Yesterday evening I returned from a 6 day trip to Henley. The focus of my trip was to participate in a colloquium, but I also had several meetings with other researchers and professors. Overall, it was an amazing visit!! My research presentation was generally well received. I gained a good deal of useful feedback and suggestions mostly related to methodology. Listening to the presentations of other researchers was equally beneficial because one has to leverage both general business acumen and knowledge of research to understand and provide meaningful feedback to the presenter. Additionally, it was highly valuable to hear the commentary of the seasoned academics and reflect on applicability to my research.
The 1-1 meetings I had scheduled were also quite enjoyable on a personal level and provided more insight into the journey to doctorate. I was able to get good advice on a range of areas. A key theme was the importance of “keeping up the momentum”, even if it is a small task, it is better to do something rather than nothing at all. Also, the criticality of “writing as you go” was reinforced frequently by many individuals.
Overall, I am feeling pretty positive about my progress to date and am eager to delve into more formal statistics training over the next few weeks. I was reminded of a good “rudimentary” statistics book that had been quietly collecting dust on my book shelf since I received it in October 2008 at the first research methods workshop!! Additionally, I am scheduled to complete two additional SPSS workshops in the next three weeks.
I am signing off now because some serious jet lag has kicked in. Perhaps playing tennis in the hot sun at 830 this morning did not help my energy level either. That said, it is wonderful to be back in the summer sun after a full 6 days of rain in the UK!