Upon reflecting on the doctoral program and thinking about the experiences I’ve had over the last two years, I realize that there have been certain occurrences and moments that have shaped who I am as a researcher.  In addition, I also think that I probably came into the program with some lived experiences that have contributed to the development of my identity as a researcher and these experiences may help to make me a stronger researcher in the long run.

When I came into the program, I knew I would have a focus on International Baccalaureate (IB) programs and I have never deviated from that focus.  However, in the fall of 2008, when I started to think about what I wanted to do for an internship, Dr. Shaklee suggested that I review all of the research that IB had completed through their own research unit and as an organization.  I was in the process of writing a proposal concerning what I wanted to get from a research internship at the University of Bath and at that point, I was trying to make those decisions.  As I sifted through the IB research, I became most interested in the perception studies that had been done in England, in Australia, and by a graduate. The English and Australian studies concerned university perceptions of the Diploma Programme and also addressed the idea of college readiness.  For some reason, probably also because this was a field in which I spend a lot of my professional life as I teach the students getting ready to go to university, these studies spoke to me as I started the process of me asking questions.  Why has a North American study not been completed?  What conditions are different in North America for IB students than in England or Australia for a study like this to be executed?  What additional variables might have to be considered for a North American study?  Does North American mean only American or does this include Canadian as well?  These were only some of the questions that started to form in my head at the time and as time has gone on, more questions have come up. I decided sometime in the spring of 2009 to switch my dissertation focus to the idea of completing some kind of North American perception study of the IB Diploma Programme but at this point in time am still considering the scope and range of that study.  Part of my development as a researcher at this point in time is to test possible ideas for this study.  Towards that end, I am presenting the background of what has been completed in terms of perception studies in relation to the Diploma Programme and possible iterations for my perception study at a International Education Student Research Conference at George Washington University on April 3, 2010 and have submitted a proposal to the annual IB Americas Conference in Miami in July with a similar proposal.  I am hoping to receive feedback from peers and colleagues as to what they would most like to see or need to see in a perception study in North America.

My internship itself was another eye-opening experience for me in the program and every time I look back on it I still do not think I am completely realizing the benefit it was to me. I think that experience will continue to help me as I go through the program and maybe even beyond. Although splitting my internship in two countries and two places was tiring physically, it was beneficical in that it gave me the ability to work within both specializations for the summer and allowed me time to work on my own as a researcher. One of the precious commodities I do not always have because I do work full-time is time and my internship allowed me the one thing that I probably did need - time. It allowed me to figure things out on my own, process, ask questions, read, discover, interview, observe, and be out of my normal environment. In Bath, England, on my first day there, I remember my surpise at hearing how higher education, especially the process of achieving a doctoral degree, was very different than in the United States. This prompted me to learn about higher education abroad and ended up translating into an interest in the Bologna Process, an interest that would later help me while on internship at IB Vancouver when asked to write a paper concerning why IB should be interested in this and would later turn into a presentation on possible applications for the United States for the Phi Beta Delta conference in April 2010. Although usually self-motivated, I felt my identity as a researcher probably started forming more solidly while on internship as I worked on various projects of my own in Bath and as directed by my supervisors by IB Vancouver - no one ever told me how to work on a project, I felt comfortable asking questions, searching for the literature to back up my ideas, looking for previous work completed, and reviewing methology. Sometimes I also felt as if my previous life as a reporter helped in this work as I worked to find a link or connection for something in Vancouver.

Another experience that really affected me in the doctoral program is learning about leadership without portfolio in Leadership Seminar.  When I heard this term in class and thought about my professional experiences, something clicked.  In addition, for a good part of my career, I have pursued other opportunities alongside my regular professional duties, why, I’m not exactly sure, but probably for academic stimulation and fulfillment in addition to interest.  I think leadership without portfolio allows one to move more freely sometimes, without the constraints of the structures of politics. I have kept this term in mind through some difficult professional situations.