Best Class Ever?

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this class going into it, I didn’t even really know what digital story telling was. I quickly realized I was the youngest person in class and was somewhat intimidated by all the grad students and people who were older and more experienced than me (one of which is a teacher here at UA). But very quickly (probably within the first day), I felt more and more comfortable because of all the “circle bonding time” we had. Every member of the class made it easier to feel more comfortable and confident in class because we all really put ourselves out there and we all had the same sense of vulnerability to us as we did so.

Sharing a story is not always easy, but that doesn’t mean it should go untold. The number one thing I learned in this course is that every story is a gift, a gift given to the listener to do what they want with it. Sometimes the listener will really love and connect with the story and sometimes they wont. You can’t have an exact idea of what your audience is supposed to take from the story because each member of the audience will be slightly different based on their past experience. Another thing I noticed was how often stories are told, almost constantly. While I greatly enjoyed all of the digital stories my classmates shared at the end of the term, I also had fun getting to know everybody from the other stories (or bits of stories) they’d tell without even consciously realizing they were telling a story.

I am very grateful for everyone in our class, it wouldn’t have been the same without all of you. Jazz, thanks for being so friendly throughout the class and for helping me eat my food. Markus, thank you for teaching me to dance and for not freaking out too bad about my ginger germs. Alex, thanks for being my big ging brother and letting me play darts whenever I want (that’s right, "whenever I want" is the invitation I’ve given myself). Bill, thanks for making the walks to my car more entertaining and for humoring my lack of driving skills. Greg, thanks for making me laugh constantly, even if half the time it was one of those “did he really just say that?” laughs. Brice, thank you for treating me as a peer, being a teacher here you could have easily distanced yourself from the youngest kid in class but you showed me the same respect you showed everyone else. Doc Raimist, you had such an interesting way of teaching and I really appreciated how personal you made the class. Tina, you are quite possibly the sweetest person I have ever met, thank you for your constant positive attitude in class. Winnie, Thanks for always being down to go lay in the grass during our 15 minute breaks and for showing me the cutest Bear ever.