This month has a taste of fresh start, for me. The teen went back to university; the kiddo went back to class teaching (even if it was delayed because of a false positive Covid rapid test result); the lockdown restrictions started easing; the husband received a fantastic job offer; and I had my first Covid vaccine.
As the lockdown restrictions began to lift, it was lovely to catch up with friends. For those not in England: we are now able to meet with one other household, as long as it is outdoors; and we can go to restaurants and cafes, but we need to sit outdoors. Gyms have reopened, but there are no indoor classes. Our gym has been organising classes in the car park, which I actually really like. The only problem is the British weather, of course – we had some wonderful, sunny days; but we also had this:
I didn’t really make much progress on the writing front, this month. In fact, I didn’t “ship” anything, which doesn’t sit well with me. I made a little bit of work on a paper due next month. I received feedback on the sentiment analysis chapter that I had submitted earlier this year. And… that’s it.
I fared better, as far as research is concerned, though. I did a first round of coding of the interviews for the Covid app project, and I am now starting the second round. We kickstarted the mobile app project, including recruiting a research assistant. For the digitalisation and well-being project, our research assistant concluded the interviews and presented the results; we got ethical clearance for the focus groups; and I have been experimenting with a few web crawlers to collect social media data. We had a meeting of the food waste team, where we agreed next steps for data collection, writing a paper, and submitting a bid. And, finally, our findings from the Gender and Money project were used to inform a PR campaign for Starling Bank, which I am really, really, really looking forward to sharing with you, when it is public.
In between the Easter break and the end of the semester, I only taught twice, this month. Though, there was dissertation marking. I also had a couple of PhD supervision meetings.
On the management / collegiate front, we shortlisted candidates for job interviews, and have been going through various scenarios for how to deliver our teaching and assessment next year.
Two social occasions that introvert me really enjoyed this month: going for a bike ride with the lovely ladies of the ISIS cyclists group; and joining the social hour of the AMA Services SIG.
While my April has been full of hope and new beginnings, I am also acutely aware that this is not the case for everybody. if that is you, I am really sorry – please reach out, and let me know how I can help.
Ana Canhoto 