“Spatial media are more and more mediating how space is understood and the interactions occurring within them. Geographic spaces are evermore complemented with various kinds of georeferenced and real-time data – pictures, thoughts, statistics, reviews, historical documents, routes – that can be accessed through a plethora of augmented and location-aware maps and interactive displays that have multiple points of view.”
How I have grown – in the past year – as a student, a researcher, and a writer.
A little more than a year ago, I started typing the very first words of my very first blog post, also the very first words of my very first (BCM111) assignment at a university 7000 kilometres away from home.
Back then, The Specs was still named (after so many attempts) The January Journal, a reference to my birth month, and an attempt at a catchy title. The header image was still a default one provided with the theme, the wording clumsy and bland, the references redundant and irrelevant, and the blog’s owner utterly confused and disoriented.
Two sessions (plus a Summer session) and three writerly subjects (BCM110, BCM212, BCM241) later, The Specs has gained certain acknowledgement by my lecturers, tutors, and my friends. I have grown so much as an independent student, researcher, and writer.
How I enjoy going to the cinema alone – and how that has to to with time geography
Since I’ve been in Australia a year and a half ago, I haven’t set foot in a single movie theatre (Well I actually have, but just to see the price and had to ‘casually’ walk out – those prices were ridiculously high, compared to what I had been so used to in Vietnam (about AUD3.00-4.00 per ticket).
By being everywhere at once, we end up being (in its truest sense – be present) nowhere at all.
Fact: This blog post was supposed to be up two days ago on Friday, but I have no regrets putting it off until just now, because I just came back from a trip to Blue Mountains (with my significant other who has, unfortunately, been the target of all the whining and complaining I’ve been throwing around for the past month about not having had a decent break for about more than half a year – now I’ve got it at last) which has given me so much more insights into the matter.
During my weekend in the breathlessly picturesque Blue Mountains, I did something I don’t do very usually – I switched off my mobile data connection most off the time, except for at the beginning and the end of each day to message my family and close friends. That means I was no longer everywhere at the same time – in other words, I cut myself off from the multi-media-spaces I had so deeply been in. Continue reading “Media Space: a trip to Blue Mountains, Apparition, Mindfulness, and one Session-Long Self-Experiment”
At last, my BCM212 research on language barriers and Vietnamese international undergraduates at UOW has officially been finished. The progress has engraved in my mind the values of good research and good researchers – particularly critical judgement, social responsibility, and flexibility – as well as brushing up on my communications strategy planning skills.Continue reading “[BCM212] Reflection – The Rigorous Research”
Thank you for making this little page Bloggies’ Best BCM Blog x
(The Specs is there in the background)
The Specs has won Best BCM Blog at today’s #BCM110 and #BCM112 Bloggies Award at UOW, and I still can’t believe it. Well, not just yet.
I’m not good at delivering award acceptance speeches. I can write on the spot, not speak on the spot…
And no matter how true the above is, I still can’t find the words to thank Sue – my lecturer – and Renee – my awesome tutor, as well as the teaching staff, for this chance. It might be a tiny achievement, it means so much to me.
I started The Specs hoping to find my voice heard. And I received so much more, I got friends supporting me on Twitter and WordPress and Instagram, despite the fact that I’m utterly shy and borderline incompetent in socializing. Thank you for your sweet support and your kind words.
In that clumsy acceptance speech, I said how this little achievement has made me a little more confident. It does, it does. I set out not even dreaming of being a nominee, seeing how I’m not a native speaker and an international student. And now, I’ve been proven wrong. And never have I felt this grateful for being wrong.
Now that I’m quite sure that I’m a decent blogger/writer, I’ll try to make this my “thing”. Just wait and see guys.
If you were to meet me right now, here, in Australia, and ask me what my name was, I’d be most likely giving out this answer:
“I’m Mia.”
But that is, in some sense, a lie. Because my original name is not Mia. It’s Đỗ Dương Minh Anh (yep, the Vietnamese version with all the correct ‘accent marks’). ‘Accent marks’ aside, written in the first name – middle name – last name format, it should be Minh-Anh Duong Do or Minh-Anh Do-Duong. Unfortunately, I’m stuck with Duong Minh Anh Do in all of my translated ID papers, including my uni transcript and my name in the roll call for all of my subjects. Meaning, whoever looking at that would think my name is Duong. It hadn’t really bothered me much, since I requested to add an alternate first name – Mia – to my personal details, and my life became a teeny little easier.
![[BCM212] Reflection – The Rigorous Research](https://thespecsofmia.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/bcm212-featured-pic-5.png?w=1200)
The Specs 