Failure Statement

                My biggest failure this semester came during Micro Project 2, where we were supposed to design an unconventional map.  I went around campus and took the pictures I wanted in order to make the map I had in mind.  I wanted to create a Block O with the path going around the Block O and insert a campus with the direction one should be heading.  I spent about two hours trying this out and it was not turning into what I envisioned, in a bad way.  The campus always pointed West and it did not represent my feelings or senses on the way to class.  Therefore, I scrapped the idea and restarted.  The final result is posted on my blog and I think it is a huge success which resulted from a failure.

                I learned a few things from this failure.  First is that it is OK to scrap an original idea if it is not conveying the “Big Idea” you are trying to represent.  However, this failure also taught me that one rarely completely scraps from the original.  I still used the same pictures, the same path, etc.  The only main difference was the way in which I chose to convey them.  Second, this may have been my best project because I failed.  Since I failed the first time, I put considerable more time into the project.  Time allowed me to develop ideas and find new ways of representing ideas.

                My biggest success this semester was the same project I failed on.  I always love geography and map making (it’s my major) so I really spent a good amount of time on it.  I created a map with modern features and antique features combined, and I really liked the final result.  I learned from this success that my best work will result from time.  It’s simple, the more time invested will generally mean a better project in the end.

                If I could redo one project, it would be Micro Project 4, with the sounds.  I really liked my final outcome, but I now that I understand the software a little better, I feel like I could do a better representation.