Blog Reflection

    It is hard to believe that the semester is coming to end and it is even harder to believe that in just a few short weeks I will be graduating college.  A blog has always been on my "bucket list" so to speak, and although this blog is a little different than I had anticipated writing one prior to this class, it still is a blog and it reflects me in many of the entries.  It feels good to check "start a blog" off my bucket list, even if this is not the content I originally thought I would write about.  This blog serves as a good way to look back on the work that I have accomplished this semester in this course.  Although some of the blogs I found to be more challenging than others, each post reminded me to take a deeper look at the stories we were reading and to find the messages that the author is trying to convey through that story.  The blogs even allowed me to take a look at myself, especially in the first blog post I did about sharing our favorite place.  Going back and reading that post made me happy, and in the midst of studying, writing papers, and in moments where I wonder if I can get everything done, that post brings me back to my "happy place" again.  This blog has taught me how to push myself while reading books that I may not even realize have an underlying message, and it really allowed me to dig a little deeper.

    One thing I liked best about the blog posts and reading the stories we did this semester was being able to relate it to our own life stories.  We learned quickly that each story we would be reading was about an individual and a journey, and I appreciated that I was able to relate to the stories even if they my journey differs in many ways.  The blog I wrote after reading A Room of One's Own reminded me of how valuable it is to be able to receive the education I do at a college like Saint Mary's.  The story encourages women to find their voice and to take advantage of every opportunity that comes their way, and this blog has allowed me to find my voice even further.  I am more introverted than extroverted so getting the opportunity to express my views through the blog was helpful, considering in class discussions are not necessarily a time where I feel comfortable to do so.  

    This blog also taught me the value of close reading, and I was able to use this technique as I read each book this semester.  The first close reading I did was when we read The Yellow Wallpaper and I analyzed a specific passage that spoke to me.  This allowed me to develop a better sense of what was going on in the story, and reading other posts by various students gave me an even better insight into the story.  I used this technique again in my blog post about Girl, Interrupted, which was interesting because this was about a film, rather than a book or short story.  This film was a bit confusing, dark, and mysterious to me so the blog really allowed me to get a better sense of what was happening and what the story line was about.  In the end I actually enjoyed this film and learning more about it, but it did take some time and deep thinking.  Persepolis was my favorite book that we read, so the post I did on identity is one that I enjoyed writing most.  As a young woman it was easy to relate to the struggles of identity, although my story is much different than Marji's.

    This blog was often times a challenge, but it really helped me in this class to focus on the reading and to enhance my ability to understand the words written, rather than to just quickly get the chapters out of the way.  It is interesting to go back and see how my blogs developed overtime, and even to read more personal posts like the first one I mentioned earlier, and the letter to my sixteen-year-old self.  I feel like I have made improvement as far as close reading, and this blog challenged me in a way that I otherwise never would have experienced.  At first I was prone to overanalyzing my post and making sure that what I said was "good enough" to publish, but as I got further along I realized that it was important to express how I really felt as I connected to the readings.  If I could go back and do things differently it would be to take more time on reflecting before writing.  I am the kind of person who likes to be efficient with my time, so as soon as I am done reading something I wanted to write my thoughts and get my work done.  But, I think reflection is valuable in terms of reading, and I realized that throughout this semester.