As I end this semester, I am also ending an integral phase of my life- that of an undergraduate student. With a lot of goodbyes coming up, I am in a strange point of excitement and nervousness. This semester, I sort of ended up taking the RMST course because I no longer needed to meet the language requirement. It seems crazy to think that I could’ve been struggling to make my way in Spanish all this time, instead of reading all the incredible texts I had an opportunity to engage with in this class. What a relief, and what a great surprise-filled journey this was!
The most important takeaway for me through the semester has been to learn to open my mind to the structural and general understandings of what  novels are. It has also been so enjoyable understanding the authors, not just their work, and positioning them as agents and creators of the book. This practice invited us to have our own ideas, supplemented by the honour of knowing the context of the author’s life and general world events at the time of their writing. A memory from class that will stick with me long after it’s over is the zoom class with Norman Manea. It was such a delight to e-meet him, ask him a question and just watch him talk about the book, and his life with so much passion. His words of encouragement and high praise for the class and the instructors was so heart-warming. I believe that as people, we need role models ( to be inspired by), and I am certain Mr. Manea is one of mine.
I also really enjoyed readings books that were not meant to be primarily read in English. As a non-native English speaker, I often find it fascinating to see the structure, and expressions of authors whose works have been translated. Reading novels translates from languages like Spanish and French gave a unique window into experiencing these novels in a special way and also opened my eyes to a variety of contexts and perspectives of history that were foreign to me. My question is how you experienced translated works? Did it make a difference in how you interpreted them?
In sum, I am grateful to have taken this class, and excited that it contributed so many colourful and diverse books to my physical bookshelf (which I hold as a prized possession). I’d also like to extend my sincere gratitude to Jon, Jenifer and Patricio for helping me expand my mind with their brilliantly crafted questions, and their very careful curation of the course contracts, which were so creative and gave the students agency in their performance. Now, at the risk of my essay sounding like an acceptance speech, I will post this blog and log off.. sincerely hoping to cross paths with all the incredible students and the instructors of this course in the future! 🙂