Self Evaluation

Word Count: 758

This semester I do not know if I would say I have necessarily learned a lot. I learned about podcasts and how to make one, but I can say however I was able to build on the skills I already know. I really enjoyed being able to take my previous knowledge, for example within videos and photography, and use it and expand on it. I was able to use my pictures from Greece and turn it into a final project rather than them being constrained to a photo album. I also enjoyed being able to use my passion for basketball and turn it into a fictional story. As I write this post however, I realize that I did learn a lot within this class this semester. I learned a lot about myself. I learned that everything is not black and white but can be expanded on or interpreted differently. I have learned that I enjoy reading and listening to narration when it is not solely related to school but has fictional aspects to it. I also learned that the things I have experienced can relate to other aspects of my life, and can be described through fiction rather than only focusing on its reality.

I really enjoyed having a class where I could free write, I could think about myself and focus on my thought processes rather than memorization I enjoyed the opportunity to be creative, to look at poems, stories, images, and videos and interpret them and analyze them how I wanted to rather than to the expectations of a teacher. I really appreciate that chance because I know when I get out of college I may chose to read for fun or expand my photography skills because I know I enjoy them, just when they're not related to school. Even though creative writing is a class, it never felt like work. I almost used blog posts and listening to podcasts as my "break" from school work because the task was enjoyable, I was doing work without realizing it.

One of my favorite moments from the class was listening to the podcast Homecoming. Sometimes when I watch TV shows or movies I fail to pay attention, I get distracted by work or my cell phone. While I listened to the podcast however I was intrigued every second of it. If I got distracted I would pause it or rewind until I found the last place I remember. It was also very new to me because I never listened to a podcast before, I could never concept how people could be so interested in them until I listened to Homecoming.  I also enjoyed making the podcast because it was something new to me. I liked working with Jeff because we had similar interests. I think the story we came up with was very successful for the period of time we had to fit it within, I wish however we had more access to free sound effects because that could have really added to the final product. It could have been really amazing to go to a basketball game and record the sounds. I also am unfamiliar with downloading music so it made it challenging for me to get these things without paying for them.

One thing I wish I did differently included the movie made from the piece of fiction we read. I wish we had more time because there could have been a few very interesting things done with the video I made based off of the story line. The story had so much involved within it that I think something very successful could have come out of it with more time. I understand why we did not have a lot of time to do it however because we needed to focus on the final project as a whole.

Overall I enjoyed the class. I think out of my basic understanding of technology my projects came out well. I was always amazed by the things other students did and it has inspired me to be a little more creative. I wish I had more time in general because my projects may have came out much differently. I also wish maybe some of the blog posts I was able to be more creative. I look forward to pursuing my photography and now I know I can take more videos because I know how to put them together. I learned a little about technology, but I really learned a lot about myself and my own abilities.