The Learning Process that Never Ends...

It has been too long since I have blogged, and I have plenty of content to blog about.  I've had a lot on my mind, and the Internet situation has been a little disappointing for what I need it for.

As far as my project and course contracts are concerned, I've got a lot to look into.  Last week was getting grounded, but this week I'm determined to be productive.

Professor Burton sent me a helpful email coaching me on "Connecting," an aim of this blog, and offered me more advice on other ways to improve my blog and learning experience here in India.  I think it could be beneficial for anyone trying to learn the ropes of digital writing.  I'm not new to blogging, but the learning process never seems to end.

I am also struggling to juggle these contracts in light of my honors thesis proposal I'm trying to straighten out.  Stay tuned on that....

I've decided to post my response to Professor Burton.  It highlights some of my concerns, confusion, enthusiasm, and talks about the specific ways that I will be improving this blog.  I think it encapsulates pretty much everything I have been thinking and feeling in regard to my academic responsibilities this last week in the field. 

Professor Burton!

Bah!  I’m sorry… The emails have piled up in my mailbox for so long, and then I got sick, and I freaked out, and then I didn’t blog, and then…. and then…

Excuses.  Well.  I’m here and more grounded now!  I’ve also requested that Jay bring you a copy of our rough course contract, but I’m anxious to get more things ironed out.  First, let me address some of the points from your last email.

Blogging regularly is definitely an option here in McLeod… I’m trying to figure out the best way for doing it.  Wifi is not very reliable, which was disappointing, and I am considering buying an Internet modem so that I will have a way to add pictures, etc.  I will be working out this week.  I appreciated your very helpful blogging suggestions and will make the changes here soon.  I’d like to blog at least 3x a week…

One thing I am a little confused about is the “Google Reader.”  In fact, I’ve never heard of it.  Do you have a blog post about it or anything that I can reference, or is it just a little widget to add to your blog?  I’m excited about the connecting component of the course, and for reasons outside of just appeasing you or fulfilling the course requirements, but do feel a bit directionless.  It sounds like this would be a great place to start. 

And yes, as dear to my heart as Goodreads is, I have been enjoying it in a bubble.  I have a few friends that have accounts, but it is time to break out of that and try to use it as a place to interact with others as a way to enhance my own reading experience (and hopefully in turn help others).  I like your specific example about Emily Johnson making reviews on the anthology, because it is a book I actually hauled with me and am supposed to read through for my Creative Nonfiction class.   Like our Travel Writing course last year, I am going to be doing responses on the content and forms of 25 essays from that and also another book of travel essays.  So yeah, I’m starting to see how that could be really helpful, because how else am I supposed to know which 25 essays I should spend the most time focusing on?  Thank you for the advice.  Goodreads just got better.  I’ll be sure to check out your link on getting out of the Google and Wikipedia rut as well.

As far as stakeholders go, I’m curious how you propose balancing self indulgence blogging with being real, personable, and interesting to people that are already supposed to care about me or whatnot.  I think I understand what you are getting at—putting up material that actually appeals to a larger audience, but I’m wondering how to keep that in check with the personal flavor of blogging as well, especially if I’m going to start putting some email content in the public sphere.  Hmmm…

And last, but certainly not the least weighty on my mind, my honors thesis.  I will be writing a blog post here on it soon, but let me just address some of the suggestions you mentioned here first.  I promise I have not been ignoring your advice, I’m just trying to figure out what to do at this point, especially when you start asking the big motivational questions.  Good questions!  I’m still reaching for answers.

As far as content, at least, while I was thinking of it as a conventional creative writing project, I was hoping to focus just on India.  My goal, as I stated in my field study project proposal, was to create a kind of portrait of the diversity of Dharamsala by writing some nonfiction essays based on my experience, but also various other chapters from the perspective of a monk, nun, tourist, recent Tibetan refugee, the Indian shop keepers, etc. 

How can I put this?  I want to go through with my creative writing proposal, but I want to also talk about how emerging digital media has allowed me to enhance the conventional writing process.  In the fall I am taking an honors thesis writing class as well as a creative writing class on compiling a novel.  It might be insane, but I’d really like to do both.  With my set up, I think it might even be considered feasible.  I do not care which one is technically called my honors thesis, but I do see a lot of value to talking about how these new learning opportunities have made creative writing much more rewarding.  

Does that make sense?  Do you think I can still write the conventional essays (probably published through some digital publication like you said) but have my thesis focus on how digital media has made that creative writing process much better in reference to those essays?  Am I totally out of mind or a limb here?  You mentioned how busy you are, and if you think this is going to be too much to pile onto your work load, I’d understand that as well.

Let me know what you think.  I’ll be making my decision on the Internet modem here probably today, and things will really start to take off with my blog from there.  I’ve also told Professor Bennion that I would be sending him a draft of my honors proposal sometime this week, so I’ll get a copy to you as well.  

Phew.  Hope you made it all the way through.  Thank you for your patience and your help.  As always.  You are great.

Rachel