Jared takes a step back from his intense research into Mortuus Messis to reflect on his academic journey and the challenges he faces with his dissertation project. After submitting his dissertation outline and bibliography to his committee, Jared contemplates the difficulties of pursuing a niche topic like opera folklore in the remote academic environment of Newfoundland.

He shares personal insights about his upbringing in a creative family, with a mother who was an opera singer and a father who was a playwright, providing a glimpse into his childhood filled with artistic chaos and inspiration. Jared also reveals the contrasting academic environment at Whitestone University, where his research on Mortuus Messis seems out of sync with the dominant focus on sea shanties and fisherman songs.