Question 1: At what point in the doctoral program did you first begin participating in the study group?
Andrew and I met in late spring or early summer of 2020. I think we had a third, Aaron? I remember thinking that it was nice to connect with someone outside of class. Immediately, it was nice to talk about the experience with someone else who was involved, to hear their perspectives, and to hear that my impressions weren't unique.
I also remember that at that first meeting, and definitely by the second, I could see certain strengths start to emerge. Aaron was great at knowing where to find information on the KSU website. I was not good at that. I've never been good with red tape or processes, but every question I had, Aaron seemed to have an answer that he had found in the website. This was stunning to me. I still don't think I've plumbed the website and webpages that support our program as much as he did in those first few days and weeks. I wish I had asked him how he had been able to get so much information.
Regardless, Andrew, too, seemed to have a lot of information that I didn't. Aaron was a TSA manager. Andrew was an academic. Suddenly, because of Aaron's web mastery and Andrew's insider status, I felt imposter syndrome. I didn't know what to call it then, but I definitely felt a bit out of place. BUT, at no point did they overtly make me feel that way, and in my mind I thought, well, these two obviously know things I don't, so let's latch on and see how they can help me.
So already I started to see that having a group could be helpful rather than trying to do it all myself. I don’t remember who exactly reached out to whom, but I just walked down memory lane and saw this from Dr. Fishback.
I also see that my first interaction with another student through my KSU email was with Andrew. It looks like I was comparing schedules with Andrew and noticed he was in a class in the summer that I was not. I reached out to my major professor and got into that class. So there is a perfect example of how even a nascent group, with little or no real power or thought behind it, was already helpful to the members, just for staying on track and moving forward.
Looking back, I now see that "Daron" came AFTER our first meeting. It looks like Andrew and I met on a Monday; we must have discussed our next classes. Then it looks like Daron came to our next meeting. I don't have the email from Dr. Fishback about forming the group. I wonder if Andrew does.
I don't necessarily remember when Anne joined. I believe it was at about the same time that Andrew and I were first meeting. Daron was probably there. But I remember the first time Will joined. Daron may have left the program by that point. But, all of a sudden Will was there. Who had asked this person to join? What's going on? Who's this new person? But there he was. And he was so eager and energetic. I feel like he brought some great energy. So glad he did join.
Other's tried to join. For whatever reason they didn't latch on as successfully as Will. Maybe the frequency didn't work out. Regardless, that's what I remember about the formation of the "group".
I do know what without Dr. Fishback's encouraging us to join this group, I never would have. I think that was a catalyst that helped the group come together. I doubt it would have happened organically without that catalyst from our professor. Not just this specific group, but a group in general.
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