I did it! After struggling with the writing, the poster layout and so forth. I managed to present my poster at the AARE conference successfully. It was very self assuring and inspiring. The discussions with other academics challenged my views, but also confirmed that I’m on the right path.
My learnings from attending the AARE conference are:
1. My topic is interesting and worthy to be researched.
2. I know what I’m doing and I’m progressing on my research.
3. I know there are not right answers, just approximations and explorations.
4. Networking and academic discussions are crucial to develop ideas and be part of a collective mass who produce knowledge.
5. I need to keep focused, keep on writing and set daily objectives to achieve the main goal.
6. The PhD is a doable task. I can do it. I’m doing it, I’m already a PhD candidate and I have already done one third of the journey, a lot to come, but one step at a time.
Una chilena en Australia 
What a wonderful, fantastic-looking poster Malba! Congratulations on your hard work! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Best regards,
Thomas