Reflection

The 13 Things blogging assignment turned out to be more than I expected, especially when I figured out all of the different websites we had to explore. Before I started this blog I was not familiar with blogging in general or why people even do it. I felt like blogging was something you did when you had nothing better to do then to spill information, feelings, or ideas out on the internet for almost anyone to view. I have now come to the realization that it does consist of things but it is also a way for people to gain other people's ideas, knowledge, or criticism. When used professionally one can get answers to a question, feedback on a piece, or ideas that they may never have thought of. When I started to look at blogging in that sense I became interested and intrigued to keep up on my posts and other sites I have registered under.

The sites that we got to explore while creating this blog are all new to me. I have heard of some of them before but never took the time to get involved with any of them. The biggest that I was familiar with was Twitter but saw the site as another way for people in the world to creep on you. When I found out that some of my wakeboarding idols all tweet about once a week, I became very interested and decided to follow them. Come to find out now I have one of the wakeboarding brands following me on Twitter, which is rather amazing if you ask me even if they are following 2,500 other people. The site that I found to be a lot of fun was the word clouds site. This was simple and fun to me because it deals kind of with a graphic design (typography) format. It was nice that all you had to do was copy and paste, or paste the URl to the website, and the site would give you all sorts of different cloud designs to choose from. The word cloud of my blog gave me insight on words that relate to who I am. The words that were the biggest described me the best and the words that were small were just everyday used words. This was my favorite post because of the graphic design aspect but also because of the story that I wrote about Doreen Meiers and her husband. The word cloud that was created from this story was rather touching due to the words that ended up being the largest. Everything that meant the most to Doreen in her life were the words that ended up being big and standing out which made it an amazing and touching post.

This blog made me realize that sometimes it's nice to sit down and just reflect your own opinion about a site, feelings, or ideas. A blog gives you no limitation and allows you to open up and write about whatever it is you want to write about. As far as my day-to-day activities, I feel as if I should take the occasional break to lay my ideas, thoughts, and feelings out to step away from the stressful world and calm down. By laying everything out on a screen you either realize it is that bad or there is an easier solution to a problem. After I leave Coe I will probably continue to blog for those exacts reason that I just listed. I may even create a blog of something that I feel strongly about so that when I get off work I can think creatively and openly about something close to me. This will allow me to take my mind off of the world and put it into something that makes me happy and calm.

Having no due dates in this class forced me to get ready for the real world were there are not always due dates but instead to manage my time efficiently and effectively. This was a difficult transition because I am used to always having due dates in school but it was finally nice to have a reality check of what is to come after college. I always found myself giving my own times and dates of when things needed to be done based on my other work and social events. Some of the material in the class I wish we sometimes had a set date to have it in by because it allows me to manage my work, or prioritize it, based on when it should be done. It also helps me keep track of what I am supposed to be doing instead of remembering it at the last second. Overall, I would have to say that I am pleased with the work we are getting an opportunity to create this semester in this class; I would also have to say that I am happy about creating this 13 Things blog because it opened me up to something new that I probably would never have done if it wasn't for this class.