1. Certainly, there will be many predictable as well as unforeseeable factors that might affect my participation in this class. Most of them are minor. First of all, I have two older brothers that, when home, play online video games--seemingly nonstop. Between the three of us, and also my parents that are trying to run a business (that relies on a website for many orders), there is a constant power struggle for control over the internet. Insults are flung down the hallway, and the occasional threat is tossed to someone who is "lagging" a gamer out. It gets stressful and frustrating, but that's just family life in the digital age, I suppose. My new iPhone will certainly ease my access to internet sources and blogs (I've joined the 10% of the entire country that has the iPhone, I feel so special!). My friends can certainly lend a helping hand (or several) during this course; I plan to return the favor whenever anyone needs it. On the other hand, as much as I care for and enjoy my friends, they can become a hindrance. Nobody's perfect, so I do believe we can all get a tiny bit...annoying at times. There will certainly be stressful times during which I will become (fairly or unfairly) unhappy with friends that are (usually) innocently trying to procure some help, advice, or networking time.
2. There have been so many times during my life that I can recognize as learning experiences that it is tough to choose the most awesome, brilliant experience. I'd say I'm very lucky in that respect. I will choose a more recent lesson that will most likely stick with me for everything I do in life, and I will pass it on to plenty of the people I meet, whether they want it or not. A few months ago, it was another old Tuesday, and I was at my guitar lesson (people will notice that I mention this a lot in my writing; I just happen to learn a lot from my teacher-no, mentor-that I truly take to heart. I'm not trying to be sappy on purpose) going over a scale. I had been trying to invent my own riffs using the E minor harmonic scale, but I wasn't having much luck. I mentioned that I would trash most of the ideas that I got as soon as I got them, labeling them as "stupid" or "not good enough." My teacher, Manny, simply told me not to judge my ideas. It was so simple (I hope I'm not outing myself as simple-minded on the internet)--but it never even occurred to me. I was almost sub-consciously judging my ideas. It wasn't until a couple of days later that I realized that I had been doing that to most things that I think up. I was losing so much because I didn't feel that my ideas were even worth remembering! It was like a wee little epiphany. I was just sitting there, running little editorials through my head when I was about to discard them and move on to something else. Lately I've been applying this simple little lesson to everything: writing, art, music. It makes me look at my own notions in a new way, giving each and every one a chance to evolve and perhaps make it outside of my head. Not all of them do, but at least I treat them with some worth and give myself a chance. Suddenly, though, I find that my computer, phone, and notebooks are all filling up with more and more preliminary sketches and phrases....
3. I am actually looking forward to being a little bit more tech savvy (using online files, blogs, dashboards, etc.). My parents assume that I spend so much time on my cell phone and my computer that I actually KNOW things about computers...well, technology and I, our relationship is rocky. Technology and computer know-how is becoming increasingly important in the job market these days, and though I don't expect to learn about things like Outlook or accounting software, what I learn about networking and using electronic filing will be helpful. I'm rather tired of resisting advances in technology; I'm ready to embrace new tech and use it to my advantage.
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