BlackDoor Ventures, Inc. | Entryway to a new mind, a new view, and a new you

Time 2020-12-26 17:04:29

Web Name: BlackDoor Ventures, Inc. | Entryway to a new mind, a new view, and a new you

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It’s not. Dictionary.comdefines feedback as a “reaction or response to a particular process oractivity.” (I already knew that but needed confirmation).The sting of feedback is real, especially when you’re on the doctoral journey. Sometimes you just don’t want to hear it. And don’t get me started on disagreeing with the feedback and trying to challenge it.Today my chair finally sent some feedback I was waiting on and oh-so-anxious to receive. Now I can move forward in my doctoral process. As I’ve said before, opening emails from your chair is a scary act, but there’s no way around it.Sitting here after absorbingthe feedback, I’m feeling some kind of way. I’m glad it came because now I knowwhat to work on. But it doesn’t feel that good. As an educator who consistentlydelivers feedback to teachers, the shoe is now on my foot. And guess what? It’snot much fun. I don’t necessarily feel as professional and mature as I expectmy teachers to be when they’re on the receiving end.In this case, much of thefeedback I’ve received over the past few years relates to scholarly writing. ThoughI consider myself a good writer (at least before beginning this project) writingin a scholarly fashion doesn’t come naturally. The point I’m trying tomake is this: Feedback is about growth and about mastery. It’s important tokeep that front and center.Still, it’s hard to acceptthat I’m not a whiz at scholarly writing. However, that’s the truth. I have totake my medicine (i.e., feedback) and get better so I can finish this journey.The broader lesson is something all of us can learn from. In what areas have you had to accept feedback in order to improve? We can’t grow without taking constructive assessments and applying them to areas of life. School, work, relationships … all of these elements can be better with proper feedback.In the spirit of the holiday, I just want to focus on appreciation and gratitude. Doctoral reflections can wait!I will gather with family again – even though thistime it’s just the ones I live with – for another Thanksgiving.I hope and pray that you appreciate your many reasons to be thankful, too, despite anything else. Happy Thanksgiving!They’ve taken on a whole new meaning as I work through thishuge writing project. I’m calling it a huge writing project because, ultimately,that’s what it is. (Speaking of writing, I thought I was pretty good beforethis process; but I digress. That’s a different blog.)Here’s what happens on Saturdays. I “sleep in” until 7 or 8 a.m. Yes, that’s sleeping in for me now that I’m older. Then I write until 10 a.m. before breaking for breakfast with Deron and our regular call to my mother-in-law. I resume writing between 11:30 a.m. and noon and keep at ituntil about 4 or 5 p.m. (with small breaks). That happens every Saturdaywithout fail. I actually look forward to it because that’s the day when Ican get a great deal of work done without interruption.So, what I have discovered about myself as each Saturday isspent writing all day? I’m more disciplined than I thought. I have started andstopped so many things in my life that I never consider myself a person of discipline. However,I’ve been tackling this dissertation for about three years now, steadilyworking, especially on Saturdays. What things do you manage to do, no matter what? What aboutthose things you want to do – or so you say – but haven’t quite started yet? Even as I sit here writing this blog, I recognize the commitmentto be disciplined in this moment. It’s exciting to know I can stick withsomething and reach a long-wanted to goal.Right now, it’s still difficult to imagine being done withthis journey. But if I remain disciplined, I believe I’ll ultimately get there.I’ve been writing about thisdoctoral journey of mine (emphasis on MINE), as if it’s all about me.However, it’s not just my journey to take alone. Yes, I have to do the writing on my own, but the journey is so much more than writing. If the journey really was ALL MINE, I wouldn’t need to ask for help. If I could possibly get this done by myself, that would be great.I need a whole lot of help.And I’m not just talking about my committee chair and all the other universityemployees who support doctoral students. I’m talking about my family, friends, co-workers,acquaintances, and strangers – and most of all, God. The realization that I needothers along this journey reminds me just how challenging it is. I think Goddesigned it this way because He wants us to understand that we, in fact, do needeach other. At this point in my doctoraljourney I’m beginning to reach out to participants, many of whom I don’t know. I’ve got to ask them for help.I have to stretch myself more and figure out how to get folks to talk to me. I need people so I can get this done.None of us travels throughlife without needing some help. We can’t reach our goals without some help. I think that’s a good thing. And it’s somethingI need to remember while moving forward on this path … and every path ahead inmy travels.Yes, we all need assistancesometimes, not just to earn a doctorate. And it’s okay. I’m learning a lot in pursuit of this doctorate, not theleast of which centers around Social Emotional Learning. But the pursuit is alesson in itself, leading to a series of revelations.Epiphany No. 1: This blog is a form of therapy. Ithink the doctoral process calls for some form of therapy, and a blog is theperfect opportunity for someone like me who enjoys writing, reflecting, andemoting on paper (or more accurately, my computer screen). So thank you fortaking this journey with me.Epiphany No. 2: I don’t talk much about mydoctoral process because secretly I’m afraid of never finishing. If that becomesthe case, I’ll have to tell everyone that I’m ABD – All But Dissertation. Some peopleuse the term. I’ll just let that sit there without further commentary.Epiphany No. 3: Sometimes I’m scared to openemails from my dissertation committee chair. Unfortunately, it feels like she holdsall the power. The process of submitting drafts and waiting for feedback isn’tmuch fun, especially if you expect the chair to say, “Start all over” (seeEpiphany No. 1).Epiphany No. 4: No one can truly help. I mean, people try. I guess the encouragement doesn’t hurt. But no one can actually help you write your dissertation. Your process is yours alone. The sooner you accept, that the better. Epiphany No. 5: You have no idea when you willfinish. When you start this journey, everyone tells you it takes time and it’shard and it’s an iterative process. All that means is you don’t really knowwhen it will end, and that’s a frightening thought. Epiphany No. 6: Other people have finished, so why can’t I? If you ask anyone who has successfully completed this odyssey, chances are they experienced moments of doubt that they’d finish. But they did it.I did not set out to get a doctorate. I reallywas just trying to get credentials to become a school administrator. As ateacher, I loved the impact I had in my classroom, but slowly and steadily overthe years I found my reach growing beyond those four walls.By the time I discovered my desire to move intoadministration, I tried to find the quickest way to make it happen. Withinabout a year or so, I was credentialed through an Educational Specialist degreeprogram (that included credits that could count toward a doctorate). I figured, ‘why not?’, and started working ona doctorate. (Not sure what I was thinking).You may have a similar story. Most of us likelystart out with a plan, but then end up somewhere else. Often, the somewhereelse is where we are supposed to be. continue to become intimately acquainted with APA style, peer-reviewedarticles, educational leadership theories, academic writing, research design,and the like, I still ask myself, how did I get here?But then I realize I got here because this iswhere I was always going. Somewhere along the way, I surrendered to the planthat was already set before me. The plan I couldn’t have designed if I tried.Only God could’ve thought this up. No matter how you got to where you are,recognize you are where you are supposed to be. Because this is where you werealways going.I would love to hear how you got where you’re supposed to be. I hope you will share. Let me preface this by saying I don’t have time to write a blog. I am working on a doctorate degree and I have a fulltime job, so there really is no time for this kind of indulgence or distraction.However, it occurs to me that I should capture this doctoralexperience (which I pray will be over soon), because I’m learning so much aboutmyself and I miss writing – non-academic writing that is. I am fully aware thisis probably a work avoidance technique, i.e. procrastination from doing thewriting I should be doing. That said, there’s so much I can say about this doctoralexperience. But for my first post, I will share these:EGO. One must have an ego to pursue a doctorate. There it is; I said it. Why else would I be doing this? Sure, I will make more money (possibly). But ultimately, underneath it all, there must be a raging egomaniac.YOU WILL FEEL DUMBER BEFORE YOU FEEL SMARTER. Do you have any idea how unsmart I feel at various points when I’m reading, writing and researching? So again, you better have an ego because your ego will get bruised, stomped on and twisted.IT S A PROCESS. The thing about getting a doctorate is that it’s all process. Cliché I know. But there are no shortcuts or workarounds. I’ve tried to find them. They don’t exist. You just have to go through the process: research, write, submit, feedback, and repeat. The order might vary a bit and there are other steps in between, but you’re basically in that insane loop.YOU ARE LEARNING. Only over the past few years have I accepted my nerdism. I don’t think I look like a nerd and I never identified myself as one, but I fully embrace it now. I like this kind of learning. The kind that gets into theories and concepts and why people behave the way they do. You actually are learning as you go through the doctoral research process. With each article, abstract, essay, study or book that’s read, you learn a little bit more. And for me that’s what’s exciting. Even though I want to be done, I am learning so much. And it’s weirdly fun. Next time we can talk about how I fell into this doctoraljourney. It wasn’t planned. It remained king among America’s spectator sports, enjoying fanatical followers across the pro, college, and high school levels. Broadcast rights for the NFL and NCAA football far outpaced those of other leagues and college sports. NFL telecasts routinely represented roughly one-quarter of the 100 most-watched TV shows each year. The increase in fantasy leagues and NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers helped the sport tighten its grip on popular culture.But 20 years ago, the turn of the century arrived with flashing lights and warning bells, too.The news cycle brimmed with stories linking football and concussions. Researchers in 2000 began suggesting that concussions may lead to neurological problems, and Dallas Cowboys star quarterback Troy Aikman cited those concerns when he retired in 2001.Dr. Bennet Omalu in 2002 examined the brain of deceased Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster, who had suffered from mental problems, and discovered the first evidence of a brain disease — Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy — that was never previously identified in football players.Faced with an increase in negative commentary aimed at the sport, and worried about the long-term effect on the preps-to-pros pipeline, the NFL and NFL Players Association in 2002 founded USA Football, a nonprofit organization, to function as the national governing body for amateur football. But more scientific studies linking football to brain damage were published over the next decade, which also saw a class-action lawsuit filed in 2011 and several high-profile suicides by former NFL players in 2012.When it comes to metaphors about the USA’s multi-hued swirl — with some folks living the American dream, others trying to awake from a national nightmare — the “melting pot” approach doesn’t appeal to me.Instead of dumping ingredients in a blender or boiling them into a homogeneous sauce — eliminating their distinguishable tastes — I like lettuce to be lettuce and onions to be onions. I like the distinct difference between croutons and cucumbers, carrots and cheese.The bowl is what unites them, along with the red-white-and-blue dressing. They retain their individual characteristics, yet combine to form one unique taste, without hot stoves or food processors.Here we go again. Prepare for another round of NFL players taking a knee, Donald Trump giving them the finger, owners grimacing in their suites, and commissioner Roger Goodell serving as a punching bag.Suddenly, the 2020 season is poised to resemble the 2016 season, when Colin Kaepernick and his “Perilous Fight” landedon the coverof Time magazine and Trump later hammered the league, offering advice to owners when players kneel during the national anthem: “Say ‘get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He’s fired.”Kaepernick and other players were peacefully protesting police brutality, but critics said it disrespected the flag and the country. The national anthem became a national obsession. Before then, it was such a big deal that networks neglected to air it; they ran commercials instead, making a point of making a profit.

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