• What is biggest area of growth you have experienced so far as a Vivero Fellow?

The biggest area of growth I’ve experienced as a Vivero Fellow is learning to not be afraid of learning digital tools. I’ve articulated this feeling in many previous blog posts, but I think that as each new digital tool comes with its set of unique rules, that becomes intimidating. Some digital work can get monotonous, like filling out an Excel spreadsheet. However, there’s something about ArcGIS, for example, that remains pretty challenging each time you log in. Getting in the habit of logging into these digital tools regularly helped me to learn to not be intimidated by them.

 

• Are there any areas (technical, methodological, practical) that you feel are areas of weakness for you as a Fellow?

An area I feel is a weakness for me is the practical parts of being a Vivero Fellow. For me, I find it difficult to make progress in something that does not have a clear-cut answer. Something I need to work on is that a done product is better than a perfect product. If something I made digitally does not look the most aesthetically pleasing, I’m often caught up in how I can make it better to look at. Or, if I’m experimenting on a digital platform, I have trouble deciding what is good for my purposes, which leaves me confused. One way that I get out of these ruts is turning to a project lead or a Vivero co-lead. Talking these things out has always been helpful.

 

• What has been your favorite thing to learn as a Vivero Fellow so far?

My favorite thing to learn as a Vivero Fellow so far is how to organize my time. I think I used to struggle with the intimidation of a large project in school, but Vivero taught me to set smaller goals and go with the flow of things. I think how I have learned how to break up my time in Vivero has helped me think about how to break up my work into manageable pieces in other aspects of my life.

 

• Considering these three areas (things you have gotten good at, things you would like to be better at, things you have enjoyed learning), which area would you most like to focus on in your training and professional development going forward? This could be a specific tool or method (eg mapping, ArcGIS Online), a skill area (mentoring/teaching, project planning), or anything else related to your work as a Fellow and your interests in digital scholarship.

In my training and professional development, I want to learn how to better advise people in the use of digital tools. This goal falls under the category of mentoring. In the past, I’ve been able to point out digital tools to my friends that I thought would be helpful for school or auxiliary projects. I would hope to be able to get better at talking with people about how and when to incorporate digital tools into their work and to have a strong enough grasp on a bunch of digital tools to do so.

 

• What are some specific things you would like to achieve in this area (ie, master Elementor if you want to become a better web developer)?

Some specific things I’d like to achieve in this area are developing a vocabulary for helping others out. I would want to know how to clearly explain the different elements of the backend of a WordPress site, for example. While doing the work of the digital humanities, I forget the names of some digital aspects I use regularly. This work of mentoring would also require that I am a good listener and can respond to the person/people I’m mentoring in a helpful, generative, and kind way.

 

• Which of these things do you want to do first, and what is the first step to doing that thing?

I think I would want to develop a strong vocabulary in digital tools. The first step to doing that is looking back on the trainings. I would read them carefully and take note of what words and phrases would be good to know.