6 atr

As Nial and Kevin previously articulated, I feel that my time here has oscillated between a frenzy and a drone.

My place as a student has been constantly redefined and repurposed from the time that I started school. I feel most comfortable in this mindset but also the most limited. It is easy to assume a way of thinking wherein you are basically a worker bee.

I have not felt out my role as a teacher. At this point I feel that I am going through the expected motions. I have only taught one lecture here, it went well but I did not feel any different after than I had before. I think the teacher mindset is really just a 180 from the student one, populating the power instead of being subservient to it.

Independent scholar is probably my favorite mindset. I have always placed high value on striving to be self reliant and there is no pursuit more independent than digging through the library stacks in search of knowledge.

Research collaborator is a mindset I can say I have hardly inhabited and don't know much about. I suppose this only goes as an example of the liberal arts people to work independently. I have never liked to ask someone for help, I don't like being beholden to someone, even if it is just in perception or act.

Life is complicated but trying to split everything into equal points of value will lead nowhere. So I believe that we all will believe what we want, and that the framework of it all can hardly be affected by one individual.

Blog Post 6: Kevin Juggles in his Sleep (he also grinds his teeth)

Like Nial, I sometimes find myself flapping between 3 roles--feathers askew and rudders akimbo, like some sort of wild p(h)easant. The student role can be quite taxing: write the seminar paper--write the annotated bibliography, partially duplicate the annotated bibliography for another class days before it is due for the former class--another short paper and a long one for the survey--and a final portfolio to work toward for yet another class.

The nascent professor role is, for me, the most joy-filled. Designing my composition assignments and working toward a complete syllabus has been a fun process.

The role of researcher is almost inseparable from the role of professor, which is almost inseparable from the role of student--all viewed within the context of our triad of concerns at VT for the next couple years. I do not consider the dichotomy to be false, but maybe elusive. The three roles are interdependent and symbiotic, in my mind.

Blog Post 6 - Mike Roche

I think the identity I feel most comfortable with is "independent scholar." Probably the one I feel least comfortable with is "research collaborator." I'm adequate in the "student" department; however, one of the reasons I seek an MFA is because I can feel myself reaching a threshhold for the amount of academic course material I am willing to engage in. I don't yet feel comfortable with the "teacher" one, as I've never taught before, but I am excited to try to be a good one. But back to the one I identify with most: "independent scholar." I consider myself one of these because I read literature. Like Michelle, I prefer reading primary texts over the secondary ones which analyze the primary ones so, in this sense, I wouldn't consider myself an aggressive independent scholar.

If you consider poems and other kinds of art "research," then I suppose I am a research collaborator because I'm always sharing my findings--i.e. my poems--with other researchers--i.e. other poets. I think it is very cool to browse through the Virginia Tech Electronic Theses and Dissertations and find creative work from MFA students who've published and graduated. I also like how I can use ProQuest to obtain copies of creative dissertations from some of my favorite poets at other universities throughout the country. When I think about the fact that I'll be publishing a creative dissertation at the end of my three years at Virginia Tech, I become more comfortable considering myself a research collaborator.

Blog Post #6: Dana

For the past __ years I've been told that I'm a student, and I think I adhere to that role pretty well. Merriam Webster defines student as, "scholar; learner: especially one who attends a school," and I'm definitely that. (Please take note that you are especially a student if you attend a school, because nothing gets you a label quite like thousands of dollars to academe!) Regardless, and given the generous wording of this question, I've also been assigned other aspects of my identity: teacher, collaborator, and independent researcher, none of which I feel entirely comfortable owning to.

I believe that when we talk about self-labeling, or the attempt to self-label, what we're really considering is an issue of comfort within a role. We've individually envisioned our own theoretical check-sheet for "what it means" to be a teacher, scholar, collaborator, etc, but we also know that these definitions can be broadened and compacted accordingly and are not just limited to the graduate or scholastic world. The malleability of these different titles, as Robert points out, can change according to the task at hand, or how our egos are feeling on any given day. While I’d like to identify as all of the above, and while I know I meet certain criteria that allows me to identify as such, teacher and collaborator are not roles I’m comfortable with. I recognize the obvious overlap between independent researcher, scholar, and student, at least for the purposes of what I do, but I’m not a teacher because I'm creating a syllabus and I’m not a collaborator because I yoink someone else’s research in order to support or refute my own. In order to identify as teacher and/or collaborator I will need to legitimize (whatever that means) myself over time by founding those roles on principles of reciprocity. At least, that's how my theoretical check-sheet sees it.