Week 1: Orientation

Reflection

This week was orientation week whereby we were introduced to the course structure, became acquainted with our fellow students and were familiarised with our responsibilities. The course being studied this semester is Development Practice and our first task was to introduce ourselves and create an avatar portrait using objects that meant something to us.

The avatar portrait took me a few days to contemplate before finally knuckling down and picking my meaningful objects. Initially, I’d misread the brief and had gone around choosing objects that I liked and felt represented what I enjoy in life. I’d concocted an avatar that I was pleased with, but later realised that the objects weren’t all that meaningful and that my choices could have been closer to my heart. In retrospect, here I was consciously reflecting upon my creativity and had begun contemplating an improved version of my original idea (Candy 2020). The latter part of the challenge brief asked for a few paragraphs explaining why each object had been chosen, and this was when I decided to start my creation afresh.

Having found new, meaningful objects, I was delighted to arrange them to form a face and go on to write about each of them in my introductory paragraphs. It felt quite liberating to have scoured my home to find these objects and to remember what they truly meant to me, as well as the reasons I’d kept them. I reminisced over fond memories and was so intrigued to learn about what my classmates had created and written about too.

Part of the challenge was to leave at least two comments on the work of my classmates’, and I took pleasure in doing so. Due to the distance learning approach adopted by our course, my classmates are spread far and wide, with some in different continents altogether. As such, we represent a culturally diverse group while sharing similar academic interests. This made for an interesting read when learning about others’ lives and gaining insight into their personalities through the avatar they’d created. I’m naturally a very curious person and am intrigued by the journeys experienced by others throughout their life. I feel that it gives a real insight into their situation, allowing me to empathise with them and understand their point of view.

(Masur 2019)

In 2020, I graduated with a BA (Hons) Business Management degree. I’m well-versed in writing somewhat matter of fact literature and was slightly taken aback when asked to write in a more expressive and personal tone about my avatar. After reading some of my classmates’ introductions, I felt a little out of my depth and started to doubt my abilities to express my thoughts and feelings with the style of writing I was accustomed to. I’d always said that while studying Business Management, I felt like my inner artist was on a quest of self expression, and it was with that thought that I took the leap and started writing about myself and my avatar in an expressive tone. It will take some getting used to, but I’m excited to let go of the reins and find out just what I’m capable of creatively.

According to (Fook 2007), a critical reflection journal can provide a safe place for exploring an issue more fully. With this in mind, I feel empowered to embrace my vulnerabilities and push forward with embarking upon my creative endeavours.

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Challenge Activity

Task: Our first assignment of the course was to create a custom avatar of oneself using objects from around your home. The objects had to tell a story or mean something to you.

This was certainly an interesting challenge! I’ve moved around a lot in the past few years and didn’t feel that I had kept all that many things that truly meant something to me. A little digging around proved that my surroundings are not void of my personality and I’m happy to present the above…

Beginning at the top, the cables themselves are not overly special, however they represent my love of technology and constant need to stay in the loop with all things new. I have a reputation in my house for every second Amazon delivery being a new cable and thought these were the perfect addition and representation of my oddities.

The left eye, or elephant statue, is a souvenir I brought back from travelling in Nepal. It represents my love for travelling and is perfectly positioned on my avatar to record the many wonderful views I’ve experienced. Similarly, the succulent on the right eye is one of the longest standing members of my extended plant family. I’ve maintained quite the jungle of plants over the years am constantly delighted by the way they brighten up my home.

Towards the centre, I’ve used a graduated “dcuk” that my mother gifted to me upon completing my undergraduate degree. In our family we’ve always thought, due to the above spelling, that these series of ornaments represented dyslexic ducks (if such a duck exists)! As a dyslexic myself, I was thrilled to receive this upon graduating as the humour really resonated with me and it truly represented my greatest achievement so far.

Finally, the smiling selection of tiles at the bottom come from one of my favourite shops in Edinburgh. The shop is called Caoba and is an importer of Mexican tiles and treasures. Over the past few years, I’ve found myself unable to pass this little gem of a shop and always need to go in to buy something. I use the tiles to decorate throughout my home and would love to experience the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico one day.

I hope you enjoyed reading and taking in my stories. I’m looking forward to meeting you all on Wednesday’s webinar and finding out more about everyone!

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References

CANDY, Linda. 2020. The Creative Reflective Practitioner: Research through Making and Practice. London ; Routledge.

FOOK, Jan. 2007. Practising Critical Reflection a Resource Handbook. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

MASUR, Eric. 2019. Photo by Eric Masur on Unsplash. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/Y3FHj3hpGvo [accessed 20 Jan 2022].