Published on Oct. 8, 2019
Hi, my name is Abby and I’m a freshman Digital Storytelling Major. I came to Mizzou from another state in the Midwest – Ohio! I got to keep all of the Midwest weather, but the time zone is different. Ohio is an hour ahead, which was a small but strange thing to keep track of on the way here. Speaking of keeping track of things on the way here… I’m a plant person and moving 20-something plants for eight hours in a hot car was an adventure. I spent most of the ride worrying over whether they had enough sun or were getting too toasty, rather than thinking about moving into a dorm. I got lucky though, my entire suite (one of whom is Kathryn, another Stamps Scholar) is lovely! We like to spend time together and even took a trip to Kathryn’s hometown of Wildwood last weekend. Apparently we’re all fully adapted to dorm living; we had her whole house to spread out in and all of us kept clustering in one small space.
My plants on the drive to Missouri! (With my baby sister and her toy Truman in the background)
As far as academics, my research is my absolute favorite part of the week. I’m working with the Art of Death ASH program to investigate the cognitive associations we have and how we react to the idea of death. I’m on the Digital Storytelling pod, and we’re working on putting together a digital installation that gently evokes thoughts of death in participants. This might seem a little grim, but I’m enjoying it so much. While we have pods for Digital Storytelling, Psychology, and Art and Archaeology, it ties into discussions of philosophy, religion, and the human condition. I’m one of the younger people on my team, which is a little stressful, but I’m learning so much so quickly and I love it. I can’t wait to do more with my research and get involved around campus. Talk to you soon!
– Abby Blenk, Stamps Scholar Class of 2023