A Tale of Two Emails

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Well, it probably fell in-between, like most things- perhaps the most okayest of times?

Reflecting on the first year of my part-time MA in Linfoservagement (not the real title) is quite difficult because it all seems so very long ago already, and some of the things I worried about then seem so completely unnecessary now:

• The perils and pitfalls of group work (successfully negotiated, I’m growing as a person…)
• The fear of being ‘found out’ (nobody has)
• The concern as to whether I can write a report, project management document or carry out a critical literature review (turns out I can)
• The horror at having to learn to use Gmail (it’s still not my favourite, but I can work it)

In fact, on the whole, it turned out quite nicely, as emphasised by the first of the two emails mentioned in the title of this post:

Given that carrying out group work entirely online seems loaded with potential problems, I’m quite proud of the fact that I was part of a team which produced an output deemed worthy of sharing beyond the four of us and our markers (the assignment was to produce a poster presentation on the topic of information governance and had a table, graphy chart thing and lots of teeny tiny references).

I think it’s also difficult to reflect because it’s really only the halfway point and I don’t think I will be able to reflect entirely dispassionately or critically until the whole thing (fingers crossed) is successfully completed.

Speaking of which, we have already been receiving communiques regarding year two, including the second email I wish to draw your attention to:

Yes, you read it correctly. Lego. #Winning.

I think this is what I’ve enjoyed most about the course so far, the variety of tasks, activities and approaches to teaching we’ve encountered. At various points throughout the year I became frustrated at feeling as if I was being challenged to do things without knowing how my output or contribution would be judged- but now I realise that that’s probably not important in the grand scheme of things. Yes, we’re given marking rubriks, outline instructions and Q&A sessions, but ultimately it’s about engaging with the topic, material and activities: the resulting marks are (hopefully) an added bonus; and how I assess myself in terms of the learning experience, and the knowledge gained/applied, is more salient.

So, as I start reading through my ‘welcome back’ newsletter and ponder the ‘d’ word for the first time, here’s looking forwards to returning to action in September which will, inevitably, come along much sooner than I think.