Our cohort of five math ed doctoral students has bonded well throughout the year, but the highlight was probably our trip out to Philadelphia for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference.
After hitting some of the requisite sites like that cracked bell, we indulged in some culture: Philly cheese steaks.
Eager to avoid shedding unnecessary money for a hotel room, I looked through my Facebook friends for anyone living in Philly. I found Christopher Friesen, a friend that I had spent a single summer with about ten years ago. To my delight, he (and his girlfriend Emily) responded and welcomed us with full hospitality.
It was heartwarming to know that some distinct aspects of a friendship endure in the face of major life changes. Like laughter and excellent conversation.
Our energy juice for the long walks around downtown. I call it drip coffee, although it probably has some fancy sounding French name.
Our advisor, Dr. Foley, took us out for dinner in Chinatown one evening.
We followed that up with Christopher taking us to a microbrewery with a cozy atmosphere in Germantown. I do believe there was some mathematics education stuff somewhere in there during the trip, but the memories with people are always the ones that stick the most for me. That said, as I read more and more of the research literature in math ed (and especially in the area of social justice), I enjoy the conference presentations a lot more.
No comments:
Post a Comment