Looking back at myself six weeks ago, I see a person who was confused, worried and very scared of what I was about to encounter. Blogging, I wondered, what exactly will we be doing? Am I going to cope with this highly technical course and will I participate fully and not feel intimidated by this course which required technical knowledge in its application? These are some of the questions that bothered and unsettled me every time I thought of the course that awaited me during the start of the forth term. But six weeks later, I seem to have come up with the necessary answers to address the above questions. I look at the two contrasting characteristics which belong to me and feel sorry for the ignorant me but at the same time, I am proud of the transformation that took place in trying to replace that ignorant person of six weeks ago.
Before starting the course on blogging, I only knew the basic information about blogs that include that, a blog was a forum where people expressed themselves through article writing. It sounds surprising but this is the bulk of information I knew about blogs. How they set up the blogs in the first place was a puzzle I had to figure out during the time we started setting up our b logs in the Journalism class. I had never really gotten around to asking people who have better technical knowledge about computers how this could be done but thanks to the course, I now know how one sets up maintains and “beautify” a blog once one sets up this forum for their opinions and views.
After the technical aspect had been handled, I started to feel more at ease as I discovered that, blogging is not as difficult and challenging as I thought to be. Application of the theory in the practical sense was quite fun and I became so much fascinated by the numerous search engines we were introduced to such as comeeko. For someone who did not have so much knowledge of such services being available on the internet, it opened a new horizon for me and I began to regard the computer as a new friend and not an enemy in any way. I started to realise that, there was so much I could perform over the internet instead of only relying on the machine for typing assignments and constantly checking my yahoo mail. The mundane routine was replaced by a new and fascinating hobby which was in every sense academic. The initial fear was replaced by curiosity of how all the stuff our lecturers told us could be applied in the practical sense.
Over this period, I have learnt to be more patient in everything I do especially anything to do with the academic issues. Working in groups during this project has not always been smooth and easy. It has been tough when I look at how my other group members have been reluctant to cooperate for some of the activities we have had to do. I have learnt to be patient and at the same time I have been taught endurance. At one point, Amy and I had to leave the Jacaranda Laboratory after ten in the evening because we had to finish the photo comic assignment that was due at exactly five minutes before midnight. This was unusual for me as I stay in digs. Usually, by eight o’clock I am at home and in most cases will be preparing my evening meal but on this night, I had to make a sacrifice because my academic work had to come first. We had to meet a deadline and failure to do so would have cost us a lot of marks which were important in maintaining our academic record and performance. I have learnt to go the extra mile in ensuring that, the academic house is in perfect order. The assignments we have had to do this term have really encouraged us to work in groups and allocate each other duties. In a way, this has instilled a sense of organisation in me as an individual because on several occasions my group was disorganised but we finally put our act together in the end and produced our work in time for submission. This developed characteristic is of great help considering the fact that, success in the co-operate world requires working as a team on many occasions. I have had to learn my lesson the hard way but all of it was worth the effort.
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