We’ve been urged to keep a Reflective Journal. After only two weeks my emotions have soared violently up and down.
Last week I felt totally overwhelmed by the intellectual challenge and unable to compete with my fellow-students who appeared to have such a wealth and diversity of experience.
A tutorial with Jane convinced me otherwise. Her faith in my ability was reassuring and on reflection I began to see that I was, perhaps, the equal of some of my colleagues. With age comes experience and a stock of knowledge gleaned over time. Sometimes, much to my surprise,I know about things others don’t, simply because I lived through events which are just history to younger fellow-students. Rather funny and a great boost to my ego at times!
So having regained my confidence, I promptly lost it again the following week. This time I felt I just didn’t want to carry on even though I now felt it was possible.
The seminar was about Conceptual Mapping. As a starting point we watched a short video clip of Alison Knowles ‘Making a Salad’. The piece so annoyed me that I let the content completely overshadow the methodology being demonstrated. Big Mistake! Later when I had calmed down enough to reflect critically on the afternoon, I rapidly understood the value of the seminar. After experimenting with the technique using Van Gogh as a starting-point to which I could more easily relate, I began to see the value of the concept.
So – back on track – until the next wobble !
