Holy Cow 🐄!

I just learned the most fantastic way to keep track of all my references for my doctorate! Hallelujah, hallelujah! LOL. All thanks to Holly Jane, a fellow doctoral student I started following on YouTube. After watching her videos, I want to start speaking with an Irish accent, but I will save you all from that! I could go on and on about how this little integration/piece of code works, but I suppose that might bore some of you to tears??!! Or maybe not??

(Cue transition music…la la la)

Have you ever felt like one bad thing happens and then another and another without a break in between?

Bam

BAm

BAMMMM!

That is how my week has gone. Technically it started last Wednesday, but it continued through the weekend. However, thinking about the difficult situations that have arisen during this past week, I am reminded of a class I spoke to last Friday. One of my doctoral colleagues teaches a Professional and Personal Development college course. During one of our weekly CoP (Communities of Practice) Zoom meetings, he asked his fellow cohort if anyone would like to be a guest speaker in the class. Of course, I thought, why not, and volunteered my name into the pot. Two weeks later, I was preparing a presentation focused on the topics he was covering: self-awareness, understanding team dynamics, and the two key ideas of "ponying up" and "showing up" in life. 

The presentation was titled "Life Lessons from Debra Kouda's Existence Thus Far." It covered my life, with each "chapter" highlighting something challenging and the lessons learned from those situations. It was a straightforward presentation with slides full of pictures providing visual context for what I was talking about. However, we didn't practice putting up the slide deck beforehand. Due to technical issues (most certainly not due to user error), I gave the talk without the slides. Upon reflection, I realized that these were difficult times - but they made me work harder and "show up" for myself and those around me. 

The presentation really woke me up and in these current times, when everything seems to be falling, reminding me that I need to "show up" and put new plans into action. Projects and ideas sitting on the shelf, collecting dust, waiting for me to take them down. Dust them off. Use them. (Like the little penguin squeaker toy from Toy Story). 

So here we go. Idea #1...start a newsletter with a subscription option (yeah!).

And WHY am I creating a subscription? Here are a couple of reasons…

* I am starting to realize how important it is to share my story. This starts from the first "newsletter" that I sent out once a week while an intern at the Cheetah Conservation Center in Namibia all those years ago (yes, I am getting older!). People who received it then still have it in their email inboxes today. For the last couple of years, I have felt that my story is not relevant or not so different from anyone else's. However, speaking to the group of college kids last week made me recognize and remember that I have something to contribute. A laugh, a window into a world that will never be explored by someone on their own, etc, etc, etc (What musical is that from?? Answer at the bottom of the page*). 

* Writing. As obvious and funny as it might be - the best way to become a better writer is to write. This newsletter will provide an outlet to the academic writing world yet allow the practice of writing to take place. 

* An outlet for me to be creative. 

* The chance to be in touch with all of you - friends, family, new subscribers. I am not the best at reaching out one-to-one with people (maybe the time has something to do with that…but I don't want to use that as an excuse!).

* A way to provide for my family.

* A way to financially support me and my future goals (Ekodjaye and The Kouda Company...more on those later!) as I go through this doctoral program. There will be grants and funding opportunities available, but everything is on me right now.  

I suppose I could go on and on - but that is a reasonably good list to start out with, don't ya think?

What will you get with a subscription, you ask?

The Free Plan - a newsletter update about life in general...a little bit of everything if you will 

The Paid Plan - two weekly newsletters and one monthly question and answer video. 

* The "free" one

* And a second newsletter that does a deep dive into a particular area of my life (doctorate, entrepreneurship, tourism, home-schooling, ex-pat life, etc.).

* The video will answer a compilation of questions from the past month. 

I am so looking forward to sharing my stories with you on a more regular basis. So please, join me and subscribe. Read (or listen) to the ramblings of a mother, wife, and doctoral student straddling the worlds of West Africa and the United States! You just might learn something...or if anything...get a laugh for the day!

*The Musical The King and I

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit debrakouda.substack.com