Reflecting on Week Seven of Mapping Freedom

Once again, this week was full of independent work days, which allowed me to buckle down and get my final work done. This week I was able to finish my research paper, my presentation, my story map, and my interactive/static maps with about 90% accuracy. What I mean by that is I still have a good amount of proofreading work to do on all these different areas, but I do plan to present this topic in the future, so I will continue to revise it after this program ends. My "three things" this week were:

Things I learned:

1. I enjoyed getting to hear from Dr. Kevin Greene about the victimization narratives in studying African American history. This was a topic I had not explored as in-depth as he had, so I found this very insightful.

2. I was able to learn how to use Story Maps and integrate my interactive maps into the flow of my research. It was a very satisfying process to make, and I am excited to see what I can continue to add.

3. I learned that three minutes went by very quickly during my presentation. I need to prioritize my speech better and make a list of essential talking points that I can read when it comes time.

Accomplishments:

1. Able to complete all of the areas of my project to about 90%. Need to revise my work a bit to at least be at 95%.

2. I felt like I was able to articulate my 3-minute practice presentation somewhat effectively. Was able to build up a bit of confidence for Wednesday. I was very nervous going into our short presentations, but I knew that everyone there would be happy just to see what we were doing.

3. I was happy that I was able to navigate and work at an efficient pace. I was surprised by how fast I was able to get my thoughts out.

Issues:

1. Definitely felt burnt out and unmotivated sometimes. I had some issues working because I was unsure how it was going to turn out. Some of this was just overthinking because of how new of an experience this is, but I was able to figure it all out.

2. With the navigation portion of my workload, I think I tried to rush, which made me question whether all of my work was going to be the same quality. I think all of my work is in a rough draft phase. I know that I wouldn't want to submit my essay right now, but in the future, I would for sure.

3. It was getting hot in the collab space, making me want to fall asleep while working, but it's okay. I would definitely recommend scheduling more independent work time in the morning because of how cool it is.

Overall, this week flew by. I am both excited and nervous to present, but I know it will be a great experience so far. If this ends up being my last post on here, thank you so much for following along! Please stay tuned to the other pages on this site as my work gets uploaded.