Apologies for not posting in a long while! I don’t have any true excuse for not doing so, but here’s a post now!
Classes have been going fairly well, though it’s hard to believe we’re already in the middle of February! Where is the time going?! Edinburgh has classes off next week for what is called “Innovative Learning Week”. There are different events going on, and I’ve signed up for a couple. I am especially excited for one of them (while reminding myself that these are not graded events, and that I should just have fun). It is called “Archeology Beyond the Living” and pertains on some level to analyzing bones and doing some level of forensics work.
From ages 11 – 16 one of the jobs I found myself interested in was being a forensic anthropologist or a forensics analyst in a police station. So this will hopefully help bring some long-awaited experience in the field to a younger me. :)
The upcoming week also brings up a lot of other thoughts for me regarding learning, and how we learn. I’m a bit advocate of learning, always have been, always will be. I think education is vital and so incredibly important. But something else that I think it is important to think about is the many different ways in which one can learn.
These have become increasingly more clear during my time on Study Abroad. Everything can be a learning experience — from when I first arrived and had to go through customs and acquire a short-term student visa, to getting a phone for while I’m here, to food shopping for the first time — the list goes on. Of course I am learning in my university classes, but there’s something quite powerful about learning in other ways.
Also, each little bit, even when nerve-wracking, is important. That’s something I think I do need to remind myself more, and also encourage myself to get out and explore rather than just reading in my room.
I think I might start making “goal lists” for each week — with things like “walk to a place you’ve never been”, “go into a coffee shop and sit and read”, “cook something wild”, and so forth. Because how else to learn unless I take the plunge and go experience everything I can? I’m so lucky to have the chance to study abroad, and being able to explore is something I love. Exploring leads to learning, leads to more knowledge, leads to many good things.
Apologies for the random array of thoughts. I will post more soon — maybe with some photographs of the city.
Love,
Emily