Dmmetler Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Several years ago, DD applied for the International Herpetological Symposium's Junior Herpetologist program, and got turned down due to age. Today I got an e-mail inviting her to reapply for this year, since she is now age-eligible. It came directly from the JH program director, and was not a form letter, so I'm guessing that means he really does remember her. The problem is the dates. The JMIH ends July 16 (in Austin TX) This one starts July 19 (in Rodeo, NM). I'm not sure that either DD or I can handle two conferences that close together-particularly since we will also be in Reno in late June, and will have less than 2 weeks home from Reno before leaving for JMIH. I'm torn on whether to point it out. There is a good chance she'll see it anyway, but it would be easier to say "honey, the schedule is really crowded, let's wait" if she just sees the generic call for submissions, not the personal invitation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Could it become a giant roadtrip? If we had to fly here and there it would fry me, but driving across the country can be fun. It seems like the other conferences are standing timeframes each year. Would she be able to go next year or is it just as packed? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolate-chip chooky Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 I'd personally feel uncomfortable with not disclosing the personal invitation. But, really, I feel bone-weary just thinking about your potential schedule. Good luck with your decisions. And congrats to your daughter on the personal invitation. She must have made an impression that last time. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 I would let her apply. Maybe if/when she is accepted she could ask them to defer her award until next year. What sparked her interest in herpetology to begin with? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 The hard part is that the dates do change from year to year. So next year, it may well be that one would be at the end of June and one at the end of July or early August. The first year we went to JMIH, DD would have missed the first week of school had she been in PS that year. The last two years it has been much earlier. The IHS also moves a bit. But she is also eyeing several field station classes,and in fact, the possibility of doing them was a major motivation for starting college at all. So it is unlikely to get less hectic next year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 I would let her apply. Maybe if/when she is accepted she could ask them to defer her award until next year. What sparked her interest in herpetology to begin with? She's never NOT been into things with scales. Like her favorite places at age 2 were the zoo and the "mini zoo" (pet store) to see the "Akes", and the stuffed animal she latched onto at 8 months was a long. snaky dragon. Dinosaurs and dragons were of equal importance for many years, but by about age 5, she'd realized that she was unlikely to get to do much with living dinosaurs and dragons, but reptiles were right there. She was most interested in the herpetoculture side and just keeping them, or maybe being a vet, but at age 8, she got invited to unofficially audit a class on crocodylian behavior, and then to help with a water quality field study, and was hooked. She got nominated for the SSAR pre-baccalaureate program, and at age 9, attended her first professional conference, which cemented her interest in herpetology, and she started her outreach efforts soon after. As of now, we attend about 3 conferences a year, and she's usually speaking at at least one of them (we'll be at SEPARC next weekend, so she can participate in the education and outreach working group). She's had other interests (currently Pokémon is a big one), but the snakes have always been there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Yeah, I'd say make it one big trip out west. So cool they personally invited her. She sounds amazing. :) My son is like that with music, he's never not been into it, I have pictures of him at age 2 with like 5 toy guitars lined up. lol 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 I wouldn't keep the personal invitation from her. You can either pull it off or not, you are either willing to go or not, so that's all that I would look at. It sucks to make the hard decisions! The invitation could be very affirming for her, whether she is able to attend the conference or not. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luuknam Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 The invitation could be very affirming for her, whether she is able to attend the conference or not. This. Could it become a giant roadtrip? If we had to fly here and there it would fry me, but driving across the country can be fun. It's a 11-12 hour drive, not counting rest breaks. So, if it's only the 17th and 18th for driving, then that would be a LOT of time in the car and I'd think it'd be better to fly from Austin to Rodeo directly. If it could be spread out over the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th, it wouldn't be so bad, and could be fun to drive. You said you're not sure if you can handle this - is there some way to work around that? To maybe pay someone you already know to babysit her some of the time so you can spend some time alone in your hotel room? Or for you to take her to one conference, and then for your husband to take her to the other (e.g. you do Austin, then put her on the plane to Rodeo and fly home, while your husband then picks her up in Rodeo and does that conference)? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 13, 2017 Author Share Posted February 13, 2017 She wants to try for it. I'm thinking that if we have funding for her and a chaperone, I can probably find a grad student more than willing to fly from JMIH to IHS with her and attend IHS for free, and then put her on a plane home. We have agreed that we'll only do this one if she gets the award and funding support, though. And, I admit, the venue is a lure. The Desert Museum is a frequent vendor at the conferences we attend, and looks like a wonderful place. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 (edited) So glad you are considering it. Totally agree with how affirming this could be for her. You know when my son was 1-ish and we visited the zoo for the first time with him, he was crying all the time (why we rarely go to zoos/ museums, he is frequently cranky even now when we do). No enclosure on that first trip made him happy. He just bawled louder. I finally gave up and parked his stroller near the reptile area and suddenly, he stopped crying. He stared and stared at this huge black cobra behind the glass (several feet away). At first I thought it was because that area was cooler but he was definitely besotted by the cobra. Then, the cobra uncoiled and moved its head towards the glass and seemed to be staring back right at him and my son started giggling and shrieking happily at the cobra. It was weird but also oddly beautiful. They stared at each other for quite some time before I moved him away. My son still had his forceps birth scars so I used to tease him about being Harry Potter and then this thing happened! He has had a thing for snakes over most animals but I don't think I would have had the guts to encourage/ support him having been more of a dog person all my life. You definitely should pat yourself on the back for all you do for her. Well done mom! Edited February 13, 2017 by quark 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 So glad you are considering it. Totally agree with how affirming this could be for her. You know when my son was 1-ish and we visited the zoo for the first time with him, he was crying all the time (why we rarely go to zoos/ museums, he is frequently cranky even now when we do). No enclosure on that first trip made him happy. He just bawled louder. I finally gave up and parked his stroller near the reptile area and suddenly, he stopped crying. He stared and stared at this huge black cobra behind the glass (several feet away). At first I thought it was because that area was cooler but he was definitely besotted by the cobra. Then, the cobra uncoiled and moved its head towards the glass and seemed to be staring back right at him and my son started giggling and shrieking happily at the cobra. It was weird but also oddly beautiful. They stared at each other for quite some time before I moved him away. My son still had his forceps birth scars so I used to tease him about being Harry Potter and then this thing happened! He has had a thing for snakes over most animals but I don't think I would have had the guts to encourage/ support him having been more of a dog person all my life. You definitely should pat yourself on the back for all you do for her. Well done mom! The basilisk! :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 (edited) We were looking at logistics for both conferences (and, as DD pointed out, her first conference mentor lives in Tucson (a early college student herself) and might be able to go to IHS with her. Rodeo is about halfway between El Paso and Tucson, and the conference will be doing shuttles from Tucson). DD is excited since Rodeo is in the Gila monster band, and one of the people she knows who is going researches gilas at ASU. She's excited about the chance to possibly see some far SW herps in the wild, and is already planning out her essay topic (including researching what the specialties of the committee members are. Maybe she's spent too long around grad students? She's definitely picking up on the political side of academia...) And then we started looking at flights. Apparently, one of the common airports to transfer at is LAX, which had DD excited, and me less so. I pointed out that she wouldn't have any time to actually see LA-and she explained that LA is supposed to have a TON of rare Pokémon, and given the amount of cell usage in the airport, she should be able to trip over them! I think this may warrant a sigh.... Edited February 14, 2017 by dmmetler 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerriM Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 And then we started looking at flights. Apparently, one of the common airports to transfer at is LAX, which had DD excited, and me less so. I pointed out that she wouldn't have any time to actually see LA-and she explained that LA is supposed to have a TON of rare Pokémon, and given the amount of cell usage in the airport, she should be able to trip over them! Uhmmmmmm....... Ok :) I guess you better give yourself an extra hour or two layover...... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 We were looking at logistics for both conferences (and, as DD pointed out, her first conference mentor lives in Tucson (a early college student herself) and might be able to go to IHS with her. Rodeo is about halfway between El Paso and Tucson, and the conference will be doing shuttles from Tucson). DD is excited since Rodeo is in the Gila monster band, and one of the people she knows who is going researches gilas at ASU. She's excited about the chance to possibly see some far SW herps in the wild, and is already planning out her essay topic (including researching what the specialties of the committee members are. Maybe she's spent too long around grad students? She's definitely picking up on the political side of academia...) And then we started looking at flights. Apparently, one of the common airports to transfer at is LAX, which had DD excited, and me less so. I pointed out that she wouldn't have any time to actually see LA-and she explained that LA is supposed to have a TON of rare Pokémon, and given the amount of cell usage in the airport, she should be able to trip over them! I think this may warrant a sigh.... We have done the Austin-Tucson commute multiple times, living in Austin and having relatives in Tucson. It is a solid day and a half drive for us. With frequent stops, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 19, 2017 Author Share Posted February 19, 2017 We have done the Austin-Tucson commute multiple times, living in Austin and having relatives in Tucson. It is a solid day and a half drive for us. With frequent stops, etc. We'll fly it if we do it. I spent enough time in TX/NM to know just how far apart "halfway between El Paso and Tucson" is! (And how far El Paso is from Austin...) And while there is some beautiful country down there, it's kind of hot in late July... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 She did the first draft of her essay and cover letter today. She's having so much trouble sounding like herself and not like she swallowed a herp atlas. She has so much information, but the enthusiasm doesn't come through, and I think a big part of it is that she's afraid to look too "young". Except that the essay topic is essentially "my favorite reptile or amphibian", so I think that she can get away with looking "young" and passionate as opposed to able to crank out something that sounds like a university press herp book. I also swear that imposter syndrome is either going to kill her or me. To have my kid argue that she really hasn't done anything of interest and to have trouble writing about her life in herpetology just drives me insane. Yes, she hasn't done as much as people who have spent 20+ years in the field. But hey, she's 12! Sigh... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 She did the first draft of her essay and cover letter today. She's having so much trouble sounding like herself and not like she swallowed a herp atlas. She has so much information, but the enthusiasm doesn't come through, and I think a big part of it is that she's afraid to look too "young". Except that the essay topic is essentially "my favorite reptile or amphibian", so I think that she can get away with looking "young" and passionate as opposed to able to crank out something that sounds like a university press herp book. I also swear that imposter syndrome is either going to kill her or me. To have my kid argue that she really hasn't done anything of interest and to have trouble writing about her life in herpetology just drives me insane. Yes, she hasn't done as much as people who have spent 20+ years in the field. But hey, she's 12! Sigh... I agree with this! I think I'd look at it like a college essay, they want to see personality, and this she has more freedom. I just had a long talk with my own therapist about imposter syndrome. That's a tough one to get over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 The basilisk! :) My first thought was Parseltongue! Quark's family got a whole lot cooler (as if that was even possible!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.