Now Presenting...

Last week, I received an e-mail on the English listserv that invited graduate students to submit a proposal for papers on eighteenth-century literature to the EC/ASECS Conference*. It just so happened that I had worked on a paper in the fall over a bit of eighteenth-century literature--and I even had an abstract from our mini-conference!--so I submitted it. And thought happily about going, then forgot about it on my camping trip.

Today, I return to find this in my e-mail inbox:

Dear Jennifer-

I am pleased to inform you that your proposal to present your paper, "How to Be a Man: Homosocial Friendships in The Monk" at the 2008 EC/ASECS Conference at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, November 6-9, 2008, has been accepted. More information on the conference, including registration, can be found at http://english.georgetown.edu/programs/ecasecs08/ . Would you please respond to the request for information (below) as soon as possible?

I will be in touch again about a month before the conference for your basic info (including any recent publications, what you are working on, etc.) as well as any changes to your paper title (if any) for my introductory remarks.

I look forward to meeting you in Georgetown! Thank you, and congratulations once again.

I squealed with delight. I've been accepted to a conference! My first! I'm so excited. It's in Georgetown (Washington DC) in the fall. I'll be presenting with other graduate students and receiving constructive (I hope!) feedback from more experienced scholars. I'm just so happy to be accepted--and I'm looking forward to going, after I get all the travel arrangements, reservations, and registration taken care of.**

Look out academia, I'm on my way!

*The East-Central American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies. Yeah, I have to join it too in order to present/attend this conference. But that's what graduate student rates are for!

**Our graduate school offers modest grants to graduate students to travel to a conference, except for employees of the University. Somehow, that makes me less deserving of the modest sum to pay for my expenses? Guess I've got something to save for now^...

^Ah, shoot--should I buy a suit now? Donna or other experienced academes, what do you think? Is a nice suit out of order for presenting? I want to look good and make a good impression and have people remember me who might want to work with me later...Nah, I'm going to keep focusing on the good, the happy, and the fantastic.