Torch, Spring 2005

8 TORCH / Spring 2005 As I glanced over at her, Amanda appeared tense. She tried to smile, but her anxiety made it difficult. I asked her if she was OK, and Amanda forced out, “Sure.” She wiped her palms and crossed her legs a few times. It was evident that Amanda was highly nervous. She and I were sitting at the Association for the Advancement of Educational Research (AAER ) , a national conference for scholars presenting research papers. I have had the privilege of accompanying a number of students to these types of conferences since becoming chair of Cedarville’s department of psychology, and the experience has been wonderful. The speaker we were hearing was presenting the results of her Ph.D. dissertation. She was discussing statistical orthogonal rotations and then proceeded to path analysis and structural equation modeling. Amanda whispered to me, “This stuff is so far over my head; I have no idea what she’s saying.” Admittedly, the stats were complex, as they were in the other sessions we attended. Amanda’s anxiety level was rising. The next speaker began his session by indicating that his research study was rejected for presentation by two other national conferences and that he was very grateful to have it accepted at AAER . He noted that he only presents at highly selective juried conferences. Amanda now began to squirm and lick her lips. B y Michael W. Firmin, Ph.D. Research Mentoring Photo courtesy of Michael Firmin Amanda Burger and Dr. Michael Firmin