{"id":123,"date":"2026-08-19T18:23:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T18:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/classof2030\/?p=123"},"modified":"2026-08-19T19:38:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T19:38:49","slug":"its-all-part-of-the-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/classof2030\/2026\/08\/19\/its-all-part-of-the-process\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s all part of the process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hi all! Welcome to college\/Macaulay \ud83d\ude42 My name is Charlotte and I\u2019m fellow at the Teaching and Learning Collaboratory (TLC), where I largely work at Lehman, City, and Baruch. I\u2019m in the humanities, English lit specifically, with a focus on early modern (aka 16th-17th century) plays, where I\u2019m interested in part in what the past tells us about the present (including ways it disrupts or challenges the way we think about now), including what it tells us about social systems like the carceral system and genres like horror (speaking of, did anyone see the film Camp Miasma <\/em>this summer? Tell me your thoughts!). I also work as a writing consultant and have taught writing classes, so I\u2019d be happy to chat about any writing projects you are doing! Something I\u2019m currently working on in that area is trying to get back to handwriting rather than typing so much\u2014to recover the kind of thinking and learning that comes in through that physical wrestling with pen\/pencil and paper!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Affirmation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I hope you give yourself space to try things out, to explore, to talk to each other. As my colleague Sonia<\/a> so beautifully emphasized already, learning happens in community, so I hope anytime you feel lonely or stressed in your work you can reach out to fellow students, faculty, and staff. Alongside Rakhee<\/a> and Lisa<\/a>, I hope you can find room to be creative and play and to find value in the learning that comes from trying, trying, and trying again. I\u2019d say one of the more important things I\u2019ve learned in my education is that I\u2019m better off diving in, asking questions, asking for help, and brainstorming with others than feeling alone and anxious about starting or \u201cdoing it exactly right.\u201d I also really hope you make some amazing friends with whom you can share the \u201clove, positivity, grace, and general good vibes\u201d Andre <\/a>describes! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing I am excited about<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Art watching\u2014and people watching!\u2014at this year\u2019s Night at the Museum. Joe<\/a> talks about it more in another post, but this year\u2019s N@TM is at the Guggenheim for the first time, and they\u2019re giving us free range in wandering about most of the museum, which feels rather magical. I\u2019m pretty psyched to see not just the art, but also everyone reacting to and interacting with it. From there, I\u2019m excited to see how your time at the Guggenheim might spark or inform your projects for the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts<\/strong>, and Math) Festival in December (you\u2019ll learn more about that soon!) or how the experience might show up in any projects or writing you do on OpenLab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing I need community support to get through <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I could use community support in\u2026.knowing what support you need as an incoming freshman community! What do you want to do, to learn, to know? I and the other TLCs would love to support you in what you want to learn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Allison<\/a>, I also would love insights into navigating AI, including any insights on how and why people (including members of the incoming class) are using it\u2014or why they may be avoiding it or thinking critically about it. If you feel vexed or unsure or ambiguous about AI use, why, and\/or what is it you would need or want in your education that would support you in choosing to not engage with it? As the previous parts of this post might make clear, I think process is so important to learning (the thinking, drafting, writing, revising, etc), so I\u2019m curious about ways that AI might affect that. (As Andre also noted, the Critical AI at Macaulay Group is something to look out for, whether your join it or learn from the peer educators involved with it). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PS: Post title inspired by the song by Morcheeba! (You too can include YouTube videos on an OpenLab post by pasting in the link). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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