My First Academic Conference

Last weekend I participated in a panel at a communications conference in upstate New York. It was a great experience. The conference itself was small and regional, and a few professors will take graduate students there to cut their teeth on the conference-going and research-presenting activities of academic life. Everything went so well the entire weekend. The two profs and the other grad student I traveled with were fun, interesting, and intelligent women and we had a blast together. That was unsurprising, as we were all brought together by similar interests in media and education and we all are living in New York after coming from more provincial places. The conference itself featured panels on interesting topics. The surrounding area was gorgeous - we were in the Catskills while all the fall colors were peaking. I was reminded after my cross-country travels this summer that upstate New York is one of the most beautiful areas of the country, especially in fall, and I don't get up there nearly as often as I should. We ate, drank, talked, went on a hike, swam, and giggled at our group versus the other conference of country line dancers that were sharing (well, dominating) the hotel space. It was a nearly perfect weekend.

Because the conference was so damn fun I'm glad I wasn't there four years ago. Over the past 5 years I've been out of college and in The Real World, I've learned to approach all new professions with caution. I foolishly jumped feet-first into the world of "art department" on-set work after one or two jobs, thinking it was the best career ever and I would always love it and always be happy doing that for life. I was aware of the job's negative aspects, sure, but I wasn't aware of how they would affect me. Well, maybe I wasn't so foolish to do that, because I learned that I shouldn't idealize. Four years ago I would have attended the conference and left in some misguided blissful reverie, certain that I would become a professor and have this amazing life. But now I've become rather aware of the limits of such work (most of these limits include money and nasty politics, and egos). If I choose to go down that road, I won't do so with some rosy vision of an impossible future. And I may not choose that path at all, but I'm glad to know that it's a possibility for me anyway. My new found caution does not distract from my good time, though. For now I can take these events as they are and enjoy those moments when everything goes so well.