Monday, January 2, 2017

April: Conferences and Family

She is definitely not beautiful. Her cracks and wrinkles are echoes of a beauty that once was. She is definitely not young. Her lilting curves and grey shores are well traveled. She is definitely not paradise. Her drooping dressings and dusty ornaments have lost the luster of excitement that once drew the young and beautiful to her. She is definitely not fast. The fastest men may visit her once a year, but their adrenaline rapidly fades leaving a slow-moving, tired city. Daytona was clearly once a beautiful, vibrant, fast-paced city in paradise. That was probably in the 1950s. She has not been updated since then. Her well-worn buildings are grayed from the competing forces of rain, wind, and sun. Her decrepit streets ache for action that will never return. Daytona is definitely not beautiful, but you can tell she once was.

At the beginning of April I trekked the three hours across Florida to Daytona beach to mentor four groups of undergraduate students at an undergraduate conference at which they were presenting. As I drove into Daytona, I kept expecting it to get better. I kept thinking that I must just be on the wrong side of the town. It never did. I stayed in a run down little hotel room that was moist with stale sea air. The air conditioner was working overtime to keep the room cool despite its rusted edges. The tile floor was clean, but when I walked on it, I could not help but think there was sand all over the bottoms of my feet. I was joined by some friends that night J and G and we sat on the beach staring at the stars over the black ocean chatting about life, school, dreams, love, and destiny. Juxtaposed with these conversations were brief breaks when tiny children who were vacationing with their family at the same hotel mustered up the courage to come talk to the strangers on the beach. They would make themselves fall over laughing as they asked us questions like "do you love him?" "are you married to me?" "are you magicians?." Kids are funny creatures. The next morning we found ourselves at the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, a beautiful campus near the beach that played home to some of the brightest minds. Over the next ten or so hours, we listened to different presentations on human factors and applied psychology. Overall, the conference went smoothly, and I beamed with pride as I watched my undergraduate research assistants clearly articulate their studies and findings to professionals in the field. I was so proud to see this young minds I had helped mentor critically thinking and responding to questions they had not prepared for. It also filled my heart to find out that my research assistants were all friends, sharing a group chat, inside jokes, and helping one another through the daily struggles of undergraduate life. I drove home from Daytona with a sense of accomplishment, pride, love, and a strong desire to never visit Daytona again.

A few short days later, Kim and I were on a plane to Los Angeles for another conference, the biggest annual conference for IO psychology, SIOP. We both presented our studies, and networked with colleagues, and reconnected with friends who have graduated or who attend different institutions. The conference was held at the convention center in Anaheim and happened to overlap with a national youth cheerleading competition. So for four days, there was a healthy mixture of adults in suits and dresses, and tiny makeupped seven year olds with big hair in leotards running around. One afternoon, as Kim and I were walking back to the hotel from the convention center, I heard my name shouted from behind.  I turned around, shielding my eyes from the Californian sun, and saw Mike, a former employee of my dad's waving me down. Mike is a very large man, somewhere between 6' 3" and 6' 6", and a solid 215-245. His wife and kids were there too to cheer on the youngest child,and only daughter, in her cheerleading competition. What a small world!

One of the nights of the conference, my cohort plus my Kim minus the Kim in our cohort who unfortunately had to stay home, journeyed out to an outstanding wine and tapas bar. We spent the next few hours reflecting on how far we had come over the past three years and looking forward to all the changes we could expect over the coming three years.

The last night of SIOP we attended the closing reception which served up a wide selection of traditional Californian food (flatbreads and sliders) and some solid Beach Boys cover music. About half an hour into the closing reception, after doing the twist and downing a pork slider, Kim and I had to hustle off to a Dave & Busters to meet up with her friends and mentors from her masters program at Cal State. We had a blast playing arcade games, eating more food, and catching up with/meeting old friends. At the end of the night, we gave all of our hard earned tickets to a random tiny child, assuming he needed them more than we needed some plastic tchotchke.






The next day, we packed our bags and checked out of the hotel in Anaheim. While we were in line to check out, I answered a phone call from my mom panicking since they had come to pick us up from Las Vegas in their RV. They had come by the hotel, and we were not ready yet, so they were forced to circle around, making very tight turns in a very large vehicle with an attached trailer. We hurried through the checkout process and managed to jump into the RV while my parents parked, briefly stopping traffic. Over the following four hours or so, we trekked across the desert enjoying the view of dunes, and the opportunity to rest and catch up with my parents. Unfortunately, my parents had not yet figured out how to work the air conditioning in the RV, so the enjoyment was capped a bit by the heat, which was kept in check only by a strong, warm breeze through the open windows. There was nothing to do but laugh and enjoy the hilarity of the situation of four adult humans and two large adult dogs driving through the desert in a forty something foot bus without air conditioning.


While in Vegas we spent most of our time relaxing, chatting, and working out at my parents' kickboxing gym. One night, we walked along the strip together, eating dinner by the large Ferris wheel that offers spectacular views of the city in the desert. But all too soon, it was time to say our goodbyes and head back to Tampa to finish up the year.

Back in Tampa, as April came to a close, we celebrated Kim's birthday. I surprised her with a day of Chicagoan food. A Culver's Custard had recently opened in Tampa, so we went there for lunch, and more importantly, a Portillo's had opened in Brandon. Kim had been dying to go to this Portillo's since it opened in February. We made the thirty minute drive to meet some of our friends at this behemoth of a fast food restaurant. Kim's excitement and ravings were justified. The hot dogs, and Italian beef sandwiches, and chocolate cake were amazing. Thank you snowbirds for bringing your food franchises down to Tampa with you!















Overall, April 2016 was a furiously busy month, but I would not have it any other way.  Cheers to the daily adventure.

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