“A Mazing” Experiences

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Amazing

As I was exiting the Ramsey Fitness Center Parking lot I began to reflect on my first days as a brand new late 40-something student starting a new life, in a new state, in a new Ph.D. program, and moreover a new chapter in my academic odyssey.  I chuckled this evening when I remembered how I had gotten lost trying to exit the Ramsey Center parking deck 4 years ago.  I seemed to be in a never ending maze of circling around and around and around the deck with no exit in sight.  I was trapped and didn’t know how I was going to ever get out of that deck as the signs, sounds, and bright lights, left me unsure of myself and anxious.  I felt so helpless and inadequate at that time.

I almost turned into the “do no enter” portion of the deck trying to escape this seeming Twilight Zone nightmare.  Tears literally swelled in my eyes as I resisted the urge to call my daughter in Ohio for help.  I thought to myself, “Call Bridjette, she’ll know what to do!”  My daughter at that point, was a freshly minted graduate of Wake Forest University and would be most certainly familiar with this foreign land I had come to know as 21st Century University life.  I eventually calmed myself and asked what appeared to be a parking lot attendant for help and subsequently was able to finally locate the exit gate (shown above) and free myself from the “A Mazing” experiences.

As I am now just 12 days shy of my first ever trip outside of the United States, I am humbled and feel incredibly blessed.  I am so grateful for how God has guided me in what I think would be appropriate to describe as the “second act” of my life.  Not only do I have the chance to do what every Ph.D. student dreams of doing, which is to pursue a dissertation research topic that is interesting, potentially ground breaking, and be a positive source for new knowledge; I also have the opportunity to serve as a Visiting Scholar at the Universidad Católico del Maule in Talca, Chile.  I will be able to engage in meaning relationships and learning that has implication for enhanced international adult learning.  I find that to be very cool. 🙂

So now in hindsight, I have come to cherish that maze experience in the Ramsey Center parking lot some 4 years ago.  It has become a valuable piece of what is now an “A Mazing” ride, as I stand at the dawn of continuing my academic odyssey in Chile, South America.

The “Chilean Winter” began in August 2011

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The “Chilean Winter” (Villalobos-Ruminott, 2012, p. 11) includes university students in Chile who have become civically engaged in forms of political protest.  The marchers and student leadership in Chile are challenging power differentials by opposing governmental public policies.  Many opponents believe that educational policies privilege entrepreneurial for-profit higher education at the expense (in their view) of social justice by denying free and open-access to education for all Chileans.  Many citizens believe that they are being forced into a difficult situation having to participate in an educational system where economically vulnerable collegians incur significantly high student loan debt burdens (Gambi & González, 2013).

Gambi, M., & González, C. (2013). Student Debt and Access to Higher Education in Chile.  Revista Española De Investigaciones Sociologicas, (141), 91-111.

Villalobos-Ruminott, S. (2012). The Chilean winter. Radical Philosophy, (171), 11-15.

My Research Goal in Chile

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UNIVERSITY-OF-GEORGIA                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Proverbs 4:7

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

The scripture above, from the traditional KJV, is one of my favorite proverbs and will serve as the touchstone for my dissertation research in Chile.  I will be documenting my research journey via this blog site and I hope you will enjoy and learn from my experiences.  You are welcomed to leave your comments at anytime.  I will try to be expeditious in responding to your posts. 🙂

0629131846June 18, 2013

Spiral Dynamics Training, Santa Barbara, CA

During the week lasting from June 19th through June 27th, I traveled to Santa Barbara, California to complete my training in Spiral Dynamics.  So I landed in Los Angeles yesterday (June 18th) afternoon and will be here for about a week for Spiral Dynamics Levels 1 & 2 certification. It’s weird trying to adjust to the time difference as its 3:22am here and I’m up blogging. My body thinks it is almost 7am. Yeah, I’m going back to sleep!

July 12, 2013

So I have completed my Spiral Dynamics certification training for Levels 1 & 2 and  above you can see my certificates of attendance.  Spiral Dynamic Theory (SDT) as a theoretical framework is being used in my research to examine levels of civic engagement within the complex contexts associated with public and private for-profit gradate-level adult learning.  My research also explores the use of memetic science which is the theory and study holding that mental contents of culture operate analogous to Darwinian evolution.  SDT is an open-ended theory based on the work of psychologist Clare W. Graves whose “emergent cyclical level of existence theory” (ECLET)  held that as adults are faced with increasing degrees of life conditions and problems their worldviews are impacted such that they can respond to those problems through advancing biopsychosocial neurology.  My research holds that  Memes (the products of memetics) influence these worldviews and also influence adults existential realities. 

In essence, adults’ coping systems are open to increasing levels of complexity and they have the unlimited potential to develop ways of responding to emergent life complexities.  It’s also important to note that Graves held that change was not inevitable and that adults can live the totality of their lives centralized within a particular worldview or level  which Chris Cowan and Don Beck term as a vMEME (i.e., Value Meme).  So my training and certification in Santa Barbara served to augment the research and study I’ve had to date relative to Gravesian theory (ECLET) and Spiral Dynamics.

July 19, 2013

So I’m looking for recording equipment to take with me to Chile to capture my research data. Here’s my test using the Sony Bloggie Touchscreen digital recording device. I’m thinking probably a yes on this purchase. It’s smaller than an iphone and has the capacity to directly upload to my YouTube and Facebook pages via a WiFi connection. I must say I’m very impressed with the “Bloggie” right now. 🙂

July 20, 2013

University of Georgia Doctoral Candidate and Novice Blogger. Enjoy!

July 31, 2013

Got my IRB – It’s a GO!!

ApprovedWhat better way to close out the summer as well as the month of July than getting a notice that your IRB research proposal has been approved!!  Yay! 🙂