricted level of educational opportunity?  ~Peter Sacks

Consider the students in your office today. Which ones could you single out as not being eligible for higher education?

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Thanks for joining me here at eighteen and life. As my doctoral studies heat up, my writing schedule has taken a hit, so I appreciate when you stop by for a visit. That being said, these were the favorite posts of 2011.

Not the Alice you were looking for

Future Earnings

Student debt: No new, car caviar, four star daydream

Outside the lines

More Type Links in Student Success

As I look ahead to 2012, the word focus resonates with the things I need to accomplish. Doctoral coursework, family, work in student affairs; these can all benefit with more focus.  I look forward to seeing you.

You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. ~Mark Twain

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Student loan debt has surpassed total credit card debt in the United States, reaching more than $1 trillion this year. That’s trillion with twelve zeroes. Student debt is a recurring topic here, so these 10 Tips for Zapping Student Loan Debt may be worth a look.

More on the student debt challenge:

Presidential Agenda

Student Debt: No new car, caviar, four star daydream

Student Debt continued: Still no caviar

Student loans of interest

It’s not only a national debt crisis

Money, money, money… Must be funny…

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It’s like you come onto this planet with a crayon box. Now you may get the 8-pack, you may get the 16-pack but it’s all in what you do with the crayons – the colors – that you’re given. Don’t worry about coloring within the lines or coloring outside the lines – I say color outside the lines, you know what I mean? Color all over the page; don’t box me in! We’re in motion to the ocean. We are not land locked, I’ll tell you that.  ~Boat Car Guy, Waking Life

Jesus. Ghandi. Mother Teresa. Martin Luther King, Jr. Amelia Earhart. Walt Disney. Harriet Tubman. John Lennon. Joan of Arc. George Washington. The greatest, most inspiring figures in the history of mankind have one thing in common: they were non-conformists. They colored WAY outside the lines.  ~Jason Kotecki

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There are those occasional days when perhaps it is raining buckets and you are in back to back meetings making your head spin and you finally make it home and just need something to make you smile. And as today was one of those days, what made me smile was this post on the zen wisdom found in a video of a little horse chasing a giant ball. Thanks to Jennifer Blackwell for sharing.

Read more about Einstein and be sure to check out the video and his Twitter. You’ll smile too.

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