As I just realized when checking my account information, two days ago was the anniversery of the day I joined Serendip. Since then, I have fallen in love with the potential I see in this site for creating connections and communication across all kinds of disciplines. The one semester I did not use serendip in those two years, I could feel a piece of richness missing from my academics. I am excited to interact with you all more, not just in class, but here on serendip! This all being said, the reasons why I choose to use my real name today for posting are the same as when I first created my account. The simplest reason is that I couldn't come up with pseudonym that fit me. Nothing that I thought of sounded like me at all. Strangely enough, chosing a psedyonm felt confining, and some how revealing, but in an uncomfortably inadequate way. For example, if someone's name is doglover12, you are going to automatically know, first and foremost, that person is probably a dog lover. This way of naming myself felt like writing my identity into wet concrete, and when in dried all anyone would ever see when they stepped over my name in the sidewalk was just a dog lover and nothing more. My real name felt like the best representation for the very fact that it wasn't really a representation at all. Using sara.gladwin leaves you all the room to percieve me in many differing ways and through your own eyes, past the misleading concreteness I associate with crafting my own moniker. Your own various interpretations will be the best representations of my identity I could as for.

Hey, folks! So I think this is the part where I explain my user and avatar and whatnot.

Well my username is actually the one I used for twitter when I used twitter (which lasted about a week, but there you have it). I had no idea what to put as my username because I'm really bad at coming up with usernames–I can't do sudden creativity when put on the spot and under pressure, even if the pressure is imaginary–so I scoured the depths of my brain to come up with something interesting.

At that time, we'd been reading Oscar Wilde in my high school English class, so I had aphorisms and epigrams on the brain, and thus my username was born. I thought something to do with aphorisms would be kind of creative, and given the limited character form of expression that is twitter, something short and sweet like an aphorism seemed fitting. However, I am not Oscar Wilde (I only wish I could be that awesome), and I lack the ability to continually come up with witty sayings, hence the "isnt" portion.

[NOTE: I spent a half an hour trying to resize my desired image so I could change my avatar and, since I'm currently on a windows computer that I don't know how to use, I couldn't figure it out. So I'm posting the image here and I'll work on changing it later tonight.]

For the last 360 I was in, my first interaction with Serendip, this was my avatar picture:

This is a picture of myself being strong and using my voice, and I chose it because I felt it represented myself and my activism and my power. I almost didn't change the picture for this semester, because I like this one so much, but I realized that this no longer represents where I am. I am not the same person I was at the beginning of that semester, because it was such a transformational experience for me. Today in class, with all the discussion about language and reading and words and communication and different understandings, backgrounds and experiences, I was reminded of a metaphor that has stayed with me ever since the end of the Women in Walled Communities 360.

I started writing a new introduction, but after rereading the one I posted at the beginning of last semester, I realised I was still pretty fond of it, so I'm going to use most of it again, and adjust it according to the changes of thought I've experienced since then.

When deciding upon a username to use for this site, I decided that I wanted to fall somewhere between anonymity and publicly claiming my identity.  I have been taught my entire life to keep my identity private online and, to me, anonymity often feels like safety.  But I also believe that we are all responsible for what we say, online or not, and by using my name on my posts I feel like I am publicly claiming responsibility for what I say.  So I decided to fall somewhere in the middle and use only my first name- generic enough that people outside of this course will probably not know who I am, but specific enough that I feel ownership over what I am posting here.  

My thought process for picking an avatar went along similar lines- I immediately rejected using a picture of myself, because it feels more identifying than I am comfortable with.  I also wanted to use a photo I have taken, because I often take pictures of things that interest me and I feel more connected to them than to other people's photos.  

 The moment of my life that this picture captures is a crisp and happy memory for me - a combination of things that I love. Looking at it brings me to a time and place that I feel happy and at one with nature, so it felt like a very 'natural' fit for my Eco-Literacy avatar. It brings me to that magical time of year between winter and spring where the flowers are just beginning to bloom, and you can't help but to start wearing shorts and t-shirts even though it's still too cold outside. The air smells different and new, and for a few short weeks, the park by my house becomes a sea of buttercups. This photo encapsulates a 'perfect' and unshatterable memory for me, where I felt like a kid again, and could truly feel the magic of nature.

Over the summer, I had the amazing opportunity to live in D.C. for an internship. After living in one place: Bend, Oregon for my entire life, coming across the country to study at Bryn Mawr, studying abroad in Copenhagen, and living for three months in D.C., I've discovered how I can appreciate and thrive in different places. My avatar shows how happy I was living in one place, but how excited I am for traveling, living in and developing a sense of belonging somewhere else. I think that this realization will be helpful in framing concepts that we discuss in this course cluster. The environment is all around us and shapes us in different ways, while we are simultaneously shaping our own environment. 

For the most part, I am a very optimistic and always smiling type of person. I don't like to hold grudges or dwell in the past. I love setting goals for myself and challenging myself mentally, emotionally, and physically. I love to live for the adventure and no matter the circumstance, I push myself until I see the sun shine bright once again. Hence, my avatar picture reflects who I am as a person, big smile and the pink shining through the light coming through the window in my dorm. The background of the picture is white, unfilled and untouched as it awaits for a new adventure to be drawn and fill the space.