So, a week after finally being able to present all of the meticulous research I’ve done for months, I got some time to breath. For other classes, I only had one short final paper for Dr. Hague, and now I’m finally able to wrap up everything for both classes. This week, as opposed to the previous few months of constant nights with hours of work, I was able to relax and put together my bibliography while scouring my Story Map for any and all typos that made their way through my last round of editing, and yes, there were more. And I’m sure there will continue to be more each time I look, but that’s simply something I’ve come to accept.
Of course, that is partially a joke. The real reflection I’ve done as I sit down to write this blog post and the final reflection paper for the capstone, I’m amazed at just how quickly the time went by.
After graduating at the end of last spring, I left for Japan the next week. I spent ten days in the country I’ve spent the last three years studying, after I got back, I started a job which was a chance of a lifetime at the Penn Museum, which then got my another job, and now my current job which has set me on the path to a museum education and programming career. The semester started, and now here we are at the end. And I am STILL in disbelief that it’s all past what’s felt like in a flash.
However, putting together my bibliography has put it all into perspective. I found myself not having to reference any of my research material nearly as much as I had to in previous papers and projects, that’s simply because I’ve read these books so many times the information is already burned into my brain, so I really only found myself referencing it for dates, spelling and small details surrounding events or figures of the Bakumatsu.
Getting this ready into a regular google doc was easy enough, and of course I made sure to put together the full citations. Some of these books, I was even able to buy in Japan itself when I was there, so it was almost as if I was going back on a journey through my years of research on the topic. My friends among the Shinsengumi and the Imperial Loyalists have yet to let me down.
One of the things I took away the most from presenting this research to everyone, was the fact all who listened could see my passion for it. I feel like if I can show the passion I have for it, that will also show in my work as well. So, despite all the great feedback I got from the group of my peers and teachers, that was the most rewarding past of the presentation. I was able to do what I have been setting out to do since I started making projects like this, and that’s to shed a light on Japanese history, and make it easily accessible and interesting for people who have never seen it before.
It was a successful week, and a semester, now only one’s left to go.
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