Best Conversation of my Life
I successfully defended my dissertation titled “A Case Study of Rural K-12 Teachers’ Experiences using Generative Artificial Intelligence and Workload Perceptions” this morning. My examiners have spent the past three weeks engaging with my work and my research, and for me, I am humbled by that alone. To have these people prepare for a two-hour conversation about the work I’ve done over the past four years was nothing short of incredible.
It is with a profound sense of gratitude that I thank the many people who have supported me on this journey. The guidance, mentoring, and support along every step of the way have facilitated an atmosphere of joy in learning, and the process of achieving this degree has changed how I think, and how I view the world around me.
I am deeply grateful for my supervisor, Dr. Barbara Brown. She has been my constant guide with her quiet, kind, confident, and flexible approach to supervision. Her visionary leadership has gently guided me along this path, and her careful, meaningful, and prompt feedback throughout this process has allowed me to grow as a learner, as a researcher, and as a teacher. Her depth of instruction and ongoing positive perspective has shaped my academic identity, transforming my understanding of research and equipping me with the skills necessary to complete this dissertation.
Dr. Michele Jacobsen and Dr. Sarah Eaton, my esteemed committee members. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your encouragement, your incredible knowledge, your feedback, and your willingness to stretch my thinking and to push me to dig deeply, and consider alternative explanations. You embody all the characteristics I would ever aspire to in academia, and you each role-model unique, dynamic, inspirational leadership qualities, and I am humbled that you have played such an integral role in building my capacity through this process.
Collectively you have built one of the most profound and meaningful experiences in my life. I am deeply grateful.
