Tonight marks my momentous first Athabasca Distance Education EdD session. It’s the first time Cohort 6 will officially meet and me and my far-flung classmates will come together in what will be the first of many many many meetings through the duration of our four year program. I know that these meetings will become as mundane and routine as the own classes that I teach—blurring from one to another until I forget just what happened on any one day or at any one time. And yet this…our first….feels special in so many ways. Not stopping and not taking time to feel every moment and intentionally remember who I am at just this second would be a very regrettable oversight….because this is so super special and for each of us, no small miracle that we’ve made it even to the beginning of the marathon itself! We’re all fresh-eyed and we’re all (or at least I am, but I’d be willing to guess everyone else is as well) that delicious mix of anticipation and fear, expectation and insecurity. So, hello Cohort 6…let’s get this started!!