PHOTO
SO I LEAVE FOR AUSTRALIA ON THURSDAY. Now, before you get too excited, let me explain that the picture above is of a “San Diegan” Koala. I took it at our “world famous” zoo last year. I hope to be able to post a pic of an actual Australian koala ASAP.  So I’m going to Australia next Thursday because I will be presenting a paper at the International Research Society for Chidlren’s Literature conference! I am so excited yet mortified at the same time. I will be at the conference for a week and then I will have another week to explore places like the Golden Coast, Sydney and Melbourne. I will be going with my sister and my mom, so it’s going to be a really special trip. Not only do I get to add to my résumé that I got to present my own ideas/research on children’s literature at a world renowned conference, I also get valuable bonding time with the people that ARE my life.  This year’s conference theme is Fear and Safety in Children’s Literature, and because of this, I thought it would be a great idea to submit a paper about the haunting social issue of immigration. I did and it got accepted! I was so surprised. It made me feel so accomplished and validated; like what I have to say about literature actually matters to someone other than my self and my professors. I think I’m going to be the only student at the conference that is going to talk about Mexican-American literature, so I’m ecstatic to be the “expert” on the subject while I’m there. I will present a paper titled “The Anguished Immigrant Child in Chicana/o Children’s Literature.” ln this paper, I explore how the authors of the picture book Gabriela’s Song: How Do I Adapt to a New Place? (2007) and the YA novel La Línea (2006) advocate for storytelling as therapeutic treatment that can help expat children and adolescents confront and overcome the traumatic migrant experience. I am barely starting to get my things together because I’ve had a serious case of summer laziness that comes after doing intense graduate work during the semester. I’ve really been putting things off, but I can’t anymore! Well, the paper is written and I’m just doing some editing, and I’m practicing saying the paper out loud, but I also need to pack and mentally prepare for the LOOOONG flight ahead. We’ll see what happens!

SO I LEAVE FOR AUSTRALIA ON THURSDAY.

Now, before you get too excited, let me explain that the picture above is of a “San Diegan” Koala. I took it at our “world famous” zoo last year. I hope to be able to post a pic of an actual Australian koala ASAP. 

So I’m going to Australia next Thursday because I will be presenting a paper at the International Research Society for Chidlren’s Literature conference! I am so excited yet mortified at the same time. I will be at the conference for a week and then I will have another week to explore places like the Golden Coast, Sydney and Melbourne. I will be going with my sister and my mom, so it’s going to be a really special trip. Not only do I get to add to my résumé that I got to present my own ideas/research on children’s literature at a world renowned conference, I also get valuable bonding time with the people that ARE my life. 

This year’s conference theme is Fear and Safety in Children’s Literature, and because of this, I thought it would be a great idea to submit a paper about the haunting social issue of immigration. I did and it got accepted! I was so surprised. It made me feel so accomplished and validated; like what I have to say about literature actually matters to someone other than my self and my professors. I think I’m going to be the only student at the conference that is going to talk about Mexican-American literature, so I’m ecstatic to be the “expert” on the subject while I’m there. I will present a paper titled “The Anguished Immigrant Child in Chicana/o Children’s Literature.” ln this paper, I explore how the authors of the picture book Gabriela’s Song: How Do I Adapt to a New Place? (2007) and the YA novel La Línea (2006) advocate for storytelling as therapeutic treatment that can help expat children and adolescents confront and overcome the traumatic migrant experience.

I am barely starting to get my things together because I’ve had a serious case of summer laziness that comes after doing intense graduate work during the semester. I’ve really been putting things off, but I can’t anymore! Well, the paper is written and I’m just doing some editing, and I’m practicing saying the paper out loud, but I also need to pack and mentally prepare for the LOOOONG flight ahead.

We’ll see what happens!