Last August, when I gave my first paper at an international Celtic conference, a great opportunity arose from it for me. I was invited by a professor to give a seminar in UCLA at another conference in March of this year. Of course, I accepted his offer on the spot! What a fabulous opportunity! The last few months have been spent writing and preparing for this and it was a nerve-wracking and stressful time. Hence, the absence from WordPress. My life was taken over by this. Thanks to my supportive husband, I was able to throw myself into the deepest depths of textual transmission and stemmatics (huh?!). There were many a late night spent in the 24 hour postgraduate reading-room in university and coffee and sugary sweets were a staple. There were many a time when I felt like throwing in the towel and trusting my own work and lacking confidence in my ability to present my work. But my supervisor and my husband were very supportive and egged me on! The hard work paid off and I pulled it together in time. The seminar was successful and I had positive feedback. Unfortunately, I did not get to see any sights and sounds of Los Angeles as I was only there for three days. But UCLA is a great campus and I loved being there. Here are some photographs.
Westwood Boulevard
The iconic building Royce Hall, UCLA, this is where the conference was held!
Royce Hall's Italian Romanesque style made it feel European!
The reception for the conference was held on the balcony which faces Powell Library
LAX - Next stop Rome, Italy!
After my whirlwind trip to LA, my next stop was Rome for a week-long workshop, but I’ll save that for another post :)
I’m so happy that all of your hard work paid off, that you didn’t give up, that you went, did your very best and above all, enjoyed yourself. I’m exceptionally proud of you! Now, don’t ever leave me alone for two weeks with the girls ever again! 😳😉 xo
hahaha, don’t worry, I won’t! It’s head down from here on to finish my thesis. Anyway, it’s your turn next. Barcelona is waiting for you and your landscape bunch :)
awesome opportunity. I’ve been to Stanford but not UCLA pretty campus.
Thanks Patty, it was a great opportunity, it seemed to go by so fast after all the months of preparation! UCLA campus is pretty and the was shining the whole time I was there :)
Congratulations! That all sounds exciting. What a great opportunity.