Today was one of my last days at school. Walking through campus it had me thinking about my own history. I had this very familiar feeling - that of one chapter closing and a new one beginning. I started reminiscing about the past year and even back to the first day. How nervous I was and uncertain of what the year would bring. It actually gave me some comfort, because I think most people feel uncertain when you finish a chapter of your life and start a new one, like with school. Because you know eventually you will get into the routine of whatever you have moved onto and will once again look back at it in a similar way. What made me particularly sad, however, was knowing that when I come back to visit in the future, things will not look or feel the way they do now. It is so strange how your memories of a place can feel so particular, and you tend to imagine that when you revisit that place, that you will have that same feeling. But you never do. Things always feel and look different.
My mother recently had that sort of experience. She took me to visit her old university and nothing looked the same. Even from the way she has always described her school, I think I was surprised as well. So, much had been built up. The gardens were not being maintained and the neighbourhood she had once lived in had seen better days. It was disappointing for her. It is strange the way your memory works.
Although I am going to miss this school and the people I got to know so well, I am going to take a lot from this year. I learned a great deal from this program and made some wonderful new friends. There are so many new possibilities waiting for the public history field. Creating a digital exhibit (website) the way we did showed me that there are new ways of educating people about history. You can reach a greater audience; people who would otherwise have a difficult time accessing this information. We also had the opportunity to produce a multimedia and interactive exhibit. It was interesting seeing how our audience interacted with technology. Some people felt quite comfortable playing around with the technology we used for the exhibits. Some, however, you could sense were intimidated by it. I think with time, as people get more comfortable with technology, there will be more room to make these interactions more intricate. For that reason, I think it will continue to be important for public historians to educate themselves with the latest technologies. Or at the very least, be knowledgable of the possiblities that are out there.
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Things change. Technology changes and new chapters begin in your life. Enjoy the memories and always remember, there is always more you can learn.
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