My final blog post for MAIS 606 has me in deep reflection.  How I felt during week one is like night and day to how I feel as we approach week 14. I remember feeling weak, lacking, uncomfortable, anxious, fearful, overwhelmed and vulnerable. Today, with my literature review submitted, my final forum post drafted and this last blog in the works, I feel lifted, accomplished, relaxed, prepared, optimistic and keen.

I have formed an array of new habits that are positive and necessary for today’s academic writer.  At the head of this list is the realization that the practice requires one to let go; this unleashing of anxiousness, negative energy and need to control the process can be exercised in a number of ways at various points of the course.

The earliest stage, for instance, involves confronting anxiety-ridden emotions head-on. Many of my MAIS 606 classmates expressed angst over the critical review assignment within the first few forum postings.  This created a mirroring effect. I recognized that I was not alone; in fact, many participants had the exact same concerns I did. As we progressed in the course, we divulged more and more about how we felt (sometimes even outside of the forums), which led to a greater sense of community.

The next phase of letting go involves getting into the habit of sharing real draft work.  Not a polished, “reviewed-it-twenty-times” sort of paper, but a raw, genuine draft. It’s the kind where you hit the “post/save” button and wince with nerves at the thought of exposing your less than best work – on purpose! It takes a leap, but this kind of vulnerability proved to have big gains for me. I became less concerned about where the content differed, and more focussed on each writer’s approach, perspective, structure and flow. 

Lastly, (most notably for me) is forming the habit of surrendering to the research and truly writing as a means to discover.  So often in my past writing experiences did I feel like I needed to have it all figured out before getting started.  I now see how detrimental this is to the process, especially from an academic standpoint.  Moving forward in my MAIS career, I plan to rediscover all the benefits gained from this newly formed writing practice.