Hello dear reader,
This is a letter from me to you. I hope that you enjoy reading about my year. I am also curious to read about how 2022 went for you. Please write me here.
2021 was the year I started the year of " DO IT AFRAID!", and I have not looked back since. The theme continued into 2022, and is slowly becoming my life mantra. I am better for it, I think. For me, doing things afraid means that I do the things that I need to do, no matter how afraid I feel, the anticipated obstacle(s), the cloudy skies, sweaty feet, or the assumed bleak future. It means I live boldly aware of my circumstances, yet striving for the best I can be in the moment. This mantra has helped me to better strategize, evaluate situations more, and take the leap when I need to, no matter how uncertain I feel. So, yes! I did many things afraid in 2022, and I have the results to show for it.
I share some of my highlights of 2022 in this letter to you. I also share some of the things I look forward to in the coming year.
highlights of my year
After much hesitation, I started the blog! Cheers to that!
Huge thanks to many readers who visited the blog from different parts of the world! Y'all rock!
I have many graduate school related content lined up for the next year! The goal is to make this blog your one-stop hub for resources, connections, and just about anything to help you get into grad school, and excel while at it. I am open to collaborations, receiving ideas for content, speaking engagements, etc. What would you want me to write about? Who would you like to speak with? Let me know, text me.
I received a ton of rejections this year. From paper submission to grant applications. The rejections came in back to back, one on top of another. Q1 was definiteliy not a favorite quarter of 2022. It was in a way, the worst way to start the year. However. I received a lot of support from my academic advisors and my husband that kept me pushing. This is also the year I have won the most grants (I think). So, yes, cheers to doing it afraid!
I also attempted to start a copywriting company with a dear friend. However, life happened, and priorities changed for the both of us. So, that did not happen. A website copywriting firm or resource is something I would like to pursue in the near future. This would be targeted to help small companies, startups, entrepreneurs and non-profits communicate effectively with their audience.
I have travelled a lot this year
This was the year I hopped on airplanes the most, in my entire life. In all, I moved (lived full time) across three countries this year. It was supposed to be two countries, but it ended up being three. Over the summer, I got to visit Europe and Africa on Academic trips. i.e conferences and trainings. I also enjoyed exploring different meals in each country I visited, while being a tourist. As exciting as it was to visit new cities, and explore different cuisines, I feel like I peaked at some point, and got tired of moving around. By the last quarter of the year, I started to crave stability so much that it affected my dispensation and perspective towards life! Anyway, I sort of have the next year figured out. Cheers to a similitude of stability in 2023!
In 2022, I started and completed fieldwork for my dissertation. This is a huge win for me because the process has been emotionally, socially, mentally, and financially expensive. By December, I was spent! I am especially grateful for my team members in Nigeria! They held the fort and kept the optimism even on the days we were drained. The upside to the year of fieldwork was also that I got to spend a lot of time with family and friends. I also made new friends on the journey.
In 2022, I got elected to serve on SAfA Executive Board; a non-voting (nonetheless) Student executive member on the Society of Africanist Archaeologists Board. This is one of the largest association of Archaeologists that work on the continent. It is always a privilege to serve, and I look forward to contributing and advancing the mission of the organization.
I lost someone very dear to me. This was one huge curveball from 2022. My Masters' thesis dissertation advisor passed. I miss her terribly. She was a shining light, ever so bubbly and filled with wisdom. She was a friend to many, a mentor, a respected academic and researcher, a fantastic mother, partner, and in all, she was a very beautiful woman with a smile that lit a room. She believed in me and in my abilities, steering and guiding my aspirations. She was influential in academic trajectory since completing my Master's Degree at UCLQ, and even more recently, she selflessly continued to support by Doctoral dissertation research. She was my academic parent. A scholarship programme has been instituted in her memory and her dedication to growing the field of Archaeological Science by the British School at Athens. Kindly click here to donate to the cause.
Things I look forward to in 2023
Growing in Love: I want to live each second of 2023 genuinely in love and joy. Not conditioned by the things I cannot control. I know that this is a big ask, and there are bound to be curve balls along the way, but, here's the mindset I want to live with in the coming year; a sort of compass to guide my heart and dealings with people and things in my space.
2023 is already looking like a year of huge expense, so, I look forward to making healthy financial decisions, nailing priorities per time, and living a memorable life.
I am looking forward to completing the laboratory analyses part of my doctoral reserach. I would most likely be spending every waking minute of the first half of the year in the laboratory analyzing my beloved archaeological ceramic materials. I am also anxious/excited about starting the writing part of my dissertation.
I look forward to growing the blog, and building in public (as much as I can). This is one of the things I am very excited about for the coming year.
I am tempted to add something about eating healthy, gym/weightloss stuff, but I think I'll skip those for now.
So, here's to doing things afraid, breaking new sounds, and smashing goals!
Wishing you a very prosperous 2023.
Signed thinking of a cup of hot coffee,
Elizabeth.
Beautiful read. Inspiring and motivating