REFLECTION ( TRAIL 2)

The speaker reflects on their experience researching and creating a podcast about a piece of art. At first, they were unsure if their object choice had an interesting story or significance. However, as they conducted more research, they found the topic became more interesting and significant. They appreciated the conversations they had and the help they received. The speaker also struggled with articulating their points and recording their podcast, but they were able to edit it. They enjoyed the research process and received help from the Met Library. They express gratitude to their professor for a great semester and for their guidance. Hi, Dr. Taverson, it's Akshi. So just reflecting on the podcast, just even from the very beginning when we were just picking our objects, I wasn't even sure if I picked a good object, because like, how do I know if there's an interesting story behind it, or if there's any significance to it? Because when I first saw the piece, it just looked like a sketch, and I was like, this could have just been a random sketch that they got made. There might not be any significance to it at all. And then when I started researching it, and there wasn't a lot of literature surrounding this specific piece, or this woman, and I thought, oh, like, this might have just been a bad choice. And then like, you remember the first draft of my podcast. But I don't know, I feel like over time, and the more research I did, the more interesting it became, and the more significant it seemed, which I guess would say a lot about art in general. But I really, I have to say that I really loved our conversations. And I just wanted to say a quick thank you for that. Every conversation, I think, made a visible difference in the direction that my research was taking, and the way that my writing was structured. And I really do appreciate all the help you've given me with this. And I genuinely enjoyed every conversation. And I never thought I would be interested in this. I never thought I would be interested in art, but here we are. Probably won't be an art major, but it is interesting. And also, just the piece itself, and just what we found, and the conclusions we came to. Because I remember, I spoke to, I think, two different people about this, just two random people in the museum. And like, we had long conversations, like ten conversations about the piece, where I was just going into my research, and then they were like, oh yeah, I see that too. And then I asked both of them, I was like, hey, one of them was the librarian, but I was like, hey, do you mind if I record a little tidbit? And they were like, sure, let me think on it. And then, I guess I struggled to articulate a point, even when I said that I contextualized that. But, like that, I think that just goes to show how complex it became. And I do think there was a deeper level of analysis being done, but I do think that the way that I structured it, or I guess we structured it, really helped articulate that, and it really came across in the writing, in my opinion. And like, speaking of being articulate, I realized through this process that I am not. I think I recorded, I think, maybe 15 different takes, and I did it in different ways, where I just spoke for 8 minutes straight, and then I did it in chunks, and then I did it in paragraphs, and then I added music in the middle, or I added music as I was talking, so I had music playing while I was talking, but then it was too loud, or too quiet, and then I ended up doing like a separate track for music. And then, even in that, there were parts of it where just the singer was being louder, or was being quieter, and I'm sure there is a way that I could have changed the sound, or made gaps, I just didn't have the technical ability to execute that in a good way. It just would have come out as even more choppy than it did. But also, the way that I was speaking, I didn't realize, but I think I tend to mumble when I talk. I don't know. I thought it was weird, because every take I did, and I was like, I don't like the way I sound in this, or I sounded really monotone, and I don't think that I'm that monotone. Like, in my head, I seem to be very expressive, but when I was hearing it back, I sounded bored for most of it, even when I tried to sound excited, and I think that's just the way my voice is. I don't know. I asked my mom, too. I was like, hey, could you look at this? Like, is this weird? Am I being weird in this? So I thought maybe it was me recording, but then she told me I always sound like that, so. I guess I don't have a future as a podcaster, which is fine, but. In terms of editing, I was able to edit it. I'm not sure how choppy or smooth it was, just because I think I'm a little bit more biased towards myself. I don't have an objective view of it, but I showed it to someone, they said it seemed smooth, so. The audio, the recording itself ended up being way harder than the actual research. I think I really enjoyed the research, and then, like, again, shout out to the Met Library. Like, the nicest people I've ever met. They were so kind. They helped me research, and then they gave their own opinions on it, and then they let me bounce ideas off of them. Really, such nice people. And again, a big thank you to you for everything you've done for me with this project, and just in general in this class. Like, I think this was a great semester, and I really enjoyed every class and every lecture and every topic we went over, and then this was like a once-in-a-lifetime event, because, like, I'm never going to take a class like this again, and I really think that you were a great professor. I thought you executed it really well. I know you were very insistent upon, you know, getting feedback even in the middle of the term and even with the course evaluations now, but I really think you did a great job overall, and I really learned a lot from you, so thank you so much. Bye.