I think that I am a bit of a neat freak/perfectionist, so I decided to start on a piece of scrap paper before I can transfer all of my thoughts to my poster.  I know it looks like I haven’t made much progress, but it’s difficult to think of a few starting points that I can really elaborate and branch off from.  I want the points closest to me to be the most significant, so I still have to decide how specific or general I want to be.  I don’t want my project map to be a self fulfilling prophecy.

A series of tangents that somehow are cohesive to me.

scribblings of my mind

This is my story. I had no plan except to tackle the white sheet before me with my name, big and bold scrawled onto the paper. I had no direction. The first word I wrote is the word Adopted. It is an important word in my life because there are so many attached feelings, emotions, and memories that cling to that word. It has shaped me through experience. I could have written more. I could have finished the whole map in an hour. I stopped myself recognizing that the me that I am in this moment is not every me. It is only a snapshot of me. I must withdraw and regroup and confront my story another day with a new perspective, a new mood, and new personality. I present to you the scribblings of my mind. Do not be harsh in your perception of my story and realize I do not regret my ramblings, but I am hesitant of them.

This is the start to my concept map. I started with name in the middle and a circle around it. I then started it by drawing four lines coming out of my name. The purpose of these lines is to divide the map into different areas. I carefully positioned where the lines were coming out of my name as to signify what each of the quadrants represents to me and how I will eventually expand into them. I am hoping to make the top half of the page a reflection of my positive qualities and things about me that I hold to a high value. The lines coming out of the bottom represent the opposite, things about me that are not positive or that I may not hold to as high of a value. In addition there are two lengths of line coming out of my name for each direct, a long and short one. The short ones will bring in the words closer to my name, these are things that I hold closer to me or am more proud of. The longer lines are the opposite, things that are less valued to me or things about me that I tend to overlook.

Since I am more visually/symbolically inclined I gravitated towards drawing. I started with my signature in the middle (the J and G intertwined), and the various images surrounding it, which represent people who influence me (primarily family, and so far one symbol represents a motto my friend and I use). As of now, I think I will designate the top half of the work to extrinsic influences and the bottom half for more intrinsic thoughts, etc. I’ve zoomed in on some areas so that you can see I do write “captions.” I plan to include more verbalizations. People are probably not so easily going to be able to decipher the connections and the meanings…

Here’s the very basic beginning of my concept map. I’m starting with the brain, my brain, in the center. I split it into the right side and the left side. Branching off of those sides, I’m going to have the usual traits associated. I then plan on expanding out and including the activities and attributes that I do and possess that fall under those categories for each ‘side’ of the brain.

Looks like I’m taking a different approach. Just throwing in words that relate to the one “before” it. The first two I started with are the broadest definitions of myself – student, and male. I then kinda went off from there and got on a tangent with authors I enjoy. Each week will be a different color in which I add words to those I listed the week before.

I’m attempting to outline every place which has impacted my life and determine the characteristics and experiences I have gained from each place.

ConceptMap2_1 This is my humble beginning to my concept map