Grant-Writing Advice, a Colleague I Love, a Christmas Pen, and Thankfulness to the Great Whatever.

What's better than seeing a post by Kelly Sassi in the wee hours of the morning naming the she's excited about teaching a new grant-writing course? The fact that I stopped everything so I could make a 15-week guide for suggesting things she might want to remember and then receiving a text from her that she hung the advice on her Writing Wall. 

That is wonderful, as is she. It made my Monday that much happier (because the plot thickens on keeping secrets of who I am reading and guessing who the author might be - I figured it out but must keep quiet until 2022. Seriously! Two years. That's how long I have to contain my excitement, although I'm already plotting collaborations and possibilities...they are endless).

Meanwhile, back to Dr. Sassi:

Bryan Ripley Crandall’s Syllabus Advice for K. Sassi’s Grant-Writing Course

• Week One - The Art of Pouring your Heart Out
• Week Two - Becoming Best Friends with Excel and Tapping Your Inner Accountant as a Literacy Scholar
• Week Three - Understanding University (or lack thereof) Support aka If You Get It, There Will Be Love…Don’t Talk to Us Until You Get It
• Week Four - Writing in Community Partners and Colleagues; Chasing them to Send Their Bios
• Week Five - Projecting Timelines for the Work 365 Days From Now - aka the Crystal Ball and Magical Thinking
• Week Six - Uploading Materials onto Whacky Platforms - Allowing 14 Days of Practice
• Week Seven - Spring Break - How to Live in a Campus Office.
• Week Eight - Drafting Letters of Support from Busy Community Partners to Sign
• Week Nine - Signature Chasing…How To Catch Campus Administrators for their John and Jane Hancocks.
• Week Ten - Edit, Revise, Edit, Revise, Edit, Revise, Collapse, Repeat
• Week Eleven - Working with Friends & Relatives to Understand Why You’re Distant, Reclusive, & Sometimes Miserable.
• Week Twelve - Searching for 20 Additional Outlets for Grant Requests in Preparation of Typical Denial
• Week Thirteen - Making Notes for the Dossier To Explain How Grant-Writing is Part of the Research Process
• Week Fourteen - The Serenity Prayer & Other Mantras
• Week Fifteen - Proposals Due. The Myth of Sisyphus

I should also note that I was invited to serve on a panel for residential assistants and talk about my career choices and ambition. I didn't prepare notes, but was thankful when I came across pens my nephew Dylan got me for Christmas. They came in handy while sketching notes about what I wanted to say to address the questions.

I LOVE THIS PEN...it has the perfect flow and grace across lined paper.

I also enjoyed answering questions on the spot about choosing to be a teacher, moving into higher education, and engaging in community work with CWP-Fairfield. I'm not sure I stop to reflect enough, so speaking in front of a house of undergraduates gave me opportunity to recall how I came to be where I am today.

It's luck. There's passion, too, and drive. But I will say until the end...it's luck. I'm a lucky son of a Butch.