Capstone Portfolio Journal - Module one Reflections:
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."
- Lao Tzu
- Lao Tzu
May 17, 2021 - May 23, 2021
I was inspired by one of the specific portfolio’s (Travis Bonfigli) I saw from the Spring 2021 cohort with not only the layout but also the intentional reflective blog posts he did weekly for each module throughout his capstone. I generally regard myself as someone who is deeply reflective, but is just terrible at documenting the process. What Travis said about journaling as a form of exploring his thoughts, feelings and emotions as another form of inquiry was genius. That is what my MAED at Michigan State University has been so far - a lot of introspection and relearning to look at the world around me through a different lens. I have felt that each of my courses have given me different frameworks to critically analyze whatever subject I was studying for the course in order to manifest new ways of understanding. I feel like I’m fumbling over my words here, but I’m sure (or at least I hope) as I go through this capstone that I’ll be able to put into more coherent words the profound transformation I have felt since getting into this Master’s program in Summer 2018. Fun fact: I got my admissions letter during the 2nd day of my first Coachella Festival experience (that was the year Beyonce headlined. It was a good time.)
In the spirit of authentically documenting my feelings as of this moment: I’m nervous. This pandemic has really crippled my motivation to do anything. I had a few times during this pandemic where I was really low. I frankly trudged through my last MSU class (EAD 805: Administration in Higher Education) which really felt bad. It was actually one of my favorite classes, possibly only 2nd to EAD 867: Case Studies in Educational Leadership. I’m sure at some point I’ll talk about why this class was my favorite more in detail, but it really helped me grow professionally at my current job at UCSD. Regardless, as soon as I submitted my last paper, I took a hiatus from checking really any emails because I needed space to recharge (I missed the email on doing Module 0 work before the start of this class obviously). I was really debating on holding off on taking this capstone until later because I was struggling that much to focus and find that ambition. But it is one more class, and I just told myself this will go by quickly. I’m so over school and I wanted to be done.
It is magical what a few weeks of shameless self-care in the form of catching up with friends (we were all vaccinated), eating whatever food I felt like and going outdoors more can do for the soul. I felt reinvigorated to go into this capstone strong. I was delighted to find out just how much detail we were putting into reflection because I really need it. So here I am now!
Thanks for taking the time to read my post.
I was inspired by one of the specific portfolio’s (Travis Bonfigli) I saw from the Spring 2021 cohort with not only the layout but also the intentional reflective blog posts he did weekly for each module throughout his capstone. I generally regard myself as someone who is deeply reflective, but is just terrible at documenting the process. What Travis said about journaling as a form of exploring his thoughts, feelings and emotions as another form of inquiry was genius. That is what my MAED at Michigan State University has been so far - a lot of introspection and relearning to look at the world around me through a different lens. I have felt that each of my courses have given me different frameworks to critically analyze whatever subject I was studying for the course in order to manifest new ways of understanding. I feel like I’m fumbling over my words here, but I’m sure (or at least I hope) as I go through this capstone that I’ll be able to put into more coherent words the profound transformation I have felt since getting into this Master’s program in Summer 2018. Fun fact: I got my admissions letter during the 2nd day of my first Coachella Festival experience (that was the year Beyonce headlined. It was a good time.)
In the spirit of authentically documenting my feelings as of this moment: I’m nervous. This pandemic has really crippled my motivation to do anything. I had a few times during this pandemic where I was really low. I frankly trudged through my last MSU class (EAD 805: Administration in Higher Education) which really felt bad. It was actually one of my favorite classes, possibly only 2nd to EAD 867: Case Studies in Educational Leadership. I’m sure at some point I’ll talk about why this class was my favorite more in detail, but it really helped me grow professionally at my current job at UCSD. Regardless, as soon as I submitted my last paper, I took a hiatus from checking really any emails because I needed space to recharge (I missed the email on doing Module 0 work before the start of this class obviously). I was really debating on holding off on taking this capstone until later because I was struggling that much to focus and find that ambition. But it is one more class, and I just told myself this will go by quickly. I’m so over school and I wanted to be done.
It is magical what a few weeks of shameless self-care in the form of catching up with friends (we were all vaccinated), eating whatever food I felt like and going outdoors more can do for the soul. I felt reinvigorated to go into this capstone strong. I was delighted to find out just how much detail we were putting into reflection because I really need it. So here I am now!
Thanks for taking the time to read my post.
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©2021 by Tracy Liu
©2021 by Tracy Liu