Last Essay

I think I've learned more by reading the Wall Street Journal instead of a traditional textbook. I also think I was able to learn more about Mass Comm by reading articles that are up to date and discussing topics in areas that are more valuable to me. I'd rather read articles in the paper than a textbook. It made me reevaluate what I actually want to do with my education and career goals. I do think I learned more by reading the paper than using a regular textbook. As for it affecting my schedule, it was that big of a deal. I would take the paper to work and read articles before my shift started or read a few on my breaks so in that sense it was a lot easier. The only downfall was that when I had the time to read I sometimes forgot the major information before the quizzes. It did though help me a lot in my speech honors class which I have prior to Mass Comm. While I was visiting my sister in north Florida- out in the country with NO PHONE SERVICE nor internet.... I took my WSJ's and read stories that I assumed would be sent to us on Sunday night, I came across and article on Tobacco Taxes and decided I would use that for my final speech in my speech class, Which was today && I got an A on it. Anyways, I also used another article i read a few months ago to do another informative speech on google latitudes. So it actually ended up helping me a lot in other classes.

At first I didn't think I would renew my subscription but after a little thought I am going to. I did enjoy reading it and I did end up reading a lot of articles that we didn't have to but I read them b/c I wanted to. I'll have more free time after this semester ends to actually read for the enjoyment not because it's assigned. I also caught myself a lot of times saying things like "Yesterday I read in the WSJ..." =) Like the stat that 78% of alcohol that is bought in Ireland is consumed within 3 hours, I'll never forget that!!

I don't have any suggestions right now for the class at all. I enjoyed everything from WSJ quizzes, TEWWG, almost everyone's presentations, and of course the overwhelming amount of extra credit offered. I learned a lot from this class and loved how it is set up!

Pursuing a career in Mass Comm... hmmm... I am not sure. I love to write and read. Writing is def. a passion of mine, but I didn't want to necessarily be into "journalism" I didn't want to write for a paper, or anything to do with news. I'm glad I took this class cause Ken explained how your talent doesn't equal a degree and vice versa. After coming to help clean out the old journalism space and talking to Ken I've decided to just to General Studies at VCC and then figure out what exactly I want to do later. I'm not going to major in journalism but I do want to do something within the communications industry... I just don't know what yet =)

Social Networking!

As of right now I use myspace, facebook and twitter for my social networking needs. I've had my myspace for close to 5 years now and facebook and twitter I've just recently become a member of. Although I do have all three of these services I most likely would not pay to use them.

I primarily use my facebook to keep in contact with my relatives and old friends in P.A. I don't use any of the applications that facebook allows users too send too each other. It is way to time consuming and I'd rather be doing something more productive. I do like myspace more than facebook because I've had it for a longer time and it allows you to change your backgrounds, colors, and post bulletins that only your friends on your buddy list can see. As for twitter I've just made my account last week because we were talking about it Mass Comm. If people add me that's fine but I probably won't go looking out for friends to add to my followers, unless I was honestly that bored.

I don't know exactly how much time I spend on these social networking services a week but probably more than I should. Or maybe not necessarily too much time but probably at the wrong time when I should be doing homework or studying, it's a great distraction tool! If I wake up earlier enough before I leave for school I check my facebook and myspace and most likely change the status of where I am, what I'm doing or what I'm thinking. The throughout my day I probably check myspace 3 or 4 times from my phone or when I go on break at work. When I come home from work or school I might check it once before doing homework, spending time with my boyfriend and going to sleep. Although it may seem like I get on these websites a lot I don't take the time to look through friends pictures or post crazy bulletins, which are the most time consuming parts of myspace.