In Eckleburg's Eyes - 5/13/2008

On Monday, I had several interviews at the University of Tennessee in regards to obtaining admission into a PhD program.

My initial meetings were held in UT’s newly renovated Claxton Complex, home of the education department. The building’s exterior blends with the surrounding buildings but its interior is modern and well kept. Upon entering the building there are display cases filled with the many books written by the department’s staff.

I then met with Dr. Kronik (RFK). I am not sure which is cooler, the fact that the man’s name is Dr. Kronik or his initials are RFK. I loved him! He could not have been more helpful.

We had many connections. He is friends with the HEP family (whose children I have taught) from my church. His children all went to the same schools I did, except after graduating from Sequoyah Elementary, Bearden Middle, and West High School, they went to Penn and UNC respectively. Needless to say, RFK is not one complaining about the Knoxville public school system.

He got my paperwork into the system. In this case, being in the system is actually a good thing. I could not help thinking about Lorelai asking the police fearfully, "is Rory in the system?" ("Gilmore Girls", episode 5.22) Yes, KLTW, I know I am a 55-year old woman.

Under RFK’s supervision, I filed my paperwork directly with Julie Harden (JRH), who as RFK explained would be doing the heavy lifting on my admittance. She was delightful and checked over each question of my paperwork to ensure that there were no snags. If admitted, my PhD would be through the Educational Psychology and Counseling Department while my department would be Adult Education. I would begin the program in Fall 2008.

He got me a future appointment and recommended me to Dr. Ralph Brockett (RGB), the man I would primarily working with. He is well respected and has co-authored nine books on Adult Ed.

I then had to go to student services where the other half of my paperwork (and my money) was to be filed. First, my paperwork goes through processing there, it is then sent to the faculty of the education department for review, and then back to the school at large for further processing. It is good to know some things never change. I was honestly just amazed they did not require me to order a transcript from them and send it to themselves...

Here, Denise Sears (RDMS) handled my paperwork. She too was unbelievably helpful. We discovered that she too is a West High School graduate (Class of 1986). She took the time to look over my paperwork for submitting and caught that I had missed one question. I forgot to check whether I was male or female. I am not sure if this was my subconscious aiding me as my whiteness and maleness have not exactly been a benefit. No, KLTW, I did not note that I am a 55-year old woman!

Things went almost too smoothly. While this was in part due to having commencement completed and school not presently in session, I was amazed how quickly RFK’s influence shrunk the bureaucratic bloat at UT. I am cautiously optimistic. Please keep this process in your prayers.