A Kozma, a Clark, and a Chomsky walk into a bar . . .

I didn’t do good work this semester. It started with house issues, then health issues, which both took priority until resolved. I had my own resolution to take better care of myself this semester than I did last semester. I did that, and there were times when I chose rest over grades, acknowledging to myself that whatever happens . . . happens, and I will be fine. I let go. 

What happened was a deeper engagement with the content when I stopped putting grades first. It was kind of like Chomsky’s early schooling before he went to a normal high school. Certain ideas are inside me now. It was better than winning. I’ve always been a late bloomer, so I care more about winning the decade than the day. 

I never really understood how the arguments factor into the field. (Honestly, I’m not happy with what I’ve learned about “the field,” and I have no intention of functioning within a prescribed way. I will jump through the hoops to get the degree, then do what I want. There are others like me in Cohort 27. We are going to change the field to something less restrictive, more creative, more constructive, and more interesting.) But I liked the challenge of writing with strict minimalism. It was hell to write and hard to read, yet I understood, and my real-life writing improved through greater economy of language. That said, prepositions and transitions are necessary for the reader as much (more) than the writer. It was a valuable exercise in extremism, but no one goes to a ballet to watch the company plié at the barre. We go for the dance. 

I notice that all three of my arguments were from the original list of topics. I liked and needed the list. I think vending machines give me too many options, so I won’t do well under a “do whatever you want” menu. Some of that is ego, because I believe I can write about anything, and some is the curse of being interested in everything (and master of none).

On research studies, I dread recruitment, and I fear boredom, but we will see. I need to actually do one first. 

Going forward, I will continue to misbehave, making jokes where jokes were not invited. Learning Technologies needs a sense of humor. I just happen to have one handy.