I can’t believe I arrived in Edinburgh three months and three days ago. It feels like ages ago, and also like I just got here, like, yesterday. This semester has been stressful, forcing me to confront bad habits that I’ve had since my undergrad days, but has also expanded my understanding of storytelling; its ubiquity, its possibilities, and its importance. While I do have my gripes about the last three months, I can’t deny that I’ve enjoyed myself immensely. Every course I’ve taken has offered new perspectives and taught me something unexpected, and while I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on any of them, I could still cry over all the amazing courses that I didn’t get to take.
World of Story broadened my understanding of interactive fiction and the associated narrative possibilities.
Interdisciplinary Futures taught me the joys of functioning groupwork and confronted me with my identity beyond just being a writer.
Gamifying Historical Narratives and its groupwork reminded me to follow my instincts on what will work and what won’t.
Narrative and Computational Text Analysis led me to critically reflect on why story structures work or not. It assured me that, if all else fails, I’m still a better writer than ChatGPT.
Writing Speculative Fiction allowed me to explore creative challenges and feel right at home.
Text Remix encouraged me to play around with text within the context of, and with the aid of, formal structures.
Going into semester 2, I’m somewhat hopeful that I’ve gotten into the grove of the pre-intensive| intensive | post-intensive structure and can make the most of my assignments and submissions going forward. I also learned to be more discriminatory in what courses to take. Now that I have a clearer understanding of what I want my final project to entail, I can tailor my course choices according to related learnings and any weak spots. But I don’t want to overdo it in that regard either, as there are courses that won’t directly relate to my final project that I’m still interested in taking and that may well be relevant to other aspects of my life and career. The final project isn’t everything. But I still want to take another look at my courses for next semester and consider them from that perspective, and how much my outlook on certain topics might have changed from when I was first confronted with a cornucopia of choices in early September.
I’ve also decided to stop feeling bad about being the way that I am. I tend to get more-or-less gently ribbed for despairing over early morning classes, but after two out of four intensives moved their starting time back, I’ve decided I’m no longer going to defend my night-owl status. If my professors don’t even want to be there that early, why should I?
I’m a little intimidated by the fact that the next semester will in fact be my last semester of this programme. I’ve barely gotten the hang of things, how can it basically be over already? But I am very much looking forward to some of the courses I’ve signed up for. I’m excited to explore ideas adjacent to what I’m already doing and seeing what else there is to see. See you all in the new year. : )
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