To prepare for writing this blog post I went back and read my post from last year on the same topic. Obviously it was reflecting on 2017 and looking forward to 2018. Very similar to 2017, you can pretty much slice my 2018 right down the middle into two equal segments. Up until July, I was working at Gladstone Regional Art Gallery & Museum. Then, I managed to secure my actual dream role at the Integrated Pathology Learning Centre at the University of Queensland. It was yet another year of moving around the place and learning new skills.
What I Learned in 2018…
2018 was one of those years that I don’t feel was overwhelmingly good or bad. It was filled with such extremes that, on balance, it turned out to be a pretty neutral year. What it did achieve, however, was setting me up for what will hopefully be a stable year in 2019.
Unlike last year’s post, I’m not going to separate it into the two different geographical locations. I feel that I cannot confine what I learnt to this format. Instead, I’m just going to dot point a few key lessons I learnt in 2018. I’m trying to keep things simple in 2019.
- It’s ok to put yourself first especially when it comes to new opportunities
- How to boss-up (i.e. how to start being an effective manager in my new role)
- Asking a lot of questions and/or for advice is not bad
- It’s so much better writing emails that are direct than spending countless lines explaining how sorry you are to be bothering the recipient
- How to be assertive
- I can feasibly fit my possessions into the back of a 2009 Toyota Corolla
Apart from the last point, the others are all work-related or were things I learnt in my personal life that I then applied to my work life and feel as though I have benefited greatly from doing so.
What I hope to learn in 2019….
Above everything else, I want 2019 to be a year of stability. I feel that this is the year to have that goal. Especially considering I find myself in a role I have wanted and been working towards for five years. I want to get to the end of 2019 and feel as though it was a year of in-depth, relevant learning and not one that was filled with an overwhelming amount of change.
Here are some things I want to learn in 2019:
- Expand my knowledge of creating multimedia displays
- How to dismiss negative unsolicited advice (I have struggled with this a lot in the past because I take things to heart way too easily. I’m making a very conscious decision in 2019 to coat myself in some Teflon and let things slide.)
- So much more about the specimens in our collection
- How to create and communicate meaningful change
- How to better manage my blog (on platforms such as Instagram).
Even if I can tick one of those things off my list at the end of 2019 I know it will have been a good year.
There is quite a lot to look forward to in 2019 and I hope to share a lot of it on the blog. In April I’ll be going back to America to visit Las Vegas and Chicago. I am beyond excited to visit all the incredible museums in Chicago and finally get to the Mob Museum in Las Vegas! In May, I’ll be attending the 2019 Museums Galleries Australia Conference in Alice Springs. No doubt I will be learning a lot at the conference. I am also really excited to travel more to Sydney and Melbourne.
As for the latter half of the year, it is still under construction.
To summarise it all, I hope 2019 is a stable year filled with meaningful growth and opportunities for me to personally and professionally thrive.
To finish, here are some of my favourite museum and heritage moments from 2018 (in no chronological order because my media library is all mixed up).
Curate Your Own Adventure 