I’ve graduated.
I wore the gown, and smiled from ear to ear (behind my mask). As I absorbed the excitement around me, I thought about how for this, my second graduation, I both knew what to expect, and had different expectations. It was quite freeing. And being a class of one, there was the benefit of being able to slip through each part relatively quickly, with only fleeting moments of feeling mildly disconnected from everyone around me.
What I’m most happy about is that I’ve come out the other side of this whole experience, and am still in love with and excited to continue exploring this academic side to walking and visual representations. My research and practice ended up touching on a lot, and I’ve yet to perfect the elevator pitch. Right now, it goes something along the lines of;
“I’m researching the perpetuated representations of places, and look at how that cycle continues - as well as the impacts that we have when contributing to it. I’m also interested in how walking can change our connections to place, and our ways of thinking about place.”
It’s not exactly snappy or specific. Often times I explain the idea of “imaginative geographies”, where people have an imagined expectation of a place without ever being there. But that’s only one corner of what I’ve tried to write about. Writing the research paper this summer on artistic methodologies when outdoors, I think what really excited me was realising that I feel like I’ve really learnt how to research and expand on reflections I have when walking. I will be forever grateful for the guidance and teaching from my supervisors, Dr. Justin Carville and Dr. Mark Curran.
But anyway.
That was days ago. Now I’m walking with a coffee in the park by myself. My path is dictated by the sun. And the over arching feeling from graduating is a peaceful contentment. Life continues. Another step forward.
