Thank Your Mentor Day!

January 21, 2016August 12, 2019 Laura Pasquini

Happy THANK YOUR MENTOR Day! January, with January 17, 2016 being International Mentoring Day, was proclaimed National Mentoring Month by President Obama. This mentoring campaign is targeted at supporting youth and mentoring IRL (#MentoringIRL).

Although my youth is behind me, I can definitely say a number of people helped to get me where I am today. A mentor can listen, teach, guide, and coach. Can you think about the mentor(s) in your life? Where would you be today had it not been for their support?

Here are a few simple ways the National Mentor Campaign suggests to THANK your mentor:

Contact your mentor directly to express your appreciation;
Express your gratitude on social media; (#MentorIRL)
Pass on what you received by becoming a mentor to a young person in your community;
Make a financial contribution to a local mentoring program in your mentor’s honor; and,
Write a tribute to your mentor for posting on the Who Mentored You? website.

You can download a Thank you card from the Campaign Marketing Materials page.

As a thank you to all the mentors who have supported me and the mentees I have learned from, it would be only fitting to introduce this research study on this topic; however now I am interested learning how mentoring supports professionals and the field they work in:

Exploring Mentoring Programs in Professional Learning Organizations

Have you been part of a mentoring experience? Tell us about it. I am grateful for the informal and formal mentoring experiences, and I would not be interested in this study if it weren’t for the formal mentoring programs I have been a part of (shout out to ACPAgrow & NACADA ELP). If you have any formal or informal mentoring experiences, please take a few minutes to share by filling out this survey:

http://bit.ly/ExploringMentoring

More about the research study: https://techknowtools.wordpress.com/mentoring/

Reflections, TBT Posts

#TBT Blog #2: Happy Christmas and the Holiday Comic Strip

December 25, 2014 Laura Pasquini

Over the past seven years, Fiachra and I have created an annual holiday comic strip for Christmas cards to recap our year. This year we broke the tradition and did not create one. I know. Sad. Maybe we ran out of James Bond themes, or perhaps far too much has happened in 2014 to contain our year events in just one comic strip.

2014 was a full year of great events. Both Fiachra and I completed the academic leg of our lives, as we graduated over the summer with our MBA in Decision Sciences and PhD in Learning Technologies, respectively. After this accomplishment we decided to take a break by taking an EPIC road trip to explore the US southwest. This 5-week journey showcased a number of gorgeous landscapes, outdoor adventures, eclectic attractions, and, most importantly, time to spend with each other and also a chance to catch up with family and friends. Here is a quick spotlight to highlight our travels and year in review:

On behalf of Fiachra and myself, we want to thank you SO MUCH for all your love and support this year. We are so grateful for everything. We wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Christmas, and all the best for 2015!
xo
L and F

PhD, Reflections

#Dissertation Thanks and Acknowledgement for my PhD Journey

June 14, 2014June 16, 2014 Laura Pasquini

“Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.”

~ Etienne Wenger

My doctoral dissertation research is dedicated to all the members of my personal learning network and communities of practice, who connect, inspire, collaborate, interact, challenge, and share with me personally and professionally. I am thankful for your passion.

Here are a few slides from my final dissertation defense from Thursday, June 12, 2014. Some slides have been removed to prepare for journal publications, and I promise that more will be shared on this blog or here: http://socialmediaguidance.wordpress.com/

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the support and encouragement I received during my doctoral research. I am incredibly grateful for those of you who stood by to support me along the way. Thank you for helping me during my PhD journey.

My husband: Fiachra Eamon Liam Moynihan – I am truly grateful for your love, support, and patience. Without you, I would not have been able to thrive in my doctoral program or balance my research with everything else. Thanks for joining me in this scholarly adventure – I could not accomplish this feat without you by my side.

To my doctoral dissertation committee: Dr. Jeff Allen, Dr. Nick Evangelopoulos, Dr. Kim Nimon, and Dr. Mark Davis. I appreciate the support during my dissertation research, and general advice you provided about academic writing, publishing, career development, and life on the tenure track. I look forward to our continued collaboration in publishing, research, and more.

My family: My parents, Michael and Coleen Pasquini, and my siblings Mark and Katie. You were the first community that encouraged me find my passion in learning. For this, I thank you.

My friends: A sincere THANK YOU to my friends near and far. I am honored to have an eclectic support network to challenge and check in on me. A heartfelt thanks goes out to all of you who provided support, inspiration, mentoring, peer pressure, and motivation along the way. Shout out to: #untLT, #AcAdv, #PhDchat, #EdTech, #HigherEd, #SAchat, and other communities and/or hashtags we created along the way.

My colleagues: Thank you to the fantastic team I have been fortunate to work with over the years at the Office for Exploring Majors in Undergraduate Studies at UNT. Although this division no longer exists, you all will hold a special place in my heart.

[View the story “A Big THANKS to My PhD & #Dissertation Cheer Squad ” on Storify]

Image c/o Flickr member Chris Piascik