You may recall my first post on Change.

The latest news of change…can be best described through the following comic
(yes, another perfect summary provided by PhD Comics…like the one I used here…and here…)

Despite my similar reaction to this news, I am really excited for him!

– and saddened at the same time – but not super sad –

because thankfully he will continue to be my supervisor (just from afar).

I have enjoyed learning from and working with him since July 2011 (back when I first started this website).

Thanks to his supervision, I :

• Work with some awesome students and professors
• Gained confidence in both quantitative and qualitative data analysis
• Learned about mixed methods research (and joined a related discussion group to continue learning)
• Co-authored papers (2 articles submitted, one published essay…) and proposals (for conference presentations and even a book chapter!)
• Won a student award from WPA!
• Was published online and will be presenting at 3 upcoming conferences!
• Use Dropbox daily (and cannot imagine student life without it!)
• Learned how to create and maintain a research-focused website
• Learned how to create surveys and experienced administering them through data collection opportunities
• Read SO many interesting articles and have broadened my research interests
• Learned SO much through his research projects and courses
• Was recommended for an instructor position – and will be teaching EDPY 402 this May!
• Applied for a summer studentship research position with my current practicum placement
• Have a lot of research activities to look forward to this summer and over the 2012-2013 academic year.
• Have confirmed my future career goal of becoming a researching professor
• Now have thoughts of future travel (with Frank, of course!) to pursue post-doctoral work in the UK or Germany or …?
• Have a solid dissertation plan!! Stay tuned for details 🙂

…seriously…that’s a lot! And I am still in my first year!

Hmmm, that is quite a long “thankful list” (and proof that I continue to be inspired by my dear friend Tania’s blog). Being thankful for the experiences so far – instead of making a list of future uncertainties or ‘what ifs’ – can truly be a good way to deal with change.