Media Day. I think it must have been clear to anyone looking at my expression and the fact that my hands were on my lap, that I was at best confused at the outset of the assignment. Had I been alone in this assignment, rather than at NSO SB, I may have reached panic mode. However, given that we were with faculty and cohorts, I thankfully did not reach that stage. Rather, I was given the instruction, and may I say the patient instruction, on how to complete my project. While my lemonade movie was simple by nature, I was proud of my accomplishment and am now encouraged that I can do more of the same with more and more professionalism.
In addition, throughout the week and particularly that day, I felt strongly that we were treated with patience and understanding while undergoing and learning new processes. At no point did I sense frustration with our questions, concerns or efforts, which leads me to believe that this will be an exceptional learning experience. (Jana did show some frustration with us on Wednesday, but the girl was in vacation mode and we were talking rather than listening.) The other side of this equation is that we must be open to constructive criticism, to the fact that this is an education, that we are learning new material and therefore not experts in it as of yet. However, as I become more proficient and confident in my work, I also expect that I will question criticism and defend it when I feel strongly about my work.
Regarding my thoughts on my understanding of Media Psychology and clarifying my professional goals, my thoughts are that neither are clarified. By this I mean that a new world, an adventure so to speak, is there for my taking. I entered this education because of unemployment and I hoped for a new career direction. I will say that I have not clarified that. I believe and trust that I will use this to further my career in academia, but I also see so many other possibilities. I am interested, as previously stated, in policing the web, or perhaps in using my new knowledge and ideas to promote new curriculum in the field of academia. I do not have a firm handle on my direction, because past experience and education has led me in different directions than I had anticipated. What I am sure about is that Fielding will provide for me many doors from which to choose. Or, to be more concise, I feel like a kid in a candy store, or in my case a girl with unlimited credit in a makeup store! I say that last part because I now appreciate the payment scale at fielding. I had been baffled by the payment system because I am used to paying by credit units, not by year. However, I now realize that I can take as many classes (as humanly possible for me) within a years time frame and pay the same amount. That was a clarifying moment.
Regarding charting a course through the curriculum, I am still working on it. I have the time frame in mind. I was able to talk to cohorts and view how others were charting a curriculum plan. Frankly, there were a lot of curriculums being discussed and it was both beneficial and confusing at the same time. My advisor was not on site, so I will defer this until I speak to her and formulate a plan with my interests and goals.
My encounter with the institution, the faculty and fellow cohorts was overwhelmingly delightful. NSO SB took distance learning and put it into brick and mortar form for us. I have discussed distance learning with several of my adjunct colleagues and they state that they have never had to “appear” at their school. They state this as if it is a good thing. While for both financial reasons and for employment purposes it is, nothing beats being with someone face to face and I applaud Fielding for combining the two.
The faculty were informative, intelligent, extremely helpful, and brought humor to the process, which is key to me. I teach with humor and believe strongly in it for educational purposes. The faculty demonstrated the level that I hope to achieve in my lifetime.
I enjoyed meeting my cohorts as well, and I feel that I will be benefited from working with each and every one of them. I appreciated each unique personality and experience that comes from them, and hope that we remain a class in the truest sense. Given our small class size, I believe that we can and should be there for each other in the tradition that NSO SB began for us. While it is clear that we have our own individual goals and personalities, we began this program together and I would like to see us transition together in the form of support for each other. We all had the same desire to enter this particular program; we were chosen for our own unique strengths and I hope that we can continue to carry on the tradition of NSO SB throughout our program.
If I was asked to repeat this week, I would do so again without hesitation. The one exception to this would be my agonizing flight home. May I suggest that since Fielding does everything else so well, they formulate an easier way for the East Coast people to get there and back? Fielding Flight School, anyone?
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