My EDUC 805 class was a voyage of discovery and self-discovery for me.  Although I will not miss getting home at 10:30-11:00 each Tuesday evening, I will miss the class.  I have decided to view this as the beginning of a journey, not the end of one small trip.  I will have classes with the same classmates and I will undoubtedly have some of our presenters for my instructors.  Still, it is time to stop and reflect on the lessons and the personal growth over this first semester as a doctoral student.

I recently read my first reflection for this class and I remembered all the questions I had and all the uncertainty I was feeling about a gamut of things.  Some of them caused me to smile because I had worried over nothing.  Some of them are still concerns for me.  But, as I read through all of my reflections, I could see the progress I was making, even though it was not apparent to me at the time I was writing them.  Each week, I was seeing more of the whole picture, seeing the connections between seemingly disparate parts of the CoP, seeing the interweaving of the tapestry of the education CoP.  It seems much clearer now.  I chide myself with wondering I did not see this back in January.  These days my head is full of thoughts about what I am going to learn in the Summer semester and how I can apply the knowledge which I have garnered here in my future learning.

I have no joy about this class ending because I have learned so much and have made good friends with several of my classmates.  I greatly enjoyed the collegial atmosphere and the generosity of the speakers with their time, their information and their advice.  But, more importantly for me, I can see how much I have learned and how I can now see much better how all the seemingly disparate parts of a CoP are inextricably entwined, mutually supportive, and mutually dependent.  It is so much more than a big group of people with a common interest in education.  I am anxious to be more active member and to start contributing.

In truth, this all still has an ethereal glow to it.  I still think that I am going to wake up and realize that this has all been a lovely, ambitious dream.  I am starting to grasp that this is really happening, that I really am part of this vital and vibrant community and that I have taken the first steps in my life’s big, big adventure.  And, I have landed at the best place possible for me to pursue my dreams of improving mathematics education.  I am part of a CoP which will help me and guide me and the community to which I will contribute.  I really am an emerging scholar.  What could be better!