“I just wanted to thank you all for supporting my trip to New York for the Graduate Research Conference in Art Education at Teachers College Columbia University. I left for New York with frustration as I struggled to revise the final chapter of my dissertation. Surely many graduate students experience ups and downs as they undertake this seemingly insurmountable task. But as I reflected on my research and found affinities with other presenters, ideas began to crystallize. Facing the challenge of presenting my research in a twenty-minute time frame compelled me to seek out the essential questions and purpose of my study. As an assistant professor who is often overwhelmed by teaching and administrative duties, it was refreshing, to say the least, to reunite with colleagues and meet with scholars in the field. Apparently I took for granted the daily support and rich discourse I found in the graduate community at Penn State. I was delighted to take advantage of this opportunity and send my most sincere thanks.” (Sharif Bey, 2006)