Introspective, Outrospective, Retrospective.

“So, what have you learnt from your experiences in this course?” is what I’m trying to ask myself, writing my first ever proper “Reflexive Piece”. It’s quite a loaded question if you think about it – no straight answer to that! I guess I’ll have to try and come as close to an easy-to-understand answer as possible. Because for me, as much as this course was centred around the theory of narrative and genre, and journalism in new media in general, being a group-work assignment, it also taught me much more than just that. It opened my eyes to my own abilities and showed me how strong and successful a good team can be.

Much of the formulation of our blog was centred on planning from the perspective of teamwork, and scheduling which would enable us to work together successfully enough to bring the blog in fruition and success. Initially, I found the prospect of working in a team in which all the other members are girls quite daunting and intimidating, simply because I know how tough it can be to work with some (defiantly not ALL) girls. Luckily, the group I had been placed in was made up of girls who did not fit this generalisation at all. Planning was the key factor which held the group together, especially in terms of formulating a basic idea for our blog and its theme, as well as later on producing the actual stories to be published on the blog. Although sometime ideas and opinions might have clashed, I feel that what we ended up with was a well-rounded, well-formulated, and attractive blog with quality articles being posted. I am proud to say that our blog came second in the competition between the blogs of the first year Journ blogs.

In the beginning, I felt that our productivity and freedom of expression (even within journalistic limits) was slightly cramped due to our blog having to conform to certain standards set by the Department of journalism and the other blogs being posted. However, we quickly grew accustomed to the form and style that was expected of us, and succeeded in publishing, and commenting on, the issues we wished to discuss, or chose to examine on our blog. Many of these stories and their ideas were relatively easy to formulate and come up with, since they were almost pre-dictated by the theme and personality we decided to give our blog. All the issues involved with surviving the “Sotally Tober” side of First Year were perfect for discussion. I believe we chose an appropriate theme, since it enabled us to engage with issues which others would be too afraid to raise, to relate to, and attract the actual first year population at Rhodes, as well as other Universities worldwide, and still produce journalism with value and literary worth.

At tutorial meetings, as well as our own team-meetings which we privately arranged for ourselves, our team worked together to bring what we thought were the most important issues and aspects of the things being discussed, and the relevance to our blog in the best way possible. Not knowing what to expect when we were given the brief for the initial blog plan, I was surprised by the focus of the members of my group which helped us formulate a clear picture of what we were expecting from our blog. In terms of my personal input and growth at these meetings, I offered the most I could, hoping that my computer studies classes back in high school would come in handy, since the blog would be purely internet-based, and would need to be well formatted and attractive, as well as functional, interesting, and entertaining. Luckily, I was fortunate and my basic past experiences with simple html-editing and internet and website control and creation, turned out extremely handy and helped us a great deal in achieving the look and function we desired the blog to have. I believe that my personal input and growth was substantial and greatly helped the blog get to where it finally is today, and was an important part of the experience I gained from this course in new media.

However, this course, being new and completely different from the courses we had previously done in other semesters in journalism and media studies, did raise certain doubts and questions among members from both my tutorial group as well as blog group. Questions such as “Does this actually really count as true journalism?” began to rise very quickly. In my opinion, this course was extremely relevant and greatly important, and is without a doubt, a form of journalism. I feel that these, as well as some other forms of new media are vital parts in the evolutions of journalism. Although the new types of sources which we had not properly encountered prior, which include first year students themselves, lecturers, and mostly online media and research sources, and new forms of research, such as other blogs, polls, and large-scale interviews, were new ground for us to conquer and not only gave us a great deal of new experience, but also gave us new alternatives to the traditional forms we had initially been introduced to.

The entire experience of creating, and maintaining the blog together with my team-mates was extremely entertaining and eye-opening encounter. It gave me a completely new perspective on journalism and its newest forms, and how it is produced. I found the new course extremely entertaining and enjoyable and a great way of working together with a team which succeeded in creating a blog which I personally truly enjoy.

Well done and thanks guys!!! =)

If Only Blogs Could Time Travel…

Dear Past-Nev,

I am writing this to you from the future, in the hope of helping you get through first-year more easily (even though that would be a paradox, because then I would have survived first-year with ease, and not had to write this to you!) But, time-travel technicalities aside, I thought you might want to get a few hints and secret tips (the kind that only a version of you from the future would know). So I’ll start with the basics: the most important thing in the whole experience is to (as absolutely cliché as it sounds) keep true to yourself and who you are. Things will happen, people will come and go, situations will arise and stuff will change, but you, my friend from the past, should try and stay as yourself as possible. I’m not saying that you can’t be slightly different, or grow, but just that you should always remember who you really are.

When it comes to lectures, tutorials, assignments, essays and work, take it as it comes. There will always be some form of work due, but don’t let it get to you – just as long as you don’t forget to do it! I know for a fact that you will be able to do really well in your work, just as long as you actually do it. Readings are good, lectures are important, and tutorials are vital – without them I probably wouldn’t be writing you this letter… So, try not to spend too much time watching series and movies from DC+, and you might actually get some results which will surprise you!

You are going to make mistakes – some really big ones, but don’t worry about them, because they are all part of the experience! This is why you should be yourself – half the fun of first-year is finding your own feet, but still staying true to your own identity. I guess the final suggestion I have for you is to seize every single slightest opportunity that comes your way, because I know, that you will regret not taking the chances you get – in all aspects of first-year-ness. Opportunities in all sorts of shapes and sizes – girls, work, jobs, and a whole lot more (telling you too many details would just be a spoiler and ruin all the fun of actually experiencing it!); so take them! Some of them will only come your way once, so don’t let too many slip by you…

Carpe Noctum! - Seize The Night!

Good luck – I know you’re going to enjoy what’s ahead!

Nev