2017 – recap and reflect.

What a year! Things have taken off so quickly with work, PhD and Beta Change in the last few months that I haven’t been able to keep up with my blog. So getting back into a regular blogging routine is definitely on my cards for 2018.

As the last post of 2017, I thought I would recap some of my highlights from this year.

• Submitting my PhD thesis for examination!
  Holy shitballs…
  Three years of work condensed into a 50,000 word document sent to three experts to determine my fate. The whole process takes about two months so I hope to hear the outcome by end of Jan.
• Dipping my toes further into academia!
  It’s still weird saying “I’m a lecturer” out loud and the imposter syndrome is stronger than ever. But I am so grateful for this role and the work I have fallen into. I love the challenges and I think that being an educator is something I can see myself doing for a while.
• Won an award at the ADS/ADEA conference!
  I’m still incredibly blown away to have received the best oral presentation award as they were so many incredible speakers at the conference. Added bonus was seeing a dear friend take out the Victorian CDE of the year award!
• Went to the United States for my first little visit!
  …and for the AADE conference (working holidays are the best!).
  It’s always awesome to catch up with international friends and put more faces to twitter handles. Then I had the honour of touring around the Roche test strip making facility and the Eli Lily museum.
• Published my first paper in a peer reviewed journal!
  Seeing my name as first author on a paper was unbelievable. More importantly, I’m excited to share my research findings. My paper looked at the transitional needs of Australian young adults with T1DM. Check it out here.
• Beta Change celebrated their first birthday!
  And we’re still working hard at it. Granted, the past year has been a steep learning curve for all of us. I’m proud that the team has embraced the journey with such tenacity and determination. I’m excited for what our second year has in store for us.

2017 has been an intense journey. I haven’t really had time to think of goals for 2018. However, this is a timely reminder to myself to practice patience ad kindness; not just to others but to myself too.