Path to Fellow: Gloria Reece, 2010

Path to Fellow is a new feature here on STC’s Notebook to highlight the rich contributions of our honored members. For more information on this feature and on the honor of being named a Fellow or Associate Fellow, click here. Watch for more stories about our Fellows and Associate Fellows in the coming weeks and months as well. If you’re a Fellow or Associate Fellow and haven’t been contacted to participate, please email Kevin Cuddihy. Today's Path to Fellow is a particularly festive one for the holiday season.

Twas My Path to STC Fellow

Twas just before Christmas, and through the house,
With tech–ed friend, Joan Roberts, from PCOC—
We sipped warm toddies to cure grouses,
In hopes that I’d join STC and write tech docs!

Two men were chatting about early good times,
STC visions galore—danced in my head!
As we shared thoughts from practice most times,
A new member plan ready to be wed!

When back at school, there arose much chatter,
And then came O’Hara and Hayhoe, too!
I became the chief cook for our STC news,
To bring strong STC support for all things new!

I became the news writer—and text doctor!
From O’Hara and Juillet the pubs grew,
Without efiles, I had text to write and cipher—
Awards for CommuniCue, TechLines, too!

With Hanigan, I played tech pubs judge,
So many pubs to review—each took a few.
With each entry came a note from “The Judge!”
In time, my review doc won first place—too!

Scheiber, Shaw, and Shehadeh were there, too!
And, our lasting friendship—that’s what I cherish!
Each cheered me on from one step to two—
They gave me new skills and said, “Go Publish!”

Now Barnum, Carliner, Damrau, Smith, and Weise,
Five who mentor me daily by doing,
From here, I watch what their keen minds devise,
They help me keep abreast of what’s blooming!

With Harner and Grice came chances for honors—
Quickly, I took TechCom for tech writers,
The M.S. was about multimode for others.
Then came Girill—a writing scout wrangler!

Then in ’96 Mehlenbacher brought Schneiderman—
At the pub meeting, we drank and were merry!
And then talk about work on disserdoc began—
So, I could hone the new topic clearly!

With Snowbird in ’97, Hayhoe came too—
And with an intro to Ramsey and DeBord,
The disserdoc topic was now in good brew—
More talk about eyes—an angle soared!

Now Juillet! O’Hara! Scheiber and Voss!
On Blicq, Damrau! On Hanigan and Weise!
To the top of the stack with one good toss!
Now dance away! Dance away! Like fireflies!

Now it was time for a new goal or two—
I became a doctor of technology,
So, to higher ed with new skills I flew,
To teach with joy and enjoy the journey!

Then came Blicq and Warren with a plan, too—
Share your ideas and have fun in the country,
Use a current TechCom problem or two,
And let’s enjoy fun and food in Italy!

And then, I soon heard about STC’s new A–SIG—
I had a great chance to join their charter.
Then, I read my email, and thought real big,
Our new starfish is from Spanish culture! 

Now there’s Voss—he’s a cool TechCom mentor!
We shared edits to the lowest detail—
So, like it or not, he’d share his candor!
A man of tactics—he enjoys cocktails!

I wore a long, sleek black dress with a cling—
Red roses in my hair were for ’08’s affair—
And, I draped a lovely scarf—no bling!
With Juillet I shared wine—not software!

Their eyes—oh, how they danced with good cheer!
O’Hara and Hoffman set clocks rolling,
The ’08 ASF award was from my STC peers,
Twas for TechCom, VI, and outreach juggling!

Then, two years lapsed before a new affair,
I made web pages for ebooks and social nets,
Then, I joined new groups—each one with care.
They’re growing for Braille, VI, and new vignettes.

They spoke not a word, but went straight to work—
Harner, Juillet, Leavitt, and Wise—a team of four,
They read many docs and nearly went beserk!
A new class of Fellows earned their score!

I wore a slick black cloak for the affair,
Ruffles, leggings, and black shiny heels—a sinch!
For 2010, I chose red roses for my hair,
And a tied red scarf with child handprints.

Juillet sprang to the stage to greet his class,
Then, from Juillet, Malcolm, Voss, Weise, and more—
I heard them all exchange words of congrats!
Scenes went from banquet to party next door,
Then, I slipped into clothes more comfy—
To exclaim my sweet, new STC love affair!

About the Sonnet

A unique design by the author and a variation on both the English and Italian forms, this sonnet uses the English Octave rhyming pattern abab cdcd efef with multiple stanza repetition and the Italian Sestet pattern, cdcdcd. I use the Shakespearean iambic pentameter emphasis quality:

weakSTRONGweakSTRONGweakSTRONGweakSTRONGweakSTRONG

While sonnets are typically shorter (12 lines or 3 stanzas for the Octave section), this one uses more stanzas because it also meets a specific technical content requirement. This little song is about my professional development. It covers several disciplines and INTECOM societies, which also includes the STC. The two-syllable structure deviates to three when proper names are in use. I include INTECOM societies because of the nature of the collegiality and mentoring toward the Fellow award.

Acknowledgements

I have had many mentors in my career from INTECOM Societies, and I want to especially thank them for the time that they have invested in my professional development. There are many others with whom I have close research-related ties that have also worked tirelessly to help me achieve some of the goals that this sonnet describes. For their help, friendship, and encouragement, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to:  Scott Ambler; Kathy Bine; Jennifer Carey; Louellen Coker; David Dick; Jeff Freeman; Linda Gallagher; Lori Gillen; Dan Jones, Ph.D.; Suzanna Laurent; Cynthia Lockley; Andrew (Andy) Malcolm; Gail Lippincott, Ph.D.; Richard Lippincott; Rich Maggiani; Mike Murray; Whitney Quesenberry; Janice (Ginny) Redish, Ph.D.; Karen Schriver, Ph.D.; Emily Thrush, Ph.D.; Fabien Vais; Judy Vinegar; and Chauncey Wilson. 

Special Dedications

To John and Joan—my first mentors and champions for my professional development.   

About the Author and Designer

A 2010 Fellow, Gloria Reece has been a member of STC since 1988. She earned a doctorate from The University of Memphis in 2002 in Instruction Curriculum Leadership with a concentration in Instructional Design and Technology. Currently, Gloria is the Principal Investigator for a grant from the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired. The goal of this research is to create a new device that will assist those with vision problems and secondary diverse needs. To achieve this goal, she brings together association members, accessibility experts, university faculty, industry experts, participants with vision problems, staff from schools for the blind and visually impaired, engineers, instructional designers, writers, usability specialists, occupational, and physical therapists to achieve the design goal. Gloria is also a consultant at The Expert Knowledge Network. Her ebooks are available at The Expert Knowledge Press.   

Copyright © 2010 by Gloria A. Reece, Ed.D.; All rights reserved. 

4 Replies to “Path to Fellow: Gloria Reece, 2010”

    1. It is my pleasure, Barrie! I’m glad that you liked the poem! There’s a forthcoming article that the STC IDL SIG will be printing in their on-line newsletter on this topic. Also, I’m wrapping up a new eBook entitled, “Sonnetto Demystified!” The eBook will be available at this link: http://www.lulu.com/partners/ekn

      I am hopeful that you’ll enjoy these new resources, too. Best wishes, Barrie, for a joyful holiday season!

      –Gloria Reece, Ed.D., STC Fellow (Class of 2010!)

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