plan(it)* is this Friday!!! 🌌
Getting my office ready for plan(it)* this Friday and Saturday!
I am gearing up for the very first plan(it)* retreat this Friday and Saturday!! Although in all honesty, I’ve done so much prep work on the front end that right now there’s actually not that much to do to get ready! One of the things I’ve been doing to get the word out about the retreat is connecting with all the people I know who are doing similar/related work (i.e., supporting academics!). One of the people I reached out to was Cristi Cooke, who was so excited about the work I’ve been doing that she asked if we could do an interview! Here’s a brief overview of how Cristi and I met...
In my first year on the tenure track post I mentioned that I participated in NCFDD’s Faculty Success Program, which I highly recommend (as an FYI, I don’t get anything for mentioning their program - I just really like what they’re doing and enjoyed my experience). As an NCFDD member, I have access to other webinars they host throughout the year, which is how I stumbled across Cristi Cooke’s Pillars of Genius program. Cristi hosted a guest webinar for NCFDD, called, “How to Find Your Pillars of Genius” and I was intrigued. What are Pillars of Genius?! And do I have them? If so, what are they?! I signed up for a call to chat about what her program was all about and we went from there! I was feeling like I needed some direction with my research and teaching, saw that other faculty had benefited from the program, so I signed up (using startup funds). Initially, I was really only thinking of it as a way to benefit my academic life, but it has had ripple effects that extend way beyond my job. Cut to summer 2018, I started Cristi’s program to find my Pillars of Genius. Anyway, Cristi is one of the most enthusiastic people you’ll ever meet and she’s incredibly supportive (even after you’ve graduated from her program). I thought she’d be excited to hear about plan(it)* and about updates on how I’ve been using my Pillars in my academic work... so I sent her an email. Little did I know that Cristi has been wanting to start interviewing past participants, to show how they’ve been using their work from the Pillars of Genius program in their lives. So... I was the first interviewee. Very long story short, you can check out the interview below, where we chat about the Pillars of Genius program, how I’ve used what I learned in the program in my academic life, and also my blog and plan(it)* retreat. It’s my first time embedding a video in a post so I’m crossing my fingers it works! If it doesn’t work for you, you can always check out the video on the Pillars of Genius facebook page.