Christal Selmeyer Blog Post 2

                I have never been one to blog in the past, but have never been opposed to the idea. In fact, I have always thoroughly enjoyed documenting my ideas throughout many mediums. I journal each night before I fall asleep, but never before was I open to the idea of publishing my thoughts in the public eye. Vulnerability is something that is scary; the fear of not knowing who might read your work and how it may impact you if they do. Announcing my inner most secrets to the world? I always thought that could likely be the worst thing. The older I get, however, the more I realize authoring something such as a journal is liberating. It’s a piece of art; a work that no one can judge.

                I have been a writer since I was very young. From the time I could compose a sentence with proper structure, I was all about writing. Silly stories, partially completed chapter books, newspaper articles, research papers… you name it, I wanted to write it. Throughout high school, I would have written a paper over doing a research project any day of the week. Writing was the one thing I was good at. I enjoyed it!

                Upon entering college, I chose a liberal arts school in southern Indiana that required a lot of writing and it was in those first months of college that I learned writing at a university level was much different than what I had been previously exposed to. Technical writing is in a ballpark all of its own. While it wasn’t necessarily a struggle, it was definitely a challenge.

                As a Communication Studies major, I often write in the APA format, much different from the MLA format expected by many majors. I registered for this course with high hopes of becoming more confident in my formatting skills, especially in the MLA format. Citations are something that I have never viewed as enjoyable, but I look forward to gaining a grasp far more firm than my current grasp on pesky citations. I am excited to look deeper into thinking critically and helping creative ideas evolve into persuasive arguments.

                Overall, I really look forward to what this course has to offer. English is a subject that is crucial to life and I look forward to working to perfect the skills needed to successfully complete this course.