Hawaii International Conference on Education

Greetings from the Hawaiian Island of Oahu!

I am so excited to have the opportunity to come back to Hawaii to present at this conference. The process of coming to this conference takes at least 9 months to plan from start to finish.

The process includes: submitting 2 proposals during my Spring Break, waiting for 3 months for acceptance (hopefully), and once acceptance is granted, preparing to pay for the entire trip at one time (via soliciting University funds). Although the process seems long, there is a certain amount of work that has to be done if you want to achieve your goals in life.

I have conditioned myself to prepare for the conference season between March and December of each year. During this time, all proposals are written and submitted way ahead of the deadline to ensure for proper turnaround time. Life can throw many curve balls but your life is dependent on the conscious decisions that you make each day.

Today, I had the opportunity to present on 2 topics: Social Presence in Online Math Courses and Advantages/Disadvantages in Online Education in Comparison with Traditional Education. And I got a chance to see and connect with some people who presented in the same slot that I did last year. I was amazed that they remembered me and we had some time to catch up.

The best part of this conference so far has been the opportunity to meet and mentor an EdD female student. I met her yesterday in a session and I got a chance to talk with her about my journey as an EdD and some things to keep in mind while pursuing a doctorate. We met up today just to process some ideas that she had and I did my best to answer her questions as it relates to her future career. In life, if you have a chance to mentor someone, do it. Someone opened the door for you and you should open the same door for someone else.

Aloha!