For years I have been lucky to be part of the social network that Arley Cruthers was part of too, mainly on the platform that turned apocoplyptic where she was prolific in my feed and also at BC Campus workshops where I was lucky to hear her present about diversity and inclusion and social justice in teaching.

The one thing she presented that I was always curious about but also hesitant to try was the Big Research Project which was central to a course she taught at KPU called Applied Business Writing. I collected the artifacts where she talked about it and the links to the open materials she provided. I messaged her about the project wanting to try it in my classes but always finding small barriers to implementing it. .

When Arley passed away in March I had many confusing feelings to reconcile because Arley and I had never met in person and only knew each other through social media. Honestly, I am not sure she knew me. It could have been a very one sided relationship. She was so generous and I am sure there were others like me who messaged her about her practices and shared teaching considerations. She taught in my subject matter, in a way that I aspired to. I followed her diligently and commented often on her posts. I attended her online workshops and asked questions but how much grief can someone have when that is the extent of the relationship? What I came to realize is that it didn’t matter if she knew me or if we had different ideas of our relationship. I could grieve the loss of Arley without gates of self deprecation about whether I was known by her or producing enough or contributing enough in the teaching and learning community. She impacted my work, was one of the beacons out there shining a light telling me the way I teach is not just ok, but really I could take more risk and likely be more inclusive. She influenced my teaching practice and how I think about teaching and learning in a way that are a testament to her own ability to write and communicate and just be open.

With this confusing grief I also started to worry about having access to ideas and materials she had so readily shared with the teaching community and began regathering the materials and organizing these beacons of inspiration I had. Through this I came across the Big Research Project again and I need to tell you that when I did, I felt completely cornered. In my mind it was now or never, do or die, take this risk or be a coward forever in my course that I have taught the same way for a few years now.  Arley’s Big Research Project had been simmering for so long on a back burner as a potential for incorporating into my courses. What was I waiting for when she was alive? Honestly I hoped she would come here and teach this with me. That wasn’t even likely to happen when she was alive. I had to just do it. I incorporated ABRP (Arley’s Big Research Project) into my fall 2024 courses where I taught 84 students over 4 sections in a BENG 150 – Business Communications at Coast Mountain College.