BIG Milestone!

 I finished writing all the sections of the thesis! I feel so accomplished and proud of myself for pushing through the rough patches and setbacks of this thesis. At the beginning of this semester, I was still trying to get my idea fully fleshed out and felt that my classmates were 10 steps ahead of me. I felt like I wasn't contributing anything new to the field but soon came to terms that I don't need to create a groundbreaking concept to be successful. Instead, I could make connections between ideologies and case studies and write meaningful commentary while also bringing in my personal interests. All I have left to do is write a quick conclusion and continue editing bit by bit to make it ready to get signed off. I also got a job for after I graduate! Page supervisor at the Brighton Memorial Library!

Second Draft + More to do!

Since my last post, I have submitted my second draft to my readers. I have been focused on writing my auto-ethnography section to better contextualize the importance of my topic both to my readers and for myself. I found it difficult to write about my memories and experiences at Apple Blossom as I was overwhelmed with what I was remembering. It made me think of the best times and worst times in my life, but gave my thesis a sense of humanity and emotion to it. I do have to do revisions on this section, but it was helpful to do my intitial write up of. This week, I have been focusing on looking at my poster, which is going to be done in the colors of the festival: pink and green. As far as the next few weeks are looking, below are the areas I will be focusing on more: 

- Poster

- Methodology: Interview 

- Race and Migratory Farming in Rural Shenandoah Valley 

- Addressing new and existing edits/comments

- Conclusion 

I still have a lot of work to do before April 9, but I am excited to see the finish line coming up!

Second Draft Done, One Final Draft to Go!

 Hello, welcome back to another update of my thesis and project. Since my last update, I have submitted my second draft and dug into all the data I have acquired. I have made some great connections between the data I have collected and the generational views of the younger generation (Y & Z). I am waiting for feedback for my second draft, but I am brainstorming ideas for my research posters. I want to style it like the World War One propaganda poster, so I have been looking through my collection to gain inspiration for what elements I should incorporate into my research poster. Getting back to my thesis paper over the next few weeks, I plan on working on:

1. Work more on sharpening and honing the ideas and periods I discuss in the thesis
2. Provide more analysis of the data gathered from the visitor studies 
3. work on including more details about the curation of my exhibition and insert more of the posters I chose for the exhibition 
4. Proofreading, addressing typos, and general editing  

That is all there is for me to report at this point in time. However, I will leave you with some images of posters from my collection that I think I can base my research poster on.

Halfway Through

 As the semester continues, my thesis has become more finalized I can finally see where my final revisions are taking my paper. I really enjoy the direction my revision have taken me in the past couple of weeks. I have incorporated feedback from my first and second readers and I am deeply appreciative of all of their revision notes and feedback. 

Over the next couple weeks I plan to work on my poster that corresponds to my thesis, as well as enjoy spring break as I finish up my one internship from January. Then after break I plan on getting back to work on revisions.

Getting closer!

It was exciting to turn in my second thesis draft. I've enjoyed working through the case studies of tthe objects I selected at GCV&M, especially researching the history/story of them. It's been so interesting to me. I've got the poster design coming up and will be going to GCV&M to take photos of the objects over spring break. As much as I am enjoying everything I am certainly ready to be finished! Really ready!

The Wheels on the Bus are Stuck in the Muck

 Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration. 

My momentum has been arrested a bit by "real life," in the form of new projects and new hire onboarding at Job #1 and merch photography for Job #2 (hey, at least my camera's getting some use), as well as reading through some late addition resources and needing time to absorb the content. 

The latest update, Official Draft Submission #2, did not contain as much content as I had intended, but I did incorporate some "placeholder" paragraphs explaining which of the new resources I was referencing and a summary of what was going to be added. 

I never expected to have to also contend with Spring Cleaning Frenzy, considering how lazy and unmotivated I've been for the past few months; but I did lose pretty much my entire weekend to work for Job #2 and house cleaning and errands - but a clean space is very conducive to productive thoughts. 

The plan, moving forward: 

• I need to start scheduling writing blocks again and sticking to them. 
• I have hit that point of "no new resources." I keep acquiring new material and I want to incorporate it all; but I just don't have the time or mental capacity. I will work to incorporate the information "promised" in this last update; but that in and of itself will involve some major changes to the flow of my current narrative. I'm in a decent place; but I don't feel I can afford another "parsing roadblock."
• I have everything that I need to complete the course (and degree) requirements. I need to start recategorizing elements of my task list for "after graduation" work. I do want to see this book to fruition, hopefully by this Fall... but I need to stop trying to figure out how to have all of the conversations and develop all of the content for a full deliverable in 50 days. 
• In the next few weeks, I will:
• work on designing prototype pages.
• If possible, come up with a website or mobile app wireframe for the paper and Poster.
• complete my paper and ask some external friends to act as beta readers (I have a few friends with museum and/or history-related degrees and work in museums/historic battlefields; as well as some "laypersons" who are just interested in my thesis).
• Acquire some "textbook quality" field photographs for the prototype. Ideally somewhere on or near the Ganondagan site, but so long as I remain in Seneca territory it will suffice.
• Continue efforts to connect with possible collaborative partners.

It's quite a list. If I can't find the time or energy to get out and do some birding, I'll look through my collections and find something fitting... I've just never taken a photo of an American Woodcock (Snipe) before, and I have this inner insistence to include it as the Snipe is one of the Seneca clans. I do have photos of Hawks and Heron. There is an upcoming trip to observe the Woodcock Courtship behaviors in April; that may be my chance; though they dance at Dusk so lighting challenges may deny me my photo. 

Ah well, I'll figure it out... it always works out in the end. It's a mystery ;)

68 Days. 

Pushing Towards the Finish Line!

 Second drafts have been submitted for review, and while there is still a lot of work to be done, this is a time for celebration. I've now written the bulk of my paper (save for a few important sections that remain) and can shift my focus to refining, but that hardest parts are over. As we move into poster preparation and finishing steps, what I'm REALLY looking forward to is sharing my work with a larger audience.

Lately I have been focusing on the "arguments" section of my paper, that is, making the argument that Renaissance Faires are a valid form of living history. In the fall, I assumed that this section would be the easiest to write; my opinions were formed and it seemed only to be a matter of getting them down on paper. But now that the time has come to pen these pages, my mind is swimming with the things that I have learned from existing literature, and find myself working within a greater context that I never could have imagined when picking this topic back in October.

There isn't much left to say except an expression of continued excitement to see my classmates' projects take shape as well. Everyone is working hard, and I know we can do great things! PA Renaissance Faire tickets have finally gone on sale, and as the weather warms up and my thesis nears completion, I can't wait to see what life after graduation holds.

Second Milestone

 The second draft is submitted, whoohoo! I now have my section on the Charleston Museum written which only leaves the section on the FAP and my conclusion left!! It doesn't sound like a lot in my head but I know it will be a busy homestretch. I'm so proud of everything I have done so far.🙀In the Charleston section, I expanded on a lot more statistics on their visitor patterns during the early 20th century than I thought I would. This is because I found scans online of the Charleston Museum bulletin that was written under director Paul Rea's management. It was so hard to decide what I should and shouldn't include because it was such good content and was quite interesting. However, I didn't want to go overboard on a topic that didn't directly correlate to my thesis. I also started working on my poster for the symposium and I like how it's turning out so far.