(set: $finished to false, $comeng to false, $comrhe to false, $sustai to false, $URSCA to false, $gloeng to false)(set: $explored to 0, $counter to 0, $timer to 0)(set: $name to "Honora")
\
\Hello there! Before we begin this project, I'd like to take you on a little tour, so you know what's going on. This project comes to you in the form of a Twine game, and the instructions are really easy! Basically, you navigate this story just by clicking links. Maybe you already know this, though, which leads me to my first question: have you ever played a Twine game before?
[Yes]<y|
[No]<n|(click: ?y)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(replace: ?y)[-----](replace: ?n)[]Oh, then awesome! I guess maybe you didn't need this tour after all. Just so you know, regular links in this story will be (color: "DarkRed")[**this color**] and cycling links will be (color: "Crimson")[**this color**]. Hooks/links that don't bring you to a different passage will be the same color as regular links.
[[Let's get on with it!]]]](click: ?n)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(replace: ?y)[-----](replace: ?n)[]Alrighty, then! So, basically, the whole story will be navigated through links like the ones you just clicked on. Some of them will bring you to a new "passage" with all new text and others will just add a few words to the page you're on. There are also ones like this, which cycle through options:
<span class='cycle'>(cyclinglink: "Red","Orange","Yellow","Green","Blue","Purple")</span>
Since this Twine story isn't much of a //game//, and just a story/reflection, none of these links will affect the outcome in any significant way. However, I encourage you to read through all of the cycling links and content for the fullest experience.
[[Let's get on with it!]]]][Your name is...]<name|(click-replace: ?name)[(set: $name to (prompt: "Your first name:","Honora"))(t8n: "dissolve")[Your name is $name. It's your first year at UW-River Falls—you're a transfer student, coming from UW-Stout—and everything is really weird. Upside down, even.
It's 2020. Things have been really weird since the spring: in March, you went home for spring break at UW-Stout and never went back (other than to bring all of your things home). All summer, you stayed in your house, doing next to nothing and seeing nobody. When school came back, you signed up for all online courses and cancelled the housing contract you signed back in December. COVID-19 was at large, and it still is today.
You had been looking forward to living on campus, participating in NAfME, and getting to know your fellow music students, despite the fact that you had a rough time adjusting to living on campus at Stout. It was going to be different because you were in a different major. You weren't studying game design anymore, because you had known even at the end of high school that that wasn't really what you wanted anymore.
You were understandably disappointed when things only got worse over the summer compared to the spring and you had to stay home. But now it's Fall 2020, and it's time to [[start your online classes]].]]Thankfully, you have a little bit of experience with online classes from the spring. Even better, this time your professors have had time to prepare online content and aren't flying by the seats of their pants.
You have seven of them. Two are choir: Concert Choir and Women's Chorus. It's a little weird, because you're independently learning the music and don't really have any rehearsals. One is geology: unrelated to your major, but fun nonetheless. You have a communication studies class, an introductory one—it's surprisingly fun, and not as scary as you were expecting. You're taking music history, too: it's a bit dry at times, but you know a little bit about what you're learning from Music in Our World last year. You also have to take a health and fitness class, which is typically not your cup of tea, but this one is okay. Finally, you have the [[Honors Seminar]].Like at UW-Stout, you're enrolled in the Honors Program. It's a little bit different here than it was there (no Colloquium or required Enhancement Events, which is nice when you're all online), obviously, but it was something you were interested in anyway.
The Honors Seminar is a bit of a weird concept to you. You understand the premise, because it's a good way to make sure you understand the expectations for the Honors Program, but it's a little bit weird to have a whole [class period]<oops|(click-replace: ?oops)[course (you still have the habit of using terms from high school to describe stuff in college)] devoted to it.
You figure out that you're going to be learning about the [[5 core competencies|MENU]].(if: $explored >= 3)[(set: $finished to true)]
\
\(unless: $explored is 5)[Please select a competency to investigate:](if: $comeng is false)[
[[Community Engagement]]](if: $comrhe is false)[
[[Communication and Rhetoric]]](if: $sustai is false)[
[[Sustainability]]](if: $URSCA is false)[
[[URSCA]]](if: $gloeng is false)[
[[Global Engagement]]](if: $finished is true and $explored < 5)[
[[I'm all done. Let's move on.]]](elseif: $finished is true and $explored is 5)[{}[[I'm all done. Let's move on.]]](set: $explored to it + 1, $comrhe to true)
\
\This one is a little weird and confusing to you sometimes (even though it shouldn't be). You learned a little bit about what [rhetoric]<define| was last year, in your English class at Stout, but it's still kind of a strange concept, because you're sure there's more to it than the simple definition you know. (click: ?define)[(t8n: "dissolve")[
//(It's persuasion, as far as you can garner. That's perhaps an overly simplistic explanation, and a lot of sites also include "effective speaking/writing" along with this, but persuasion is the bit that you remember the most.)//]]
Still, though, you like the fact that this is required. It's not a whole lot different than what you would be [required]<explain| to take for the university in the first place(click: ?explain)[ (you have to take music theory classes—all four of them—for your major, and Theory II counts for this)], but it's a nice reminder.
You're going to need to be a very good communicator [where you're going]<major|(click: ?major)[ (which is teaching music, for the record)]. Somewhere in you, you do know that you're not as bad at this as you seem to think, but [[you want all of the help you can get]].(set: $explored to it + 1, $sustai to true)
\
\You've always had a bit of a weird relationship with sustainability (at least the bit that you were familiar with at the start of the semester): you know that there's problems, and you agree that things should change, but you also find so many of the suggestions people have didactic, moralizing, or unrealistic. You start the semester with a very basic idea of how you can help out—mostly sourced from the [EekoWorld game]<linkb|(click: ?linkb)[(openurl: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svX3W2_afRc")] you used to play on the PBS Kids website as a kid.
You also had a lengthy discussion on the matter at last year's Honors Colloquium at Stout, after reading //[Garbology]<link|(click: ?link)[(openurl: "http://www.edwardhumes.com/garbology")]//. A lot of that discussion was ways of reducing waste, and the problem of consumption and convenience overshadowing the amount of waste actually being produced.
You assume that the discussion you have on the subject this year is going to [[follow the same thread]]. (set: $explored to it + 1, $URSCA to true)
\
\The [URSCA]<define|(click: ?define)[ (Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activities)] requirement reminds you of the Honors Contract requirement back at UW-Stout. You associate it a lot more heavily with scientific research, but it's pretty much the same premise: you have to do a longer project, whether it is, in fact, research or a creative project.
At this point in time, you're not 100% sure what this is going to entail for you. You remember reading that this requirement can be fulfilled through a class in your major, but you're not really sure what would count in yours. However, part of the work you needed to do for the Honors Seminar was to come up with a [few things you might want to research]<ideas|—so at least you have that, if there's nothing [[relevant]] in your coursework.(click: ?ideas)[(t8n: "dissolve")[
//(For you, it's either continuing your ethnography from Stout, investigating the idea of the music ensemble as family—and the relationships therein—or types of educational [games]<irony| and their effectiveness.)//]](click: ?irony)[(t8n: "dissolve")[
//(It's ironic, really, that one of your ideas went back to the major you were so happy to leave. One part of your idea for this project was even creating your own educational game.)//]](set: $explored to it + 1, $gloeng to true)
\
\This core competency freaked you out a little bit the first time you read about it, because one of the big ways to fulfil the requirement is to travel abroad (and you can't do that). Thankfully, though, you noticed the option to fulfill this through classes or a portfolio soon after.
This one makes sense just like community engagement. It's kind of the same premise, but in this case, the [whole world is your community]<image|.(click: ?image)[ //(It reminds you of the concept of [imagined communities]<link|(click: ?link)[(openurl: "https://people.ucalgary.ca/~bakardji/community/imagined_communities.html")] from anthropology last year—feeling a sense of community with people you never actually see.)//] For this, you all explore UWRF's virtual study abroad fair. It's not super relevant to you, you think, because you're terribly aware that you're not actually going to study abroad, but it's interesting, you guess.
This whole topic reminds you a whole lot of Jay's spiel on [[presence]] in game design last year. It's December now. You don't feel different. Or maybe you do. It's complicated.
You've definitely learned a lot, and a lot has changed in your life in the last three months. In September you had Belle, and now you have Rosa. In September you were feeling a certain amount of imposter syndrome regarding your new major, and now you're feeling very secure in your choice. And of course you've learned: not only the material for your classes, but also how to balance your work while you're at home.
You've moved on from Harry Potter to Portal. You've found friends in the music ed. department, which you didn't do in game design. You reconnected with God. You wrote a crap ton of music for a pseudo-Barbie movie.
You're different, but you don't [feel different]<eh|.(click: ?eh)[ //(You suppose that part of it is because you're in the interminable time void of the Coronavirus Pandemic.)//] It's a little weird, but that's how it goes, isn't it? You change and learn and grow, but despite everything, it's still you (Toby Fox, [//Undertale//]<linka|(click: ?linka)[(openurl: "https://undertale.com/")]).
And now, [[the future is always on its way]] (Paul Shapera, "We Bid You All Adieu," [//Dolls of New Albion//]<linkb|(click: ?linkb)[(openurl: "https://mochalab.bandcamp.com/track/act-4-s7-we-bid-you-all-adieu")]).(set: $explored to it + 1, $comeng to true)
\
\This one makes a lot of sense to you as a concept, even if you aren't sure how you're going to [implement it]<gosh|.(click: ?gosh)[ //(You've never volunteered before, other than for Service Learning Day in high school.)//] A lot of the activities you do in the Honors Seminar relating to this one also tie back into communication and rhetoric. [It makes sense, you guess.]<expand|(click: ?expand)[(t8n: "dissolve")[
In order to be engaged with your community, you have to be able to communicate with them. You can't really have one without the other. Plus, one of the bigger activities you did relating to this competency was watching the efforts of an artist using pasted art to shed light on and change issues around the world. Not only did his speech to the audience need communication skills, but so did the actual art-making process: he found people, asked for their stories, and brought a team of his own together to help him with some of the projects. It makes sense to you—you can't help people if you don't know what they need.
[[Continue.]]]]Right now, during this fall semester, you're already taking Intro to Communication, which you're both excited for and a bit [apprehensive about]<why|(click: ?why)[ (it's going to be giving different types of speeches, which isn't the //most// stressful thing for you, but still)]. You know that music theory falls under the idea of "`[introducing you]` to the language of `[your]` discipline,"^^[`[1]`]<cite|^^ and that's great, but not really the kind of communication practice you're looking for.
In Honors 190 (the seminar), you explore this competency through watching a few successful communicators (and, on a less direct note, attending a discussion for something else). It's great. You know that you're going to need communication skills for [everything in life, ]<tangent|(click-replace: ?tangent)[everything in life—you needed them for the M.A.G.I.C. Club and SCV^^2^^ in high school, in your SGX game preparation at Stout, and you're going to need them to teach—]and hearing other people talk gives you something to go off of.
(For the record, you do know that you're not that bad at communicating with others. You just feel awkward with small talk, especially right now while everything is done through a video call where it's hard to tell if someone else is going to speak, and [last year at Stout ]<explain|(click: ?explain)[—not feeling connected to the others in your major because you didn't actually want to be there and being so terribly homesick and teary/sad that you isolated yourself from your peers—]was a bad experience for you.)
But for now, even though you can't practice your skills much in-person, you're content to study up on how other people communicate, and learn a few skills along the way.
[[I'm done here.|MENU]]
(click: ?cite)[(t8n: "dissolve")[^^`[1]`^^Quote from the [Honors Program Handbook]]<link|(click: ?link)[(open-url: "https://www.uwrf.edu/Honors/upload/HPStudent-Handbook-Fall-2020-3.pdf")].]It does and it doesn't. There is some mention of the role of the consumer—a given—but you're a bit surprised to find that //The Story of Plastic//, the documentary you're tasked with watching and discussing, focuses a lot more on the role of the companies who are producing plastic. In fact, they suggest that a lot of the discourse surrounding the consumer's responsibility in reducing waste, while still helpful, is also being used to hide the large problem and responsibility of the companies. It gives you something to think about.
Another thing that strikes you as interesting is the Honors Program's focus on multiple types of sustainability: to you, the focus has always been on the third "pillar," environmental awareness/impact. Other than the brief stint in [anthropology]<tangent| last year, you hadn't even considered the ideas of economic or social justice/development. (click: ?tangent)[(t8n: "dissolve")[
//(You had gone over both of these topics, sort of—cultural anthropology was focused on people and their interactions within a culture, with prestige and prejudice, and learning about economies, in the most general sense of the word, was a whole topic. But you'd never seen them through the lens of// sustainability//.)//]]
In general, going over these topics again at least gets you [thinking]<think|(click: ?think)[ (kind of like how being in health class got you thinking about what you eat and started you back on cooking your own food)]. You're not sure how quickly any change is going to be inspired, and you're not 100% sure how you're going to apply this later, other than in your personal life and decisions. You're still not 100% sure what the other two pillars are all about, but that's what the rest of your time in the Honors Program is for, isn't it?
[[I'm done here.|MENU]]Whether or not it's something that ends up stemming from your major, the idea of doing a large project is really exciting to you: the similar Honors Contract requirement was part of what drew you in to Stout's Honors Program, after all. You've never had the chance to do something like this formally (the last big project, in your anthropology class, ended up being cancelled amidst COVID).
You like doing research and large projects. [You've been doing them your whole life, even in your free time.]<lots|(click: ?lots)[(t8n: "dissolve")[ As a kid, you used to write (but never finish) research papers in a little composition notebook instead of going to [sleep]<why|.(click: ?why)[ //(You were—and are—a terrible insomniac.)//] You've stared more novels and art projects than you can count, but when you're doing them only for yourself, you have a terrible tendency to not finish. Something like this—where it's required but you have free reign over what you're doing—is perfect.
You don't know when you'll be able to do something like this again, really. You know you're probably going to do research on something related o your major whether it's for one of your classes or not. You think it might be a good thing you could bring up to future employers, and depending on what you research or create, it could shape the way you interact with others. It all depends, really.
[[I'm done here.|MENU]]]]You like this core competency. It makes sense to you, and you've been meaning to [volunteer]<excuse| anyway.(click: ?excuse)[ //(You shouldn't need an excuse to do so, but now you have one, in any case.)//] You always liked doing stuff on Service Learning Day, and you think it could be fun. You don't know what exactly you'd [want to do]<things|, but even beyond this Honors Program requirement, you expect to see yourself continuing to volunteer in the future.(click: ?things)[(t8n: "dissolve")[
//(You'd thought about working with dogs, first, when you'd been in that state of mind following your dog being put down, but you're not sure where you'd do that. The nearest shelter is in Hudson, or maybe New Richmond, and at this point you don't have a car. In high school, you used to go with the choir teacher's SLD group to sing at nursing homes, but you're not sure how that would work on your own either. After that, you'd thought about finding opportunities in the schools or with kids, since you'll need to do stuff like that before your sophomore review anyway. It's an interesting prospect, but right now, you're hesitant to go forward with anything because you know you can't leave the house yet. Maybe not until after the spring semester.)//]]
Beyond just volunteer work, though, being engaged with your community is going to be super important when you're a teacher. When you <span class='cycle'>(cycling-link: "went to", "attended", "watched panels at", "tuned into")</span> conference, there were whole sessions dedicated to the first few years and/or student teaching, and one of the big points was to get involved with the community that your school is in. Attend sports games. Greet people at the door. Things like that. Plus, as a person, you know that things feel much better when you're [involved and associating with other people]<explain|.(click: ?explain)[(t8n: "dissolve")[
//(Last year, at Stout, you had a rough time. It started out as homesickness, got better, and then immediately got worse after you officially changed your major. Even now, you're not sure what happened—all you know is that on September 30th, you were suddenly not OK, and that feeling lasted into October. It wasn't really even feeling bad, just teary, but it made you isolate yourself from your floormates and the game design students, and you were really lonely. You knew that talking to those people helped, too—you felt so good that night you stayed up to help decorate the floor for the holidays—but you still were kind of reclusive. You'd hoped to not follow that pattern at River Falls, and although it's a bit difficult when you're living at home, you think you're doing a better job.)//]]
[[I'm done here.|MENU]]These were the three aspects of being present, according to [Jay]<link|(click: ?link)[(openurl: "https://www.uwstout.edu/directory/littlej")]:
(live: 1s)[(if: time >= 0s)[(transition: "dissolve")[{}[Focus on the present.]<presenttime| (stop:)]]](click: ?presenttime)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(set: $counter to it + 1)
//This one referrred to staying up-to-date and aware of what was currently going on. For game design, this meant keeping up with trends through journals, blogs, and social media. For global engagement, it's a bit less specific: keeping up with news around the world, being aware of things that are happening outside of your physical community's bubble.//]]
(live: 1s)[(if: time >= 3s)[(transition: "dissolve")[{}[Maintain a presence.]<presence| (stop:)]]](click: ?presence)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(set: $counter to it + 1)
//This one meant staying active in your field. For game design, it meant attending events like conferences and conventions, participating in game jams, and being in professional organizations. For global engagement, it's again not quite so specific: you could stay active through organizations, keeping up with people you might know across the globe, or fighting for a cause you really believe in—things like that.//]]
(live: 1s)[(if: time >= 6s)[(transition: "dissolve")[{}[Present yourself.]<presentself| (stop:)]]](click: ?presentself)[(t8n: "dissolve")[(set: $counter to it + 1)
//This one referred to conveying your experience, and posing yourself as an expert (not in a way where you were lying, just in that you were, in fact, involved). For game design, it involved establishing a place within the game design community and writing about things, trying for awards, and things like that (some of which comes naturally from being involved). This one is hard to relate to global engagement, because you really only can be an expert on yourself and your own community. You could find some of this, though, in being involved, re: maintaining a presence.//]]
(live: 1s)[(if: $counter is 3)[(set: $timer to it + 1)(if: $timer >= 10)[(stop:)(t8n: "dissolve")[You see this core competency relating to you a lot. Game design and music education are definitely not the same, but in this regard they're very similar. Staying engaged involves not only being present as you talked about at Stout, but also doing so on a large scale. Things are taught differently across the globe, and it could be worthwhile to see what's going on out there. Plus, you do perform a lot of music from around the world in schools.
Personally, it's perhaps a bit less important, but you know that the world is becoming increasingly globablized. It's important to stay informed of what's going on across the planet in order to understand just what's going on. It's a bit overwhelming to think about, but you know it's worthwhile, because even now, things that are going on on the other side of the ocean are affecting life in your own community (and vice versa).
[[I'm done here.|MENU]]]]]][Your name is...]<name|(click-replace: ?name)[(t8n: "dissolve")[Your name is $name. It's the end of your first semester at UW-River Falls. You're going to school to be a music teacher. Right now, you're a vocal music ed. major, but soonthey're going to be moving to a single-licensure degree, and you think you want to get in on that instead.
You don't know what's going to happen. You started out wanting to teach choir in middle or high school specifically, but now you're not so sure. You think you'd be open to any grade—it'll take some experience and experimenting to know for sure—and you think you'd be OK teaching instrumental music. General music actually sounds kind of fun, too. Your future goals are horribly vague, and you don't think they're going to become any less vague until you're allowed to be a functioning member of society [again]<explain|.(click: ?explain)[ //(Right now, you're sequestered in your house until further notice. Vaccines are in the works. You're hopeful but cautious.)//]
It's hard to look too far forward—if the pandemic has taught you anything, it's that things can change at the drop of a hat. You think you want to live in a triplex with all of your friends. You think you want to have a kid or two—possibly and probably through adoption. You want a dog. You want to make students feel at home in your classroom, as your choir teachers did for you. But beyond that, you're not sure.
[[Continue.|future2]]]][My name is...]<name|(click-replace: ?name)[(t8n: "dissolve")[My name is Natalie. And this was a story about me and my thought processes through the Honors Seminar.
The future, of course, is horribly vague. I know that a lot of the things I'm learning and doing right now (learning how to communicate, getting involved in my community, and staying in touch with the world as a whole, for starters) are going to help me later on, through my whole life. I have a list of somewhat vague goals tucked away in a notebook now. I know that the experiences that I'm accruing now are going to influence me long into the future.
I don't know how that's going to plan out, and sometimes I'm not sure how to connect the dots. But I'm glad that you have come along on this journey with me! Maybe reading my thought processes has helped you connect the dots, or maybe not. And after all, planting those seeds of thought is half the battle :)
[Please enter your password.]<pass|(click: ?pass)[
\(set: $password to (lowercase: (prompt: "Please enter your password:", "AAAAAA")))
\(if: $password is "190lawton")[(goto: "Explain")]
\(else:)[(replace: ?pass)[Try [[again|future2]].]]]
[[Don't have one?]]]]Twine story by (if: $password is "190lawton")[Natalie Maino](else:)["Nathalia Mañana"].
The colors belong to the rainbow.
The font belongs to Vernon Adams.
The Storyline belongs to Reality because it's not actually fiction.
[Again?]<again|(click: ?again)[(reload:)]If you're here, you're probably not my Honors 190 instructor (who this project was written for). But thanks for reading anyway! You probably maybe don't know me, unless you didn't know you had a password or just happened to know me, but that's okay.
I thank you for reading my whole spiel regardless.
[[The End.]] Hello there! Thank you for reading through my little spiel. It was perhaps a bit vague, but I was hoping that putting you in my shoes and walking you through my thoughts was a good way of showing you my thoughts without just telling you outright in a more boring fashion.
Hopefully you've enjoyed this experience, tangents and all, and it's given you a clear enough insight as to how I've changed over the semester and what I've learned (and how I'm going to apply it in the future). Thanks for guiding me (and the rest of our class, I guess) on this journey, short as it may have been.
[[The End.]]