Seminars: an unbelievably rewarding experience.

Yesterday I went for the first time to a Seminar.

To start off, I have to say that I had never been interested in going to seminars or conferences aside from the compulsory ones and I can't explain why. I think it was the fear of being called snob or teacher's pet if I went, but I'm not sure that's the only reason. What I can tell you is that if you're thinking of a seminar you're interested in YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY GO.

In my case I found this one by chance. My tutor of the TFG (the dissertation we have to write at the end of the degree) had told me to visit a blog named Cos i Textualitat, written by a research group with whom she works with and which is run by one of my other teachers. She told me to visit the blog because their research group is related to the topic of my TFG, and while I was there gossiping I found out about this Seminar. In fact it was a series of seminars and this one was the last one, entitled Sexualitats i representacions culturals II: Internet i cinema (Sexualities and cultural representations). The title was very alluring and within a few minutes, as soon as I could find someone to accompany me, I sent an e-mail confirming my attendance.

The seminar was 4 hours long, divided into two presentations where we could interrupt and debate at any time. The truth is that comparing it to the classes at uni where the lessons are one hour and a half long and sometimes they seem like four,  these four hours could easily be one the most enjoyable 4 hours of my life. The 'lecturers' presented us with another view of sexualities, putting special attention to transsexuality and intersexuality, and how they were represented into films and the internet. They started off by presenting us the theory, quoting big names like Judith Butler, Michel Foucault and others I know because I have either heard of them in class or I have read or quoted them myself in my TFG; to then continue with the more practical part where they talked - and we discussed - about a blog I used to visit quite a lot and which I enjoyed very much to see again (La Tortilleria) or several TV series and films, some of them I had already seen ('Boys don't cry') and some of them I am going to watch these following days ('Black Mirror', 'XXY' or 'Tomboy' are a few examples). Not only weren't the 'lectures' boring but also the debates were very interesting, mostly because everyone had a different perspective of things, some of us didn't know much and some others - like my teacher, who was there - knew a lot of what they were talking about.

But it wasn't the fact that I was learning what got me excited on the first place. It was the fact that for the first time in my life I was excited to attend something related to my degree that was not compulsory, I had the feeling I was doing something useful and rewarding with my time. I now know that classes may be boring but there are other ways to learn, and this is one of them. In fact, me and my friend were the only students, the rest were adults who either worked in this research group - and who organized the event - or who presumably had other jobs and met there to talk about a topic they're interested in. I was there in a room with people that were interested in the same topic I am interested in, and this proved to be thrilling.

In short, I am definitely going to go to more seminars if they are as interesting and exciting as this one, and if you are thinking of going to one, I absolutely recommend it.