HERA 2010 - My First Conference

Today was a long day...well...it's been a long week. Work has been insane - I've been going to bed late and waking up early, and since I've had little time to prepare my presentation for the conference, my Friday night and Saturday morning were more of the same.

Anyhow, today was my very first presentation at a conference! The HERA (Hawaii Educational Research Association) Conference proved to be a wonderful venue for me to get my feet wet. It was at UHM's campus center (which I knew my way around). My audience was a small, but friendly and supportive group - I felt completely comfortable presenting. I have to say, I feel that I have been bitten by the "conference bug" - is there such a thing? The experience of presenting my research to other researchers is incredibly exciting, and learning about the research that others are doing is really neat. Oh, not to mention the networking opportunities!

Though I'm glad my proposal was accepted for the conference, I wish I had some of my own research to present - not just a lit review. -Well, this definitely whet my appetite, and I look forward to doing my own research and sharing it at conferences in the future!

After this long week, it's so nice to have a chance to just relax at home, though it will be back to work tomorrow. I've got cases and the text to read for class, websites to check out, and fellowships/scholarships to write statements for. Hopefully I'll be up for all this tomorrow. Right now I just want to curl up and listen to Cecilia Bartoli sing to me.