Tuesday 4 September 2012

images from another world


image : Abigail Alderson

When I first started writing about my work
I was very careful to be anonymous
and not identify place, colleagues or students.
There was a lot of suspicion of blogs
and examples of people losing their jobs.
How times have changed!
Social media are now valued
as ways to promote research
and several of my academic colleagues
have blogs and twitter accounts.

Today I want to share something special:
the blog of a first year undergraduate student

Abigail Alderson

Abi is an example of the opportunities
that are available for enthusiastic students.
She is funded by the Royal Geographical Society
to do field work on an important research project
in areas of rural China unvisited by tourists.
I am sure she would not have dreamed of this
last September when she started her studies.

Student blogs do not get a big audience
because they are not part of a blogging community
but Abi has a natural flair for images
which I know that you will appreciate.
I particularly enjoy her use of Instagram.
Abi is still in China but I asked her
if I could share the link to her blog
and she was happy for me to do so.
Please go and enjoy these glimpses
of a world that few of us will reach.

(if you say hello she will know me as Alice - not MrsM!)

4 comments:

  1. presumably soon to be second year undergraduate ...

    is this a case of mentor/mentee ?

    Good pics by the way - is there a Pinterest account to go with this ? I have learnt everything I know on this from MrsM I hasten to add in case I am coming across as some sort of early adopter.

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  2. I'll check that link...sounds like an interesting project and student :)

    Must say that blogging - and the internet in general - often does play a very real part in employment situations. I've been on both sides; when reviewing applicants for a position, there's a step pretty early on when names are googled.
    And I've been quizzed by prospective employers because, as a freelance writer and photographer, my own name comes up in snippets that (in true google-bit fashion) can be quite odd taken out of context.
    I used to google my own name from time to time, trying to keep track of how often my published work was being stolen (quite often, sad to say, and often by magazine editors!), but I finally stopped because it just made my head hurt.

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  3. I just got lost in Abi's blog ... how wonderful!

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  4. What a wonderful opportunity those young people have. I should have been too nervous to travel so far.

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