I have never gone to MLA, but I still feel anxiety when it rolls around, knowing my time will come soon (next year? maybe). I usually look forward to conferences, but this one scares the hell out of me, mostly because it is so closely tied to job hunting. So I've been reading a few posts about others' trips.
Everyone should read Dr. Crazy's post about networking. Seriously. Go read it.
Laura and Lillian also reflect on their MLA experiences, addressing some of the anxiety attached to this particular conference. And before MLA Lillian posted her thoughts on conferences in general.
And speaking of job hunt and paralyzing anxiety, Leslie posts about "what happens when your calling no longer calls you."
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4 comments:
Thanks for directing me to these posts, Sarah. Very thought-provoking--and scary.
Oh, links, Thanks!!!
I have to read the posts about the job market. My experience was quite positive, but then, again, I had only one interview.
I still love conferences, while being aware of their problems. I hope you get to go and enjoy it sometime! The trick is to go when you don't have any job interviews, as I did in 2001 and 2004, just to check it out.
Thanks for the shout-out Mommy, Ph.D.! If it makes you feel better, I was TERRIFIED of MLA my first time around.
Here's the thing about MLA, which actually makes me feel better about it and is one of the reasons I think it's possible for me to enjoy myself there: it's NOT a regular conference. It's business. That can make it intensely horrible, if one is expecting it to be like a smaller, more convivial, more collegial conference. But it can also be liberating to acknowledge that it's NOT a conference but rather a business opportunity. At least for me, that allows me to cut myself some slack, to acknowledge that MLA is like nothing else I do as an academic, and to proceed accordingly. All any of us can do is to do the best we can - I think that the anxiety of MLA is that we think we're supposed to do something other than that, and at least in my experience (and this was my... fourth MLA) that's just not true. Just be you, do more than you think your body can handle (in terms of sleep deprivation, talking to people, etc.) and you'll do well. And it DOES get easier with practice. (I agree that it's easier when one does not have interviews.)
hey there,
first off, love your blog. very inspiring and humorous. i too am a "mommy ph.d." and went to MLA for the first time this year. Had three intervies and did things *quite* differently. (I didn't even don my badge!) The whole thing went by like a blur as I basically went to my interviews only (no networking or anything else to speak of). part of it is that i have a five month old; the other part is that i really wanted to remain detached so i could be myself throughout the whole deal. i had a good time--and when you go back next year for interviews, i hope my humble two-bits of advice, purely unsolicited, helps. it's fairly run of the mill stuff.
thanks for the blog--look forward to years of lurking.
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