End of Semester Evaluation

To be honest, at the beginning of this semester I was not overly excited about taking J198. As a Journalism/Science Writing major, I have a career path in mind, and I didn't really see the need for the skills I would acquire in this class. I hoped to learn about web design as so much communication is transitioning to online-based, but I didn't have any clearly defined goals coming into J198.

I had minimal experience coming in and was intimidated initially. Now that the semester is over, I could not be happier after taking this class. First I am hooked on Twitter and blogging. I find myself putting hours of time into my blog, and it is possible that Twitter takes up more of my time than Facebook these days. I always thought Twitter was a bunch of pointless status updates, but after really immersing myself, I realized it is a collection of conversations that actually matter. I just think it's so cool.

I am really proud of the LVfit website. I learned a great deal in this class - from filmimg, editing and uploading YouTube videos to being able to better utilize Google. I thought every group had an impressive website. I think the strength of our website came from the research and design. I tend to be over critical of my own work, but many of the other groups had stronger videos (shots, editing). Our website had rich content that can be a great resource for people in the local community.

I actually just found out that I will be interning with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development's communications department. I am so excited to have this great opportunity! During the interview, I was told that web design and Twitter were major areas that they wanted to learn about from interns this summer. I was happy to engage in conversations with the interviewers about my experiences with these two skills in J198. This summer I hope to be influencial in the re-design of their website and the success of their Twitter communication.

Despite the fact that I was not overly excited to take this class, I put a lot of effort into the assignments, ultimately sparking my interest in multimedia. I feel that my skills increased dramatically due to my persistence and serious work ethic in all that I do. Although J198 is over, I hope to continue using my skills in my internship this summer as well as for personal reasons. In the spare time that I have (which will be scarce), I plan to continue writing my blog. Because my blog is about a very specific topic, it was easy to find my tribe. I love the fact that I am making a name for myself in that tribe. @AndrewOverseas has taken an interest in me. He often retweets my stuff and has included me in at least 4-5 of his daily study abroad papers. This is so cool to me. I definitely plan to continue getting my stuff out there.

Thanks for such a great semester!