Aloha and welcome to this page called #MyPhDLife, where I take you through my time as a PhD student. I am starting this page in my 5th year as a PhD student so a lot of what I put here will be a reflection of what I did and what happened throughout this journey and where I’m heading.
Looking Ahead (tentative timeline):
- Spring 2023 – Prospectus defense
- Spring 2024 – Dissertation defense + graduation
Year 5: Spring 2023
Semester Highlights:
- Stay Tuned!
Courses:
- SLS 800 Dissertation Research
Year 4: Fall 2022
Semester Highlights
- First semester on Bilinski Educational Foundation Fellowship.
- Being able to relax and breathe a little after the most stressful semester (Spring 2022).
- Focused just on dissertation data collection and started writing the first three chapters.
- Being given a service award for my service in the various student organizations that I am a part of.
Courses:
- SLS 800 Dissertation Research
Year 4: Spring 2022
Semester Highlights
- Passed my comprehensive exam and dissertation proposal! Comprehensive exams for us entails writing three essays on 3 subject areas, which I chose second language learning, pedagogy, and use. We are given 2 weeks to write the exam and the oral defense is done 2 weeks later.
- Won FIRST place in the Pacific Asia Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) Venture Competition. My colleagues and I entered the venture competition more to learn about what it takes to start a business. We were shocked that we made it so far into the competition, let along winning first place!
- First co-authored book chapter came out!
Courses:
- SLS 672 Second Language Classroom Research
- SLS 699 Directed Reading/Research
Year 3: Fall 2021
Semester Highlights:
- Second time teaching SLS 130.
Courses:
- LING 640S Sociolinguistics
- SLS 699 Directed Reading/Research
Year 3: Spring 2021
Semester Highlights:
- First time being a Graduate Assistant for the Charlene Junko Sato Center for Pidgin, Creole, and Dialect Studies
Courses:
- SLS 671 Research in Language Testing
- SLS 750 Seminar in Second Language Acquisition (Second Language Fluency)
Year 2: Fall 2020
Semester Highlights:
- First time teaching an undergraduate content course – SLS 130, Introduction to Pidgin in Hawaiʻi.
Courses:
- EDEP 768C Seminar in Educational Psychology: Learning
- SLS 680R Topics: Second Language Research Methodology (Action Research)
Year 2: Spring 2020
Semester Highlights:
- COVID-19 happened
Courses:
- SLS 678 Discourse Analysis in Second Language Research
- SLS 760 Seminar in Second Language Use (Linguistic Landscape)
Year 1: Fall 2019
Semester Highlights:
- Won FIRST place at the Second Language Research Forum conference for my co-authored poster.
Courses:
- SLS 614 Second Language Writing
- SLS 730 Seminar in Second Language Education
- SLS 775 Seminar in Second Language Qualitative Research
Year 1: Spring 2019
Semester Highlights:
- Just starting the PhD program is a major highlight all in itself!
Courses:
- SLS 670 Second Language Quantitative Research
- SLS 730 Seminar in Second Language Education
Kristen Urada 