A last word

So, as I was writing my concluding paragraph to my Reflection, I realized how much I've gained from this class.  It went by REALLY fast, and at times, I know I felt like I wasn't really learning anything new at all. But in looking back at all of it, and really thoughtfully reflecting on the experiences, I saw that I learned much more than I do from an average AVCE class, just by actually DOING, and being active in the learning process. Since this act of reflection was also a learning experience for me, I wanted to include it in my documentation as my final post.

This process as a whole has shown me many things. I have learned something from every aspect of this class. The most exciting thing for me, is that I learned how gratifying and enjoyable community arts involvement can be. I've been involved in the communities of the demographics Jenna and I chose

to focus on before, but never from within an art-making or art program perspective. I enjoyed it a lot, and look forward to continuing work with BICAS. Because of our involvement with the Armory Park Center, Casey has invited Jenna and I to assist in an oral histories project that BICAS is working on with the Center's seniors, and children of the community. From the scholastic perspective, I have learned a lot about my role as a student and future educator. As students, we can get very caught up in OUR projects, and how WE envision and experience them. In this, we often forget that there are many ways to learn from an experience, and that we will learn the most if we get multiple perspectives on the effectiveness of our ideas. Education is always a two-way street, with two ends to see from. In order to grow as students and as educators , we need to be able to put our feet in both pairs of shoes. 

-sp