“f you had a real museum of you, even if it’s not possible, what would be in there? What would you show us (or a different audience) to help us really understand you as a learner and a person? Give us a guided tour of your own Museum of Me (I mean you).”

Student A:

If I had a museum of me, the main display would be my laptop. Side displays would include my Android phone, a pair of headphones, my nook, and room filled with all the computers I have ever used. The museum would be free admission, and it would have a futuristic theme with electronics all over. Google would have its logo trademarked on almost everything, and all of the walls in the building would be transparent. All guests would be provided with a handheld device that would allow them to interact with the exhibit.

Each attraction in this museum would be constantly updated. In front of an attraction, would be a RSS button that would allow users to sync their device to the live feed of an exhibit as they walked around. In addition to the attractions, this museum would also have a section set aside for hands on experiments. This section of the museum would have fun, do-it-yourself projects that guests can take home.

The museum of me would be designed to be free and transparent because it represents my support of the open source community. I believe that most everything should be publically available and so transparency tells the guests that there is nothing to hide. The futuristic theme is representative of my fascination of science fiction. I am always interested in new technologies and it is thanks to science fiction that the concepts for these technologies exist. The RSS buttons and handheld devices represent how instant information is in my life.

The Google trademarks would be around on most everything because Google has had a huge impact on how I interact with the Internet. I rely on so many of Google’s products that I would find my life completely different without it’s services. Through Google search, I have learned many new things and Google Calendar and Mail have increased my productivity. Google has simplified all of these processes that would make my life much more difficult without it.

One of the more important sections in the museum would be the area reserved for hands on experiments. In my experience, I have learned the most from doing things on my own. I usually invest time to explore more about the topic that interests me instead of letting my curiosity go unanswered. This portion of the museum is symbolic of how I have learned all that I know.

The main attraction of the museum would be my laptop because it is one of the technologies that have changed how I interact with the world. The laptop is the medium that has given me access to the Internet and it is the tool that has allowed me to learn all that I have. The Android phone however is an increasing influence in my life. Through this phone, I have another portal to the Internet and its expanding wealth of resources.

The exhibit that contains all of the computers I have used is representative of how fast technology is changing. It is a room that provides historical reference of my past learning mediums and it allows guests to see how fast changes are occurring in my life.

The final two exhibits, the headphones and nook, are exhibits that show my main forms of entertainment.

Student B:

Well, for one, it would have to be split into a bunch of different rooms. I have a tendency to compartmentalize my life: religion, fandom, school, sports, etc. all get categorized in my head. Not that everything doesn’t cross-over in many different ways, but I love being neat and organized.

And I imagine all of these rooms arranged around a central hub, which would be wall-to-wall books. I once told a friend of mine who was planning to be an architect that I wanted to hire him to build me a house that was nothing but a multi-story library with a bathroom attached. So a central library would be entirely appropriate. All of my books would be there, from my kids books that I will never throw out (I have a complete Animorphs collection from my tweens in storage. There’s an admission I never thought I’d put online) to my SF and fantasy set (ranging from my dog-eared Lord of the Rings to my Star Wars expanded universe set to my extremely precious Lois McMaster Bujold collection). My historical fiction and realistic fiction tend to blend together on my shelves (after all, anything taking place any earlier than right now is technically historical) and I have a whole bunch of religious texts that I have lugged through a variety of countries, gluing in pages and studying in spare time. I also have a small collection of cookbooks, how-to books (mostly for origami) and a bunch of textbooks I value enough not to try and resell, most of them media studies textbooks. I suppose I would also have to put up my DVD’s, even though they are a poor representation of my actual tastes, being that I tend to watch most of my shows online, and borrow/rent most of my movies. A better collection would be the 50+ VHS tapes that I grew up on, still gathering dust in my old house. My family made the switch to DVDs fairly late in the game, so all of my childhood movies are still there on old-fashioned tape. We still have all the players in my house.

The main hub would probably also have to contain my laptop, like Student A’s. These days the laptop is my hub. I can literally bring it to my desk and plug it into my external hard drive, a mouse, my 19-inch computer screen and my ipod/USB port/anything else I need to plug in. Everything is set up for easy access. I’m also meticulous in organizing my folders, so you could literally search through my life by topic and year if you can figure out my unique way of labeling things. (For example, anything to do with bills, recipes or general house-management is in a folder called “Apartment” because my apartment is where I’m in charge of stuff like that. “My Athenas” is where I put my original fiction and poetry that I write, as a nod to the Greek myths. It’s all figure-out-able)

Anyway, from the central hub you would be able to go into separate rooms for the different aspects of my life. Each of the doors would have to next to the relevant books – my blog room would be near my SF/fantasy collection, my college stuff would be near my college textbooks. And every room would have to have digital e-readers to browse through my writings and books, and there would have to be screens to show clips of my life and movies I watch. I’m a pretty media-oriented person, so these elements would have to show.

And there would have to be video clips of me. A lot of museums will show you the letters a person wrote, but I think that while I can gather my thoughts much more neatly in writing, writing completely fails to represent me. It’s too mediated. Not that video is perfect, but you can’t really begin to understand me until you see me ranting in a barely-controlled fashion about a topic that is extremely important to me, or watching me completely make a fool of myself and try to backpedal (not that I’m proud of those moments, but they are all mine). Or totally win an argument because I enjoy verbal sparring.

Also, there would be large, informative plaques EVERYWHERE. Nothing drives me crazier than museums (like the MoMa) that seem to think I will be satisfied if they stick up a measly two lines with the name of the artist and the year the piece was made. I’m a straightforward person and I love explaining things/having things explained to me. So, large informative plaques, and signs and digital displays and interactive terminals that will tell you everything.

In the crazy off-chance that anyone would want to even visit a museum about just me, of course.

I mean, I’m literally no Superman. And it took him a thousand years for him to get a museum :)!

Student C:

Wow, the stuff you guys came up with is really in-depth and detailed, I’m having a much harder time with this question.

Also, Student B, I am slightly in love with you now for saying that you have an Animorphs collection. I was a hardcore fan of that book series back when I was younger. I think I still have all of my books.

I think my museum would probably also have a central area that you walk into when you enter the museum, with different rooms that branch off of it. In the central area of my museum there would be all the books I’ve read and loved over the years, similar to Student B’s central library area. It would have the books that were meaningful from my childhood, like Animorphs, to the books that are more meaningful to me today, like Harry Potter (which will always be meaningful to me!) and my Asimov collection. It would also have my entire Science Fiction collection, my fantasy collection, and my graphic novels. Watchmen and V for Vendetta would be given special places of honor, because they’re my two favorites. Guests to this museum would be able to take the books over to comfy couches and reading chairs by the bookshelves and read them and look through them. I’d want my museum to be really interactive, so everything would be hands on.

In a room branching off from the main one there would be a screening room. Movies and television are an important part of my life, so in this room there would be showings of my favorite movies and TV shows on a huge screen with awesome surround sound and stuff like that. People could buy popcorn and drinks, so it would be like a giant movie theater. In addition, branching off of this room, there would be smaller private viewing areas for guests to select what they want to watch out of the collection of my favorite movies and TV shows.

In another room branching off from the main room, there would be a personal history of my computers and electronics. Guests could see my old desktops and my current macbook, and could play video games on macbooks that would be open for public use. They would be able to play my favorite games, like The Sims and Spore. In addition, they could read on Kindles and play on Wiis, and be able to see my Kindle and my Wii.

Another room would be dedicated to the music that I listen to, since music is an important part of my life. All over the walls there would be posters of my favorite bands and pictures of the concerts that I’ve gone to. There would be iPod touches (my music player of choice) for guests to use to listen to any of the artists or songs that I love.

There would also have to be a room dedicated to my pets. I’ve had, over the years, a dozen gerbils, two hamsters, three guinea pigs, three cats, and a number of goldfish. All of them (with the exception of the goldfish, since I won them from carnivals and they would just die a week or two later) have been really important to me. There would be pictures of them and information for guests to read about their lives. There would also be an interactive animal area, where guests could pick up and play with animals like the ones I’ve had. I think that could be a lot of fun.

There would also have to be a room with all the t-shirts I’ve ever worn. All I ever wear is tees, and I own so many of them that it’s gotten to the point where they no longer fit in my drawers. I have a lot of fun tees, my favorite being this one (don’t click if you don’t want every movie ever ruined for you!). I think my t-shirts say a lot about my personality, so they would definitely have to be in my museum.

I think that’s it!

Student D:

I read every Animorphs book when I was a kid <3. Thats how I grew as a reader, it was Cam Jansen–>Encyclopedia Brown–>Animorphs–>Sports Biographies–>Frankenstein–> to the various books I read now.
There is no way I am planning out the rooms these things are in, so I will simply list as they enter my brain.

I guess those books would have to be included. There would have to be some mention of my favorite writer, Bill Simmons, in the form of some of his columns and podcasts. There would have to be some first season Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers episodes, and action figures in my museum. Various sports paraphernalia, both personal and stuff from professional sports. There will have to be a section on my professional wrestling obsession. In terms of music, I wouldn’t do anything extensive. Narrow it down to a few artists (Dylan, Beatles, Goo Goo Dolls, NIN, Nirvana, etc.). Aha! A good idea for a room would be all just movie posters, or plaques or something, my own music hall of fame. I guess we could split it into rooms, Movie Room, Music Room, Sports Room, Book Room. I guess a television room could be used as well, there are a few shows worthy of such distinction. Lets call it… Television Room!

And then the main room, would be the entrance room. I like the video idea. Totally stealing it. I would like videos of of me and my family to chronicle the people who have affected me in my life (and when I say family 1 or 2 friends are included). And decorating the walls of these rooms I would like a few quotes that mean very much to me. That would be the rough draft of my museum. Main room plus 5 specialty rooms. I could live with that… I think.