Behind The Stitch RSS



It's The ABD For Me...

So, I have to defend my proposal. First, what is a proposal? A proposal is one of two parts of the big project (the big D! (dissertation).  In this paper you articulate your “proposal,” to collect data, analyze, as well as how you conceptualize your topic, and why your study needs to be implemented. It’s here that you demonstrate how your research will add to the existing body of literature and field of study.  It is the synthesizing and conceptualizing of what will be my dissertation. The proposal is laborious because you are also synthesizing existing work that has been published on Black girls including articles AND books.  It is proof to my committee that I am ready to take...

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Summer, Summer, Summertime!

Summer, Summer, Summertime! What does summer look like for you? I am always trying to maximize my summer, however there is a harsh contrast between my pure zeal for summer vacation as a teacher and the surreal feeling of how fleeting summer is as a doc student. Let’s take a look at my summers past... Summer 1 - Work, Work, Work The first summer after my first year as a doc student, I put in that work! It was the first time in the last decade that I didn’t make time for a beach vacation. Beach vacations, preferably in a Spanish speaking country, have been a staple in my summers past. So while I was able to create amazing and...

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May I Thank You?

One Year!?! 1K+ Phriends !?! This.Is.Surreal. Even more so because it is happening amidst a global pandemic.   Even more so because it is occurring during my season of early grief. Even more so because this is something that my brother encouraged me to do and even created the first design samples of PhemmeD merchandise (RIP Greg). Even more so because (insert all the ways society and academia are strategically designed for this little Black girl to fail). So for this milestone…. I thank you. Un mil gracias.  Thank you for checking in, for commenting and liking, for being in conversation with me around all things scholarly, sewing related, and about traveling. You are what helped me keep myself this past...

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HERstory: WOC Redefining Research Recap

Hopefully you were able to join us for the first official Scholarly Sewist event HERstory: WOC Redefining ResearcHER. If you did not, I will try to recap the event, but it was AMAZING, so that will be hard to do.   First, I am grateful to SDSU for to SDSU for sponsoring this event and allowing me the opportunity to use my creativity to design, develop, and implement HERstory in collaboration with The Scholarly Sewist to reimagine what a scholar is.the sponsorship of this event to allow me to use my creativity to design, develop, and implement HERstory to reimagine what a scholar is. We, as SDSU students have the opportunity to apply for a grant to host events and programs...

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Terminal Degree...Terminal Illness?

My mantra, or personal tagline since my first semester of my doc program has been “I’m killing this PhD,” and almost simultaneously feeling like “this PhD is killing me.” You really can’t fully explain or imagine what it means to get a PhD. If you do it correctly, it changes you. It stretches you and tests you in the most trying ways. Adding to the complexity of the doctoral journey, life outside of academia continues to impact how we experience the doctoral journey. This is particularly true for women. I have known a few women that had one or two babies during their program. Others who decided to take another route, some who got married, and another who battled and beat...

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