It has gone by quick but a lot of things have happened in my open source learning experience. It is definitely something that takes some getting used to but once you do it is so worth it. It took me some time to get used to a class that you can modify for yourself and I can't stay that I'm fully used to it yet. After coming out of this class I think that I do look at things differently so that means I did grow from my experiences. I am not an expert on literature now but I do look for and notice grammar mistakes without even thinking about it and I didn't do that as much before taking this class.
There were many times this school year that I was very motivated to do something and then it just fell through. I either eventually did end up doing it or never got around to it and changed it completely like I did with my masterpiece project. After just being told what to do in school for so long it was incredibly different to be asked, "what do you want to do?" It actually caught me and probably everyone else off guard. In many ways it is almost too good to be true and it takes time before you realize it is real, no strings attached. Being treated as a colleague rather than a student is a huge change but I think opens up a lot more possibilities and brings a whole new level respect between student and teacher. However I honestly don't think that I personally deserved to be treated like a colleague at first but I did get used to it and I think I did earn that right but I cannot speak for everyone else.
Finding your passion was a huge part of the school year especially the second semester. Through the year I was uncertain what I was truly passionate about and that lasted almost until the last couple weeks of school. I bounced from topic to topic until landing on something that I have always enjoyed doing but was never the best at, writing short stories. I found many things that interested me but I couldn't really find something that I was passionate enough about to use a whole semester moving towards. I feel as though it was time wasted but the time will come that I find out what I love doing and I will pursue it. As of right now I'm just going to continue on with school and my life in general and take opportunities as they present themselves until I am doing what I love.
I did not get to witness all of the presentations but as for the ones I was there for there was one thing that really stood out in all of them. You could tell that everyone who was speaking really cared about what they were doing their masterpiece on. Some more than others but I could tell that there was real passion behind it by what they were doing and how they talked about it. Jon Garcia, Rachael, Roman, Jon Begg, and Analyssa's presentations really stood out to me because you could tell they were completely dedicated to what they were passionate about and they were excited about it. Everyone has enough motivation and creativity to make a career out of what they love but these five stood out the most to me. When Jon Garcia said he has been working on a story since freshman year I couldn't believe it and I knew that he was destined to be a great writer and same goes for Jon Begg. Another thing that proved to me they really cared was when Rachael sung a song in front of the class. It probably took a lot of courage to do that but maybe not since she loved doing it so much. There are many more examples but the final one was when Roman said he made a whole instrumental album just for this class. The work that was put into it was plentiful, I'm sure and you could just tell he was going to do great things in music.
I can't say for sure if I completed the hero's journey. For what it's worth I think that I did not but I know that I could have. I did what needed to be done this year but I know I could have put in more work and effort to make my work that much better. Lack of motivation gets me every year and being a senior this year only amplified it. I feel as though I did the minimum on some things and went all out on others when I should have just put 100% in to everything I did. I responded to the call to adventure as I do with other things. I didn't. I sadly passed up a few opportunities in this class but I also took part in others. After writing the short stories I did feel enlightened but I just wish I had found that sooner in the year. I wouldn't call myself a hero.
This class is definitely unique but in a good way. I think that more and more classes should and will be like this in the future. This is where modern day schooling is headed and I think it will be a good change. I know that if I had gotten into the rhythm of this class sooner I would have enjoyed it more and it would have been a lot easier but I still plan on using my experiences in open source learning out in the world.
