We arrived at the Convention Center in plenty of time. We got our badges and programs. Matt checked on his travel stipend (not yet available but it would be later). Then we went to the room where I would be presenting. It was not open yet, so we took advantage of the time to try out the free wi-fi, which actually worked. Dr. Mitchell showed up soon thereafter, and then a guy came by to unlock the room. We met our discussant (more on him later) and were easily able to connect the laptop to the projector. Dr. Mitchell decided that he wanted to look at my edits, so we ended up editing the paper right up until time to present. (He ended up not finishing and having to upload the paper to his website later. If you are that interested, you may read our paper here.)

The presentation itself went surprisingly smoothly. I presented first, and the three presenters after me didn't bother to explain their theoretical frames but just referred to my explanation. Dr. Mitchell later told me that this was the best compliment, because it showed that I really knew my stuff. The best part was that, at Dr. Mitchell's suggestion, I referred to Schoolhouse Rock's I'm Just a Bill in my presentation, and they really liked it!

The question and answer part went really well. Most people directed questions to two of the other presenters, and the only question that was asked of me was pretty easy to answer. More than one person asked for a copy of my paper (including one of the other presenters, who was sitting next to me), and I handed it out to a few people after the session as well. After the session, the discussant came up and talked to me for a while. He seemed really interested in the paper and asked me some questions. It was kind-of fun.

After the session I had to take off and go to a workshop for graduate students in educational policy and politics. I ran into Dr. Mitchell's dad there (also Dr. Mitchell), but we did not really have a chance to talk very much. I was really grateful that there was food at the workshop, because I was hungry. Our session had started at noon. It was just snacky-type stuff, but it was good and hit the spot.

I was assigned to a table with two other students and two mentors. I am much farther along in the school process than the other two students, so I ended up giving a little bit of advice instead of getting it. The only advice I got was from the dominant mentor (who was also the only male at the table), who said that I shouldn't allow Dr. Mitchell's name to appear on my paper when it came from my dissertation research. Oh brother. I thought he came across as pompous and full of shit. The other mentor was very nice, though,and although she was very soft-spoken and quiet, she had some good things to say.

For the next part of the workshop, I was assigned one-on-one with a professor from the University of Washington. This part was fantastic! The professor went over my CV with me and helped me clean it up for the type of job I'm going to be qualified for now. He talked about ways to make it more marketable and also ways to network and get some more experience. This was truly awesome (which reminds me that I need to email the guy). I was so excited about it that I went back to my hotel and updated my CV that night.

After the workshop, I texted Matt, and he met me at my hotel. We walked down the street to the market so that he could buy some peanut butter and bread. He couldn't buy anything perishable, because he didn't have that refrigerator thing going on. LOL. I kind-of wanted to eat in a restaurant, but Matt seemed to want to go to Subway, so that is what we did. While we were there, the homeless man that had approached me earlier showed up in Subway and asked us for money. He did not seem to recognize me from earlier. After all, it had been a couple of hours since I had last seen him, I had changed clothes, and he had probably talked to a lot of people since. Matt gave him a handful of change, and then the guy looked at it and then looked at me and asked for more! This ticked me off. Hey, homeless guy! You got what you asked for, go away now! I said no, and he looked at me annoyed again.

We sat there for a long time talking, and then Matt said that he had been waiting for the restroom. Unfortunately, another homeless man had locked himself into the bathroom and had not come out for a very long time. I assumed that the man was taking advantage of the free facilities and private bathroom to clean up a bit, but, I joked to Matt, he might have been setting up house in there. Finally, the man emerged from the restroom, and from the look on Matt's face, the odor in the room was not pleasant.

We finally left Subway, and Matt went home for the night. I stayed up for a while looking at my CV (because I couldn't help myself), and I went to bed very content.

Tomorrow...sightseeing!!!