7 weeks already?

It's unbelievable all that has been accomplished in just seven weeks time. Going into this class, I didn't think that we'd get as in depth as we obviously have with these lessons, simply because the online setting was new to me. I thought we'd need more time to get to where we are now. I was wrong.

So what have I accomplished? Let's start off easy. I feel that I've really found my online voice for the most part. Granted, at the beginning I think it would've been easier for some if my voice were more formal or by the book. That's not me though. I'm energetic and enthusiastic about the work I produce and want to express it in that matter.

In this course, from day one I learned that sometimes mistakes can lead to bigger and better things, and the best way to get your idea across and to sell it is to be yourself. You don't want to appear condescending or a know it all. You need to be able to relate to your reader and make them feel equal. That's why I chose the voice I did and never changed it. I never wanted to appear as some other random blogger. I wanted to be me.

The Devil's Advocate exercise was perhaps my favorite one. Granted, in retrospect I probably fell victim to my own personal experience more than I intended. However, the lesson was still there. To be given the opportunity to look at a something from a perspective other than your usual one opens up the mind in ways that helped me to find my true niche for the remainder of this class.

Perhaps the most important thing I learned is that there are no stupid ideas or true mistakes. I didn't know where I would go when I started this class. I thought my original idea was too "out there" and something people wouldn't like at all. Yet I was given the encouragement needed to get it started, and became more confident. I've never written this extensively online before, or had the courage to. Now I do.

I will definitely continue to make use of this blog, not only to expand on my niche in ways I wasn't able to in such a short time given the change of idea, but to get my own work out there as well. This is a communications program, I'm hoping for a job in video editing and production one day (the script exercise helped me realize that as well. I already have another blueprint of sorts of what I want to do for next year's ski video). What better way to promote yourself than to utilize the most popular tools of the era, mainly online social media. The blog is a great first step in that regard.

This was a great class and I'm sorry to see it end. I only hope I'll be able to make further, proper use of these tools in the following years as I continue in the ICM program. One day at a time, right?