It's Tricky

Today I was thinking about which of the items on the 30B430 list would be the most challenging. Initially I thought it would be the flash mob, but that one seemed to come together. That leaves a few others in the running.

First, there is #6 Run a Half Marathon. That will be physically challenging, especially with the amount of training it requires. I certainly can't put it off until the last minute.

A number of items also involve traveling, including #8 Use my passport, #9 Take a classic American road trip, #16 Visit a state I've never been to before, and #29 Go to Las Vegas. To accomplish each of those, it will involve a minimum of two trips. More likely three, because driving all the way to Las Vegas doesn't sound like the best use of my funds. The challenge with the traveling is fitting that many trips into a year and four months - especially since one requires international travel.

Another challenge that I'm currently staring down is the Man v. Food Challenge (#22). If I interpret that literally, I would have approximately 79 food challenges to choose from. However, only one of them is in Milwaukee. So I either need to eat this or commit to traveling. I'm not opposed to hitting the road (especially since there are a few trips that need to happen anyway. However I could also attempt a MVF-like challenge, and stick to this list of Milwaukee Food Challenges.

As I think about what type of challenge that I'd be willing to attempt, I'm noticing that they seem to fall into a few categories: spicy, lots of dairy, big pizza, lots of meat, lots of burger/sandwich, lots of breakfast, and the occasional lots of taco/burrito/nacho or seafood. Plus most involve speed due to the time element. Spicy is out. Can't do it. Dairy is also out - Food is almost always guaranteed to win that one, especially if it involves a brain freeze from ice cream. A meat challenge (typically a big steak) seems to involve a lot of chewing, and probably the meat sweats. So that narrows down the list quite a bit. I think I should probably start training my stomach. This one may not be great for my goal to get in shape and lose weight...

I PASSED! #13 is complete.

I could not have been more excited to get the call yesterday. I passed my comprehensive exams!

That test was by far one of the hardest that I have ever taken, so join me in a collective sigh (phew!) and a big loud WAHOOOOO!

A big congrats to the other test takers, who also all passed. People often think that the test cannot be that big of a deal if everyone passes. However, each person worked so hard for that test. It was by no means a gimme.

I suppose I'll bask in this joy a little bit longer before returning to all of the work still ahead. Today I feel smart. But all it takes is pulling out the latest version of my dissertation proposal to go back to feeling like a dummy. Yeah...I'll stick with feeling smart for now.

Hail to the Chief

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend the Inauguration of UWM's eighth Chancellor, Michael R. Lovell.

As I mentioned earlier, there was a week of Inauguration events leading up to the event. While at the Lovell*Palooza Meet and Greet, I was asked by a student, "What is a Chancellor?" Huh. Never had to explain that one before. I stumbled over..."Well, he's the CEO of the university....sort of like the president..." Can you think of a better explanation?

The inauguration was really cool. When you think about the length of time that many university and college presidents and chancellors hold their positions, it really is a unique opportunity to see an inauguration. I don't watch American Idol, but apparently one of the top ten contestants last season, Naima Adedapo, was a UWM student. She sang the National Anthem at the event. Check out the video from UWM news - her voice is just beautiful!



There were a lot of speeches. We're talking longer than your typical graduation. But each guest had wonderful things to say about the Chancellor. His own speech was also very touching.


One of the coolest parts was a video that showed how faculty and students came together to create the Chancellor's medallion. It is tradition that each chancellor or president wears one at formal university occasions (convocation, graduation, etc.). The one created for Chancellor Lovell is anything but traditional...



(Video courtesy of UWM News)

Really cool, right?! I love how it represents both his Engineering background and the city of Milwaukee. Very modern and appropriate for the times. It is an exciting time to be at the university!

Best wishes to Chancellor Lovell in his new role!