This course is definitely one for the books in my mind and will be one that I always remember and take with me. Curated by the wonderful Dr. Z, the class was a pleasure to attend every Tuesday and Thursday and I learned a lot about our ever changing world and today’s society dominated by social media. The amount of the research Dr. Z has put in to be able to teach us everything is unbelievable, and even more so his passion for his work shined through every class period. It helped me stay focused and engaged even as it got closer and closer to the end of the year and increasingly harder! I view social media in a completely different light now, and I’m much better suited moving forward in my life and my career.
Two Important Skills I Learned
I learned a plethora of skills in this class that I’ll be able to take with me whoever I go. I am a broadcast journalism major with a passion for sports writing and broadcasting, and hopefully one day I find myself with a career in one or the other. But overall, many skills revolving around technology and social media that I learned are universal. For example, I had no clue all of those abilities and resources are available for us right at our fingertips with Google. Our weekly GNI readings showed us how we can use technology and social media to our advantage in countless different ways. One of the skills that I learned in specific, was how to complete a reverse image search. I always wondered how to do this, but I guess never needed to know enough to look it up. Going off of that, this course taught us real-world stuff that we can use every day. Such as how to be more intentional with my time on social media, and not jus scroll aimlessly. I learned how to be mindful of my social media use and deploy coping mechanisms.
Two Important Lessons I Learned
We explored social media from all aspects and deeply reflected upon these lessons. The key with social media is understanding the ways in which it could be bad for you, and being proactive going forward to avoid potential negative consequences. This class taught me that self-realization and self-awareness are vital when it comes to social media, and whether it has a healthy or unhealthy presence in our lives. Since technology and social media will continue to be present in our world, and only get bigger, it’s up to us to learn and understand how to moderate, regulate it and use it to our advantage. I view social media in a completely different light now. It’s not a bad thing, or a good thing, it all depends on how we use it… Almost like everything in life. Social media is really a powerful too and it’s easy to fall into social media’s lure. This course taught me how to avoid it. Aside from our use of social media, the class explored social media from all aspects. Such as how other cultures use social media, how they view it, how they react to it, etc. which I had never really thought about, but found extremely compelling.
Course’s Impact On My Future Career and Life
I know for a fact that information that I learned while taking this course is going to stick with me throughout my career. I still don’t know what that’s going to look like entirely, but the thing is, it probably won’t matter. Social media is a beast in today’s world and it’s only growing larger. Being able to understand the ins and outs of it that aren’t just surface level, and how it truly effects us is invaluable Dr. Z always said that we shouldn’t be afraid of the direction that technology is headed in and that’s something that really resonated with me.
Overall Reflection
Overall, this course has given me the tools necessary to navigate today’s world. Above all, I admired how Dr. Z genuinely cares for his students and not only wants them be successful in their careers, but their lives! I’ve had a couple professors who have really not payed any attention to students’ mental health and act like their class is the only thing in student’s lives and is the end all be all… That’s not the case for Dr. Z at all. Dr. Z constantly checked in on us, was always very reasonable and gave us extra time for things if need be. It’s small, but that’s something that I noticed every time he did it, and it’s something I appreciate. Especially in today’s stress-filled world. It left a great taste in my mouth and it allowed me to actually appreciate the time he’s giving us and what he’s teaching. I enjoyed how the class was structured, where we were presented the data and research, then were asked to give our thoughts. It makes for an inclusive, well-rounded experience. Aforementioned, I really took away a lot of knowledge and information from this course and I’m happy I decided to take it. I know for certain, that now the JoyPie (or at least the idea of it) will be with me wherever I go!