Studying Independently is Easy... Right?

Well, the answer to that question is no. No no no. But that doesn't mean it can't be done :)

For me, the hardest thing about this independent study thus far has been cutting out the time to actually sit down and STUDY the material. Blogging isn't too hard once I've got all the information in my brain, but I still have to get it there somehow.

So, I have been organizing. And thinking. And organizing. The results:

These are a couple of my notebook pages regarding where I want to go with the course.

When I met with Dr. Kuykendall to dicuss these things, it really helped to get us on the same page. Of course, I haven't gotten enough done thus far in the course, and it has mostly been because I was thinking about the course differently than I should have been.

From here on out I will hopefully be thinking more topically about museums, rather than article-by-article. This will help me to truly learn and appreciate the material I put on this blog, rather than feeling like I just have to intently read each article and give a response to it. The thought of doing that was overwhelming to me. This way, my work will be better recorded and I can include my own research about each topic, rather than each blog post being solely based on the articles (while I will still be using them).

I have also devised a new schedule for myself, which will help immensely (I think/hope/pray).

The new schedule will be:
Tuesday 2-5
Wednesday 2-5
Thursday 2-5

This will give me time to get all of my research and studying done, while also getting into a rhythm and habit of studying on those three consecutive days. Today has been the first day on that schedule, and I can already tell that I'm going to have to be so so strict on myself to keep those hours free for studying. Sometimes things come up, but when they do it means I have to spend more time later catching up. So we'll see how it all progresses.

Studying independently is not easy! If nothing else, I've learned that :) This has been really good for me though, since I'll have to be even more self-directed in the future. It's teaching me to guard specific hours for certain things that AREN'T meeting in a classroom or meeting with an organization on campus.

Here's to improved and more steady blogging!