Time flew. That must mean I was having fun!
I started as a graduate assistant at the DLC in my first semester at MIIS. Now, as I finish up my third semester at MIIS and the DLC, I’m heading off to IPSS in Chile and moving on from my GA role.
When Evelyn walks me out to make sure I don’t steal anything, here’s what I’m taking with me:
An appreciation for collaboration
At the DLC, I worked with almost all the other full-time staff and GA’s on workshops, projects, and daily appointments. I learned and had fun from our teamwork, whereas I used to prefer working alone on projects.
Check-ins
Evelyn had a weekly check-in where we went over how I was doing (in general and at the DLC), reviewed pending tasks, and planned upcoming work. It helped a lot in staying productive, feeling accomplished, and balancing work duties.
Sharing and accepting feedback
I’m generally a private person and work on things on my own (see above about collaboration). The DLC is the opposite. We put everything on display (see this blog post). Thus, I’ve become more comfortable accepting feedback and I usually (sometimes) appreciate it.
Space is important
The DLC is open, flexible, and cheerfully painted/decorated. I like being there. It is jarring to me when I go to the drab office spaces upstairs in McGowan, or to the quiet cavernous halls on the first floor of McCone. I also much preferred class in the DLC to any other classroom at MIIS.
And somewhere along the way I got better at iMovie, started to use Garage Band and Audacity, learned Camtasia, switched to Keynote, made a WordPress site, and took 200 head shots.
And so…actually, I’m not going to say goodbye to the DLC just yet, as I’m doing the International Digital Storytelling Project. Everyone will be seeing more from me in the spring!