celebrating my first international conference presentation.

I am celebrating my first international conference presentation.
First, some background. I have been doing a PhD in Creative Writing for seven years now. This is my last year. I have written a novel (which actually ended up being three novels) set in Srebrenica and my thesis is about non-Bosnian writers writing about Srebrenica.

In the process of writing my books I undertook a lot of research that I will be publishing as essays for those interested in the real story behind the fiction.
I have been struggling with my thesis, struggling to find motivation, and to see it through. So I have regular newsletters about conferences to present at and saw an invitation to submit abstracts to "Somewhere in Between: Borders and Borderlands" International Conference at Birkbeck, University of London / Online.
This fit in well with my research and so I proposed a paper "From Safe Zone to Mass Grave: How Srebrenica’s Borders Were Rewritten."

Yesterday I attended the conference online and watched speakers present their research which helped to prepare me for the process, and also watched some YouTube tutorials to prepare.

Today, I regretted very much submitting my proposal and actually doing it. And then came the moment of truth, and I did it, I presented. I had such a great experience hearing from other presenters that were in my session, and then taking part in the discussion afterwards.

I feel more confident in my academic journey and identity, and more importantly, I have the impetus and drive to do one more deep dive into my thesis and get it off my back.
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There truly is something amazing that happens when you push yourself out of your comfort zone, survive, and thrive, and then feel confidence and a sense of accomplishment. Sigh. So happy!!!