Intellectual Heirs
Hey! Bow-Tie Joe here! I’m a third-year mathematics educator, doctoral student, and bow-tie connoisseur whose passionate about life, education, and technology (in no particular order). Now that you know a little bit more about me I guess I should tell what my purpose is for this blog. I plan to write a weekly post reflecting on the highs, lows, and everything in-between about my journey as a doctoral student so rather than babbling, let’s dive in!
The Highs
This week I embarked on what I would consider to be the most challenging endeavor of my life yet, the pursuit of a Doctorate in Education. My first class, Leadership I, lead off the star studded line-up at 5:00 PM on Tuesday evening. It was such a humbling experience to be a 30-month old teacher in a room of educators that spanned the entire spectrum of educational hierarchy who possessed decades worth of experience. Throughout the three hours of conversation that took place among my cohort members and professor, the phrase “Intellectual Heir” struck a chord through my educational core. My professor wove a story about the origin of the hooding process that is commonly associate with earning a doctoral degree, instilling within us a sense of pride and honor about becoming an intellectual heir of our professors and faculty advisor. The reason it struck such a resounding chord within myself is because this is what I see as the foundation of education. Every time I step foot inside a learning environment as the teacher, I make it my mission to leave a positive mark on the mind’s of my students in the hope that when they move on from my environment to the next, they are more prepared to embrace the next challenge that awaits them. Hearing my professor speak to our cohort about embracing our role as an intellectual heir was a matter that I did not take too lightly.
The “Lows”
If you consider yourself a lifelong learner, you know that serious learning takes place when you’re struggling through a concept so I wouldn’t consider the following thoughts “lows” in the traditional sense. Academic texts, literature reviews, dissertation topic…every time it felt like I was finally getting a handle of the new level of expectations within this doctorate program I was bombarded with a new concept that I needed to suddenly understand. Asides from the new level of expectations, solidifying the topic I would like to research has also been eating away at my mind every night. Having fell in love with learning, I know this is the part of the romance where I’m going to have to make more of an effort to meet learning halfway.
Final Thoughts
Even though it’s only been three days of class and I already feel like a month behind, every part of the first week has been nothing short of AMAZING! Looking forward to getting a little more acclimated to the expectations this program has this weekend and dissecting my readings for next week’s set of classes! Here’s to hoping I live up to what it means to be an “intellectual heir”!
Thanks for reading!
