Blog Post #7: Doing Some Reflecting


 As the project's end now draws near, I think it might be a good time to do some reflecting on what's occurred so far. Of course, I will still have my final reflections in one final blog post, but right now just a couple days before presentations seems to provide a good vantage point from which to tackle a few reflection questions.

1. What has surprised you the most so far?

The biggest surprise, and indeed one of the biggest learning experiences, happened before the project even started, and that was trying to predict how many episodes of a podcast two people can realistically create in three weeks. We ended up settling on five, which has proven to be a relatively realistic, if slightly ambitious, goal, but a little known fact is that our initial plan was to create ten episodes during the project. An absolutely preposterous notion in retrospect. The lesson is pretty clear: be realistic in plans. 

Recording Setup

2. Describe something new that you learned. How did you learn it?  

For me, most of the things I've learned have centered around podcast production (which perhaps isn't all that surprising). Some examples of things I now know how to do that I didn't two weeks ago are how to normalize audio levels, how to cut up audio in audition, how to apply effects to audio in audition, how to publish a podcast to Spotify, etc. I've managed to learn these things mostly just through jumping right in. I think that really highlights the virtue of Hawken Projects as a concept: they really let us get into the action and learn by doing, which has always worked really well for me. 

3. For group projects: Describe your group dynamics. How has working as a group helped or hindered your project?

This is the part of the reflection where I really just want to call out Luke, my partner in this project, for being a great person to work with. This project really wouldn't've happened without him, not least because it was his idea, but even more-so because he's done a great job of keeping us on track. I've found the group dynamic to be really important in this project, as I found it very motivating to be able to discuss and plan the project with another person and not having to rely quite so much on my own motivation.

All in all, I have really enjoyed this project so far, and I hope we can stick the landing.

Comments

  1. Rachel MullenMay 31, 2023 at 8:23 AM

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  2. Rachel MullenMay 31, 2023 at 8:24 AM

    Jackson, congratulations on producing and publishing your first podcast episodes! I love that you and Luke celebrated your accomplishments by drinking Cokes and were able to capture this moment. It's great that you and Luke have gotten along wonderfully, and worked well together throughout these three weeks. I'm look forward to listening to the podcast episodes that you have published so far! -Mrs. Mullen

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