Leaving London: Three Autoethnographic Sketches

ABSTRACT

In this essay, I use autoethnographic sketching (Rambo, 2007) to explore the experience of arriving at and withdrawing from the London School of Economics and its impact on my life and work. I especially draw on the importance of close relationships with family, which helped me cope with and overcome limitations associated with my physical disability, cerebral palsy, as I work toward personal and professional fulfillment. It is my hope that these words will motivate others to better cope with and overcome challenges in pursuit of their goals.

KEYWORDS:

• Autoethnographic sketching
• autoethnography
• cerebral palsy

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this article was presented during the Plenary Poster Session at the Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, which was held in London, England, on June 20, 2013. I am grateful to the members of the Communication History Interest Group (now the Communication History Division) for their support of my work.

Notes

I tend to describe my disability in these terms, in both formal and informal settings. See, for example, Gloviczki (2013, June 20), Personal History: An Autoethnography of Life and Work. Communication History Interest Group. Plenary Poster Session, Annual Conference of the International Communication Association. London, England, UK.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Peter Joseph Gloviczki

Peter Joseph Gloviczki, PhD, is a teacher, a communication researcher, and a poet. He is an assistant professor of communication at Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina. His first scholarly book is Journalism and Memorialization in the Age of Social Media (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015).