I had almost forgotten how much I love driving across the country, exhausting myself with my best karaoke performances, and no one to have immediate reactions to my behavior. Solo road-trips would definitely be in my top-five most enjoyable activities, and I hadn't done this since I was 3.5 months pregnant with my son. I had a BLAST!!!
I arrived to the University of North Texas campus with almost the perfect amount of time to get checked-in for the conference (lots of name changing was supposed to have
already been completed before I arrived), checked into my dorm room, and showered, to only end up about 5 minutes late for the opening ceremonies (which began at 6:02pm).
The rest of the day & all of the next day and a half were filled with all things Chemistry, and more specifically, Chemical Education...
Since this was my first conference, I was not fully prepared for what I was to experience. The symposiums were over-crowded, there were many lost and wandering visitors (myself included), and the vendor's area was highly over-whelming. I wasn't alone the whole time, but a majority, and I attempted to hide in plain sight by wearing headphones and trying to not make eye-contact, as I looked through the HUGE room of tables filled with displays. The headphones didn't prevent their intrusion into my bubble, and I was trapped and sucked into their spiels and misguided attempts at a sale. I may well have been the only attendee that was not an
educator, and just a lowly undergraduate. Conferences are expensive, so the typical student would rarely attend... After they lassoed me in, and I had removed at least one of my earbuds, I had to attempt to make them pause, so I could explain who I really was, and let them try to reconfigure their business tactics to apply to me. Goodness. It was a difficult room to get out of...
The positive side to my conversations with these people came in the form of information to share with my fellow chem majors at MSU. These vendors loaded me up with pamphlets and brochures to spread their message, and I walked away, 3 hours later, with a very over-stuffed goodie bag.
Also, due to the over use of my iPod playing, my iPhone battery died midway through the day,and well, I was a bit more than antsy...
Overall, attending the conference was an eye-opening experience for me that I may not possibly have the ability to fully express on the emotional level, but maybe one day I will be a pro at hanging out at conferences, and there's only one way to do that....
Next conference on the books is this October, in Houston.....
