Bridge 5: Final Self-Assessment

In this semester, I always take the benefit of seminar to reflect, document, and give myself critique on the projects I have done in studio class. If I don’t have seminar but only studio class, perhaps I won’t take as much time reflect on my projects. Having this opportunity, I now have many writings that I can look back to, that reminds me of what I have done well and not so well in each project. When I work on a new project in the future, I can be more aware and do better. For example, keeping time management in mind from my previous reflection motivates me not to procrastinate in my future project; knowing that working with a group is not as difficult or chaotic, and speaking to strangers can actually inspire me so much, I will be more brave in the upcoming projects in group working, and trying out new things. In short, reflecting on my previous experience working on project, I can continue my advantages and improve on my disadvantages.
Practice makes perfect. I definitely became better at reading and writing. If it were not seminar, I won’t read this constantly. I’m thankful for the weekly reading assignment, not only because I improved my English reading skills, but also because I found some intriguing and inspiring readings that I enjoyed reading a lot. They indirectly inspire me working on my studio projects too.
My perspective changed as a result of my experience in studio and seminar classes. I did not really like working in groups before because I was scared of irresponsible group mates. If my group mates are not engaging or participating actively, I would have to do all the work and struggle a lot to communicate with them. Luckily, my two group mates, Nora and Jasmine, made the group working not so scary for me. They participated in every process. We brainstormed together in each project, bouncing ideas off on each other; we would go thrift-store shopping with each other for our project and exchange our opinions; we respect each other and communicate often during the progresses. Ultimately, I feel blessed that I got to know them as friends.
The assignment of writing the short story was the most challenging one to me in terms of designing the plots. We each have our own idea and were trying to incorporate all of them. At the same time, it also needed to be a short story, so there should not be too many complicated plots or we will not be able to finish the story in such a short length. As a result of group discussion and feedback from our professor, we eliminated some too dramatic plots, such as Imani, the main character, killing her husband in the end. From this experience, I have learned about my strength to come up with ideas and brainstorm in group, and actively communicate them with my group mates. Sometimes my ideas inspire my group mates, so we came up with a new proposal as a group. I feel like I can still improve on time management, so that both my group and I will be even more prepared for the deadlines, and will have more opportunities to adjust our work before we submit it. I knew I had passion for fashion before. My experience of studio and seminar classes reinforced this. I incorporated sewing and fashion elements in several studio projects, and when I reflect on them in seminar, I became clearer that I want to continue designing and sewing as a hobby. What I like about the studio project is that we can incorporate so many different things that we feel passionate about or are good at, such as digital design, laser cut, painting, sewing, and so on. And we can later know our passion better when we are writing reflection papers for seminar.
As a result of my work during this semester, I will continue to pursue strategic design and management in the following semester. We did some strategic design in studio class, and I enjoyed working on them. I also can’t wait to work in fashion studios to design, sew, and create garments and accessories just as a hobby. From my journey this semester, I will keep in mind to constantly document and reflect on my work. Being organized will me my portfolio making a lot easier. Moreover, documenting my projects can be a form of art that I can continue explore and discover my passion. I can be more creative when I document my work in the future, with not only my writings, but they can also be drawings, podcasts, and all other different forms. I would like to explore more on this idea of using different forms to document and reflect on work.

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