Personal Renaissance (Reflection Post)

Have you even been in a situation where you felt like you didn't belong?  Have you ever been somewhere where the people practice a different culture?  Or started learning a new language and feel like you will never become fluent? 

Throughout my life, I have had such experiences and hoped that I wouldn't have to go through them again.  This semester at school, I signed up for a Digital Civilization class and all of those feelings of inadequacy or difficulty have seemed to come rushing back. 


However, amidst all of the difficulty, I feel like I have learned a lot about how to learn and have truly been stretched thus far.  I created my first blog and update it a couple times a week.  I'll admit that it's different but kinda cool that we get credit for blogging about how we feel and personally connect with the historical topics given us.  I enjoy reading other peoples blogs to see how they approached studying the same topic.  I also am using the internet a lot more than I did in the past.  I used to only check ESPN, a few running websites, my e-mail and a few others but now I find myself spending hours looking up information about historical topics.  I have definitely been stretched when it comes for the search and consumption of knowledge.

Another cool yet frustrating part of my digital civilization class is the opportunity that we have to use digital media to aid in learning and connecting with others.  At the beginning of the semester, I made a post that caused me to think about how a structured person feels in an unstructured organization.  I often feel that I am that structured person.  I feel most comfortable when I know what I am supposed to do and have guidelines to follow and then work on the assignment.  I like this type of structure because there is a beginning and and an end to the assignment.  I often feel that in this course, there is no end.  I could spend hours studying certain topics and there will always be more that I could have done.  This sense of openness although frustrating has been very difficult for me but has helped me learn and grow as a student being able to direct my own studies.

Digital literature is a new language and is a hard wave to surf on.  I feel like I've been thrown on a tidal wave when I'm only ready for a dinky wave.  It is fun to see, however, how many different types and uses there are for digital media.  Like I said earlier, this is my first blog and the first time I've taken the time to associate with others on the blogosphere.   The constant push for connecting and learning from others led me to create a LinkedIn account that allows me to connect/network with people in the professional world.  LinkedIn has been helpful in searching for a job and figuring out what I want to do when I graduate in April.

Will I ever feel digitally literate?  Does anyone really feel fluent in digital literacy?  I don't think so...it looks like I'll be going through a personal renaissance for the next who knows how long.