A Young Rhetorician's Conference: An "After" Thought

        With the conference almost a month past, it is surely time to discuss the various ups and downs of my first experience attempting "professional scholarship" in my field. Let me set this up for everyone:

        As a current grad student at San Francisco State, I wanted to do something incredible, something to make me feel like I had a voice in my field; albeit a timid and quiet voice. So, when Jennifer Trainor (aka Comp Professor and all-around critical pedagogist) asked for volunteers to TA with her in her Sophomore, or GWAR, Composition class that experimented with student motivation- hell yes I volunteered.

        Cut to a month or so after I have begun my experience in her class. First, let me just say that I loved my group of four girls whom I, for lack of a better word, "mentored" throughout this crazy experiment. There I am attending a 'brown-bag' lecture series that our lovely CRAFT members put together. Mark Roberge is at the pulpit discussing the benefits of publishing and mentions something along the line of graduate students attempting to be published..... Wait, WHAT!?

       I never really thought about how this whole academic collective could be something I could actually participate in. So, I talked to Trainor, to make sure I wouldn't be stepping on toes, about writing an article on our experiences in her class. We then opened it up to the public, and voila- immediate interest garnered.

       "OK", I thought. We have a semi-plan. After our semester ends (because anyone in Grad school knows you can't do anything mid-session), we will officially get together and attempt publication. Whoa!

       Finally, we are nearing the end of the semester. I am worried about two hundred different things at that point, most of which manage to be maintaining some semblance of sanity. Sitting in my favorite class of the semester (an internship class that has actually earned me a position at a community college-yay), my professor starts with announcements; including notice for extended proposals to the YRC conference.

      Before I could even think about my courses, the extra work, and my flying back and forth to San Diego for some wedding attendance (blah), I found myself intrigued. Anywho, since I am noting a definite trend of rambling, I will try to cut this short. A colleague of mine and I decided to present at YRC.

      We did great and the conference had some really interesting workshops: bio-regionalism, and some rhetorical writing practices I loved. We even met a super star: Sheridan Blau! His article in "College-Level Writing" on commentary development totally inspired me. All in all, I would say I had a successful entrance into our academic field. If only the CCCC's still had room for us.


Click Here to check out our presentation

Ode to the Syllabus

Oh Syllabus-

You, machine of destruction and chaos-

Ever-changing,

you toss me around in your stormy Seas,

Land of discovery

seen from afar

Yet, as I doggedly and earnestly move towards that safety

You drag me

down into the unknown and the shockingly, awe-inspiring        

new

Stopping, Sinking

                         mesmerized by your underwater wonders

But

                                                                          -cough-

I can’t contain you

                      Grasping Gasping

You toss me around

And the shores of certainty are lost to me

                                             forever