Excited for summer

With summer approaching, it feels like a chance for new beginnings and new projects, which makes me excited.

danah boyd was a visiting speaker this week. I was fortunate enough to be invited to a dinner with her and to also have a brief 1:1 meeting. She’s such a rare-find of a human. She’s brilliant, of course, but her humanness and warmth also makes her so approachable–unlike most academics. She’s siren-like, in a non-people-eating kind of way: you can’t help but just sit and listen to her talk. Her words are deeply thought-provoking and her ability to “look at things sideways” is truly amazing. But on the other hand, she’s also a deeply intent listener. Maybe it’s because of her experience with interviewing young people, but you really feel like she cares about what you have to say, and it elicits you to speak vulnerably and honestly.

During and after her visit, I feel like my head is in the clouds, dreaming and brainstorming about the ways I see the world and what I can do with my research to make it better.

It’s truly such a privilege to be a PhD student. I’m literally being paid to learn and to do research. I’ve said it time and time again: my stress comes from within, and it’s driven by a want and an impatience to achieve tangible goals. But as these past few days have reminded me, my heart is in the work, not the degree. I really love engaging with academics. Whether it’s with my peers or with older researchers, it’s such a joy to engage in these long conversations that meander from one topic to another that come out of pure interest and curiosity.

So no, I won’t be in a rush to graduate. There’s plenty of work to do here, and I will be patient. Because the process–the journey–of research is so worth it.