A walk down memory lane with TCR: Reflections from Singapore

In celebration of Teachers College Record's 125th anniversary. I take a walk down memory lane, reflecting on TCR's subtle, yet profound, impact on individuals like me.

In 2004, I was working in Singapore when I first heard of TCR. A colleague, who had finished her graduate studies in the United States, returned and informed me that she continued to pay for an annual subscription to TCR because she found that it was a "very good" journal. As a public school teacher at the time, I was not in the habit of reading journals, so I did not partake in her generosity. What interested me more was learning that TCR was associated with Teachers College, a graduate school I aspired to attend.

In 2005, I was accepted to study at Teachers College. It was in my interest, as a master's student, to read widely. Having free access to TCR as a student, I enjoyed dipping into it, appreciating how easy it was to find articles related to my areas of interest within the wide variety of topics covered.

As a doctoral student in 2009, with a more refined discernment of journals, I began to appreciate TCR for the depth and quality of articles offered. One of the most memorable pieces I read was Lesko and colleagues' (2008) "The Pedagogy of Monsters: Scary Disturbances in a Doctoral Research Preparation Course." Because I was a first-year doctoral student, the experiences, emotions and observations of doctoral students' "highly-charged" responses to a doctoral course resonated deeply with me. At the same time, I was impressed by the boldness, honesty, and participatory nature in which the article was written. I thought, how refreshing, and wouldn't it be an honor if I could ever publish in this journal?

Upon completing my doctorate in 2015, I was naturally treading the publication route. On a balmy evening in Singapore, chatting with Nancy Lesko, who happened to be in town to teach in a joint master's program, I sought her advice about manuscript that I had trouble fitting into the normal word limit of most journals.