Bootcamp Week

This was a particularly memorable week. It was the first time I had taken part in an intensive classroom situation for over 30 years and it was quite an experience. Four aspects were particularly memorable in this class, namely the knowledge I obtained, my personal reactions to the class, getting to know my classmates and how I coped with the new environment

1. Expanding my knowledge

Dr Fynn made me question my approach as to what reality is. Each day he introduced us to a new view of reality which totally blew my mind as I could see benefits in each approach and by the end of each day I was convinced that the view of reality that we were taught that day was the one I wanted to follow. I was particularly distraught by the fact that all the views of reality had their merits and wondered how I would be able to apply one particular view to my own research. By the end of the week I realised that it was not necessary to consistently use the same view of reality over several projects but that what was important, that the view of reality that you chose was consistent within a research project was used consistently and that the research approach used coincided with the view of reality you had chosen. We undertook several group activities during this period…

1. Investigation of an Ethnographic approach. Damien Echols: Report on a Damien Echols interview downloaded from Youtube
2. Investigation of narrative thematic analysis, semiotic analysis and discourse analysis. J Cole lost ones Discourse analysis of Verse 1. In addition, we were required to analyse Papa wag vir jou (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmLSzf96h-k). I did not really understand this advertisement initially but when it was explained to me and I watched it a few times more, it left quite an impression on me and evoked a very emotional reaction of disgust and fear. I thought this was a particularly good advertisement.
3. A discourse analysis of the song “Lost Ones” by J Cole. Perhaps because of my age, I didn’t always grasp the vernacular used in this song but found it very interesting. What I did realise was that it was important to research the background of a text in terms of the culturally, ethnicity, historically and linguistic aspects of what you are analysing. Ignorance of a milieu cannot be tolerated when it comes to research.
4. An analysis of the poster “foreplay…”. Our group was on the completely wrong track by suggesting an “Action Research” approach. I found the interpretation of this poster particularly difficult but surprisingly, welcomed the feedback we received. My approach was that I was here to learn and learning also encompassed making mistakes.
5. Personal reactions to the class

I can only say that I blossomed in this first week. I found the energy in the classroom invigorating and felt like a sponge soaking up the new knowledge. I have always enjoyed debate and conversations around interesting topics such as those that were covered in the first week and can honestly say that at no stage was I bored. I found myself fully immersed in the classes and found them invigorating. I cherished the feeling of expending my knowledge and being exposed to new ideas and approaches.

3. Getting to know my classmates

I have a great respect for the people in my class. I think in that first week we bonded well. I don’t know if the MARC coordinators had planned this but the bootcamp week served as a means to ensure group cohesion. We all had the same challenges (with Dr Fynn questioning our idea of reality) and came together as a group through this common challenge. The bootcamp week also tested my ability to work in a team. As I was not very experienced about how I would work in a team, I was a bit apprehensive, but I needn’t have worried. My teammates, Zindi, Mokgadi and Celiswe were very easy to get on with and we all pulled our weight. Barring for the last project (foreplay…) we managed to understand and describe the tasks well.

4. Coping with the new environment

In this first week, I was very aware of the problems I had because of my MS. One of the most obvious effects of the MS is a problem with my speech. For years before entering the MARC course, I shied away from talking even to the extent that I went out of my way to communicate with my clients by email rather than telephonically. I was very aware that this was not an ideal situation, and I was determined to change that. The bootcamp week gave me the opportunity. I found myself being very vocal in class – taking every opportunity to speak up no matter how much I slurred my words. I appreciated the patience that was shown to me (during the whole MARC course so far in fact). I overcame my shyness and told myself that even if what I was saying was wrong, it didn’t matter as long as I took part. The more I made the effort to speak, the easier I found it.

As my speech deteriorates with tiredness, and as I was working late into the night during the bootcamp week, I resolved that once the bootcamp week was over, I would make an effort to not work at night, but rather get up early in the morning to avoid extreme tiredness and make sure I got a full quota of sleep.