I'm Published!!!!

This afternoon I received an email I'd been hoping for.

As you progress through this program, you constantly hear about the importance of publishing your work and presenting at conferences. It kind of gets to the point where it becomes a nagging thorn in your side that you're annoyed by, but need to pay attention to. Sometimes the idea of doing these things in addition to working your way out of dissertation land just feels overwhelming. The first two years it's like: "how am I supposed to focus on any assignments outside of what I need to hand in to get through the semester?". The third year it's like: "ain't nobody got time fo' that. I got a proposal to write".

Well, thanks to my qualitative research course last semester, I had an assignment that required me to submit an article for publication. A few months back I got word that there was interest in publishing my article in the Perspectives on Social Work Journal if I addressed some of their revisions. Recently, I resubmitted a revised version of the article with the suggested changes. Today, I got an email with a letter attached indicating that my article is officially en route to publication!!!

The words leapt off of the digital screen I was reading them from and plastered a smile of utter joy on my face. It was the perfect remedy for a really rough couple of days. A right-on-time reminder, that I am here, on purpose.

The real icing on the cake was seeing in real life what will now forever exist as the American Psychological Association's formatted citation of my work. I'll leave you with it:


Henderson, Z. (In Press). Reality TV therapy: Implications for mental health stigma and service
utilization among African-American adolescents. Perspectives on Social Work Journal.