I made this card to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who participated and engaged in such a wonderful project which I was ever so excited about from the first moment it was suggested over a year ago. I would like to contextualise this gratitude, for fear of it sounding redundant.
I now see this course as a separate entity to the student occupation of Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre last year, however, this was the point of it’s conception and is what sparked my criticism of university, but also my love for communal learning and being inspired by such a diversity of others in one place at one time.
Upon entering the classroom for that first session in September, I have to admit that I was scared. Having left the occupation and had a Summer away from Uni, I had feared we had lost momentum in striving for and discussing a better education, and it took us some time to get up and running. However, it didn’t take long for this enthusiasm to shine through. My faith was soon restored, and this is why I am grateful.
Engaging which such a diverse group from across the disciplines has been wonderful, and I strongly believe it can only go up from here. There is now an opportunity to engage with people far more widely and find out what people really want to see from education. We have a great framework from which to build and prove a point to those people from management who have been endlessly skeptical about what we can achieve.
My hope for the future is that this momentum can be used to keep up the workshops we have been creating, and broadcast them across both the university community and the local community in Edinburgh. I am sad that my time in this course has come to an end, but it is time to pass it on and see what fresh ideas come with the course in its second year. I am truly excited to come along as an external (but engaged) participant.
Thank you for your wisdom, community and inspiration.
Cara x
This is lovely Cara!
Thank you Cara! such a lovely sentiment and beautiful card.
Thank you Laerke!
This is really touching Cara!- you should be so proud of how this course has turned out as you were so instrumental in it’s inception – I’m sure next year it’ll just go from strength to strength, I’m excited to see how it ends up when I get back! Also good luck with your dissertation x
Thank you Paula!! I am also very excited to see it grow, thank you v much and good luck on your year abroad <3
Cara, this is really wonderful!
What a lovely reflection Cara! I felt the same coming to the course the first day and I share your gratitude for such a great experience. I think gratitude is underrated in our society and in academia especially so thank you for this reflection!