Hello after 2 years!
Hi folks,
So earlier this month, this happened:
That's me on graduation day with my Master degree cohort! I'm seated, second from the right. :)
It has been a long time since I wrote, two years to be exact! I think a short recap is in order:
After teaching creative entrepreneurship to adults and college-level students for more than 10 years, I decided that it was time to buckle down and get that piece of paper – one that told other people that I knew what I was doing (it was also something I wanted to do, but never got around to) And so, I moved to Singapore to pursue a Master’s degree in Art Pedagogy* and Practice, not realizing the horrors of academic writing that awaited me.
I’ve never written academic papers in my life, and let me tell you, I felt completely out of my depth despite my years of writing professionally. But I digress, I'm not here to tell you how I struggled with writing formal sentences, syntax and language in the context of research and academia (I'm still in awe that I can still manage to write like a normal human after it all). What I did enjoy was learning how to be a better teacher from other teachers in various fields of art such as music, theater, design and fine art. I learned how to conduct research in education and the arts, as well as study the impacts and implication of learning experiences, and how I can make it better for learners.
For my thesis, I focused on how artists can create their own opportunities via creative entrepreneurship and how it impacts their self-confidence, autonomy and motivation. Despite feeling like I was thrown into the deep end of the pool at the beginning, I gradually found my footing and I am happy to report that I made it all the way to the end, and with a distinction too! Plus, being with a cohort with other passionate educators made me a lot more confident in my abilities to lead and mentor learners under my care.
Other random things that has happened, in a nutshell:
I underwent 5 months of therapy with a trainee clinical psychologist after suffering from a panic attack during one of my semesters. It was an amazing experience I was lucky to have (the therapy, not the panic attack).
I devoured so many fantastic graphic novels and comics to buffer from the stress brought on by studying, courtesy of the amazing libraries here in Singapore.
J and I celebrated 4 years of being together (it was brought to my attention that I apparently made it social-media official via this Instagram post here)
So what now?
It’s hard writing to you again because I've been away for so long. Two years feels like FOREVER online, and I realized that things have changed so much from when I last wrote. Heck, even I changed.
Writing this out was also a little scary for me (ok, fine, it was very scary) as I wondered if I still had a place here in the interwebs, and if anyone will still be interested in what I have to say and explore. What didn't change though, is my passion for working with artists and students on finding their voice and strength through the lens of meaning and purpose. In reconnecting with you, I’m hoping that perhaps you can help me point out ways in which I can do so, while I work on getting back on track. How can I can show up for you? What problems are you facing right now that I can help with? Let me know!
But enough about me.
What about you? What has changed for you? What have you been up to, and what are you working on right now? I’d love to hear all about it.
Your long lost friend,
Amy
* Definition from Wikipedia: Pedagogy, taken as an academic discipline, is the study of how knowledge and skills are shared in an educational context, and it considers the interactions that take place during learning.