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Refections on Creating a Podcast

I want to start off my reflections by saying I really regret choosing a topic talking about my experience with loneliness. I went into the podcast pitch without really thinking everything through first. I knew I wanted to talk about loneliness since it was probably the most impactful experience I had this year but I didn’t realize I’d really have to talk about my experiences. I have always hated talking about my struggles to others so this experience was a real struggle for me. Also in the podcast, Robin mentioned talking about getting through the loneliness. The problem with that was that I hadn’t found a resolution to feeling lonely. I thought maybe talking about my struggle and talking to other students would help me find a resolution. In a way, it did help me by showing me I’m not alone in being lonely but all the students I spoke with hadn’t really found a solution either. Yes, accepting the fact that you weren’t going to have a lot of friends is a method of coping but what a dismal resolution to the problem. Also after showing the podcast to my parents, it made them feel really sorry for me. I never wanted to be a person you feel bad for. In general, I wish I choose a topic that was less close to me. 

Creating the logo was by far my favorite part of this project. I have always loved design and art so it was the part I was most excited for. I’m kind of disappointed that my logo wasn’t more exciting but it fits my topic well.

I found conducting my interviews an altogether good experience. One of the girls I interviewed was my friends so it was basically like having a conversation. The other girl I interviewed I knew far less well but we got along great. I have found that talking about the shared experience of not having the university experience that you expected brings people closer together. The only downfall of the interviews I experienced was not getting the in-depth explanations I expected. It’s really challenging to get people to openly talk about their experience with such a personal topic.

Last minute after showing my mom my first draft of my podcast she thought I needed to get more secondary research. I couldn’t find any journals that really worked with my topic perfectly. The one I included about student success being directly linked to student involvement just seems out of place but I thought I needed some kind of secondary research.

Creating the podcast was probably the hardest part for me. I wasn’t sure how to structure anything or how to incorporate my interviews with such a small time limit. I knew about my story but I wasn’t sure how much to put in and how to explain how I really truly felt. There was also the terrifying idea that people were going to be listening to it and judging me. Recording the podcast was also a struggle for me. I was talking to my mom prior to recording and she noticed me shaking and acting really anxious. I don’t think it really affected my voice in the podcast but it gives a good sense of how I was feeling in that moment. I recorded my podcast about 20 times but no matter how many times I recorded I always had some kind of mess up. In general, I’m really bad at speaking without error so the added recording my personal story and pressure of getting everything right made things worse. I thought maybe I could fix my mess-ups editing but I was so wrong. I had never used any editing programs before this project and it took me quite a while to figure small things out. To make matters worse I apparently didn’t save the first edit of my podcast to my computer and it disappeared. I couldn’t find it anywhere so I had to redo everything. My second edit just wasn’t the same as my first. I couldn’t get my volume to the same in certain areas and the music wasn’t quiet enough in places. It was disappointing compared to the first but I didn’t have time to keep working on it. Next time I will definitely save my podcast to my computer!

Peer feedback was probably the part I was least looking forward to. I didn’t want to hear any criticisms about something so personal to me. In general, most of my negative feedback was things I expected to hear like practicing more prior to recording or issues with background noise and pauses. I know it seems like I needed to practice more but as I mentioned before I tried to get my words out perfectly many times but couldn’t. The editing things I expected since I knew I definitely could have done more in that department. I’m very happy that I didn’t get any super negative criticism. While sitting in class listening to it I noticed a lot of issues so I expected it to be much worse. The positive feedback I received was very nice. One student even gave me their phone number with is incredibly sweet and thoughtful.

I go back and forth with how I feel about this project. I’m glad it put me out of my comfort zone and got me to talk about a topic I normally wouldn’t. I also made a new friend but like I mentioned, in the beginning, it saddens me that the solution everyone found was to just accept things as they are.

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Blog Post #9

Life as a student in 2018 has changes so extremely from what it was 150 years ago. I can’ t even imagine what it will be like in 2168 so a time capsule would be an amazing way to preserve what it is like in 2018. The three things I would include in a time capsule are a cell phone, a laptop and a photo of residence rooms.

I would put in a cell phone because even though this doesn’t strictly relate to Guelph itself I think it represents what a lot of time is spent on as a student. I haven’t gone to a class where there are no students on a phone. The majority of students even spend a vast amount of class time on their cell phones. By 2168 I’m sure there will be new technology to replace them so it would be extremely interesting to have access to past technology. To me, my phone is of extreme importance to me. It contains my photos, it reminds me when to do things, its how I communicate with people on and off campus my life is dependent on it. Cell phones today are our lifeline, therefore, I feel it’s important to include in a time capsule. 

I would put in a laptop because its what most of a students school work is on. The majority of students make notes on their computer and it contains all their assignments.  Computers are also the main connection with the university with the use of CourseLink and GryphMail. There isn’t a day that I don’t go on CourseLink. It keeps me up to date on my marks, when things are due or if a class is canceled. Laptops aren't just used for school they're also used for streaming sites like Netflix. I can definitely speak for students that this is a huge pass time for most. For all these reasons I feel a laptop cant be left out.

For most first-year students residence is a huge part of life. Its where I spent most of my time this year so it represents what life is like for use in 2018. I imagine res rooms will change in the next 150 years so it’s important to preserve it somehow. What is in a room and how it's decorated also says a lot about what UoG is like. I know looking back at my mom's photos of residence from the 80s the room itself hasn't changed much but how its decorated is.

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Blog Post #8

1.The pamphlet I received is for OPIRG Guelph Action Groups. The purpose is to make the reader aware of what an action group, what action groups are currently running, and how to start your own. I believe this pamphlet is directed towards anyone who wants to make social change. The pamphlets design gives it a kind of bland tone. Due to being entirely black and white with very few images. Considering what the pamphlet is actually about I think it could have a better design. There are different fonts on some of the pages which is kind of distracting. The main thing I enjoy about the pamphlet is the OPIRG logo it’s very unique and eye catching.

2. A major injustice I have noticed in the world is the treatment of animals. Growing up in the country surrounded by large factory like farms and working at an animal shelter has made me extremely passionate about ethical treatment of animals. The amount of animals that came into the shelter starving and left on chains outside was incredible. But its not just pets that are being treated horribly. Many of the animals we eat come from factory farms where hundreds of animals are crammed into barns no where near large enough. In my grade 12 art class we had to make art inspired by a topic and my topic was factory farming. When all my pieces were completed they were put on display since I’m from such a rural area it received a lot of controversy. This made me wonder how so many people with farm backgrounds can see the unethical treatment of farm animals as completely fine. Also the question of what separates cats and dogs from cows, pigs and chickens. There needs to be some common grounds on the treatment of all animals to reach justice in the future. 

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Refections on Peer Feedback

Peer feedback is something I have always had a hard time with. I never like being judged straight to my face and with my topic of loneliness being so close to me it's harder. I was extremely hesitant with my topic after finding out that we would be peer editing but it wasn’t nearly as bad as expected. All of my feedback was positive on my logo/podcast name, so I wont be changing anything there. I had more feedback on my introduction. Mostly that my script sounded somewhat formal and had some awkward sentences. I agree with the awkward sentences the second I started reading my script out loud I noticed it as well. I am definitely going to work on my sentence structure for the final podcast. I’m not sure if I can change the formalness of my introduction. I tend to talk in the way I wrote it but I can try and make it more casual. I didn't get any comments on the length of my script but I still have concerns about it being too short. I struggled with not wanting to give too much away but giving enough for listeners to be interested. 

Giving feedback on the introduction script was much more challenging than on the show logos. I found giving feedback on others introduction to be more difficult for a couple reasons. Firstly giving suggestions straight to my peers face made me feel less objective. It's really easy to share suggestions anonymously on sticky notes but when its face to face it was more challenging. Secondly, I wasn't entirely sure what should be in others intros. I know the general guidelines of a good into but I don't know when it would be considered too long or too short.

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Revised Podcast Pitch

I will be focusing my podcast on loneliness in university. Since moving to university I have found it difficult to find my place and my people. I found myself thinking a lot about why I can feel so lonely while being surrounded by so many people.  From many google searches during the first semester, I found an article about how 70% of students feel lonely in some part of the semester. This made me realize I wasn’t actually alone in these feelings. In my podcast, I will be recanting my feelings and experience with feeling lonely and working through it. 

My primary research method will be interviewing other students. Since loneliness seems to be a fairly widespread feeling though campuses I don’t feel I need to specifically choose people. I could also potentially interview university staff that deal in that area to get a different perspective. 

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Blog Post #7

1. How I prepare for a midterm depends on the class it’s for. For more social science classes that are more definition based I tend to make cue cards, read through my notes and create a new set of what I feel is most important. For more math based classes like chemistry, I focus more on practicing different kinds of questions to see what I know and don’t know. I’m also trying to start rewriting the notes so I have a better understanding of the non-mathematical parts. 

2. I have tried to stay on top of work more efficiently this semester so I don't get so behind on reading. I also trying to study further in advance from the midterm. Last semester I didn't study for the CHEM 1040 midterm till the night before and it was a mistake I have definitely learned from. I have also found it useful to find videos online about topics I don't understand. It gives me a different and more understandable view compared to how to professor or textbook explained it.

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Blog Post #6

The question I chose to look at is the following: “Take note of students' voices in your classes. Who talks? What questions do they ask? What happens in the class when someone asks a question? Do you notice any trends or patterns? How do your observations compare with Nathan's notes on asking questions in the classroom?”

I tried to pay close attention to the students talking in my introduction to nutrition and families and relationships classes. Most of the people in the class that ask questions or participate are in the front section of the class. In my nutrition class, the majority of questions tend to be about the content or asking the professor to go back a few slides. The wanting the previous slide question tends to be from some person in the back of the class in a loud somewhat rude tone. The professor seems to get mad at this comment which is understandable because it disrupts the flow of her lecture. In my families and relationship class, the instructor tends to want questions and responses to her questions much more. I found that most students in this class even the ones in the front were not willing to give responses. In both classes, I noticed when the professor wanted questions no one took the opportunity to ask any. 

Nathan talks about professors not using professional jargon while answering questions. This I completely agree with normally when a student asks a question it takes a lot of courage to speak in front of so many of your peers. If the professor uses terms they don’t understand during their answer it is extremely unlikely they will say they still don't understand in front of the class. In general, I don't notice the questions about the exams or assignments as much. In past smaller classes, I found these kinds of questions much more prevalent. 

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Blog Post #5

1. Rebekah Nathan learned many things about the students at her school from the doors of residence. She found the values the doors show are “friendliness, youth, freedom, sexiness, sociability,... lack of limits, spontaneity”. Many of the doors featured images of friends having fun or of cut-outs of good-looking people from magazines.Nathan noticed that male doors show more images of violence, political critique, and humor. Female doors expressed more themes of love and friendship.

2. My residence hall is quite dull. Most people haven't decorated their doors other than leaving on the little name tag our RA made. Some people have images from tv shows like the office or other popular shows. A number of rooms have obviously drunkenly painted images on them. These two observations represent the culture of the university, drinking, and procrastination with tv. The bulletin boards in the common area are currently filled with information on studying and reasons why we procrastinate. Just affirming the previous observations. At the beginning of the year similar to Nathan’s experience, there were many posters with about sexual assault. Rebekah talks about how the formal bulletin boards directly contrast with the informal room doors. I found this to be true in my residence as well. 

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Blog Post #4

Since moving away to university, home hasn’t changed much for me. I go home quite frequently so I haven't experienced much time or distance. Although saying this it has made me realize I have taken a lot for granted at home. 

Before going off to school I never realized how much having animals around me helps. Living without them not only made me loose their companionship but also a mechanism for destress and an escape from difficulties for a while. It has really makes me appreciate them while I am home rather than partially looking over them. It has made such an impact that I want to find somewhere to live that accepts animals next year.

The distance has also made me notice how much I depend upon my parents. As an only child I knew I was fairly close with my parents but being away has made me realize they're basically my best friends. Whenever I have an issue or something exciting happens I want to tell them. Technology defiantly helps with this but it isn't the same as while living at home. Being away from them has made me want to spend more time with them when I can. 

One thing about my home that seems glaring is its location. I have lived in the country for my whole life and having to travel a distance to get places was just a fact of life. The nearest stores are 15 minutes away by car where now I can be somewhere in no time, which is much nicer. I had never noticed what an inconvenience having to drive everywhere was until moving to Guelph.

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Learning Journey

Life has many milestones from learning to walk, talk and read to leaving home to start university. From these milestones comes a vast amount of learning. My learning journey started way before my memories started, but the first major moment I really remember making an impact on me was when my grandpa died. I remember not really understanding why everyone was sad. At the funeral, I looked around and had the sudden realization that I would never see him again. Now I look back on this personal learning moment as when I realized life doesn’t last forever.

 A lighter and more formal learning moment occurred in grade 6. During this year I remember learning how to do long division. This has stuck with me because the following year, with a different teacher, we were taught long division differently which made things confusing. I spent time relearning how the other teacher taught and this it has never left me since.

 When I was 12 years old I began volunteering at an animal shelter where I had a personal learning experience. Being around animals and seeing how horribly treated many of them were made me realize my passion for animals. This experience meant a lot to me and has changed the course of my life by leading me to become a vegetarian.

 This volunteer position lead to my first job when I was around 15. This position taught me a lot of informal things, the most striking was how to do laundry. Being a spoilt only child, I was never expected to do this at home. The owner was incredibly shocked about having to teach a 15 year old how to do laundry. I was very embarrassed but it forced me learn a lifelong skill before going to university.

 When signing up for classes for high school in grade 8 our teacher gave us suggestions on what stream of classes to take, academic or applied. I was suggested applied for most of my classes and I was devastated. This taught me that I needed to work harder to reach my goal of getting into university. I ended up ignoring the suggestions and took academic everything which made me realize I’m extremely stubborn and I had capacity to do more.

 Surprise, surprise grade 9 math was a struggle for me. I remember crying on the first day because I understood nothing. I ended up getting a tutor. For some reason throughout my life to this point I thought it was embarrassing or sad if you had needed a tutor. The tutor ending up really helping me with that class. I realized I shouldn’t be afraid to ask for extra help if I don’t understand something. This is still something I struggle with today. Once coming to university, I was unsure who I could ask for help with such big classes. This semester my goal is to reach out to more school resources like the Library’s Writing Center or SLGs.

 Math came back to haunt me in grade 12. I took calculus and was shocked that it wasn’t easy like the majority of the other high school classes were for me and I ended up dropping the class. I was extremely unhappy and feared the idea of failure. At this point in time I applied to universities for a bachelor of science, which I needed calculus for. This meant I couldn’t go to university the following year. Although I thought this was a hugely detrimental to my life in the moment it allowed me time to reflect and learn personally. It also allowed me time to find what I really wanted to do based upon my interests and strengths, which was going into Human Nutrition. I truly learnt there isn’t just one path to get you places.

 I decided to do a 13th year at high school. This made me learn a lot about myself and had multiple personal learning moments. I worked at Walmart for a year and it taught me I want more than a minimum wage cashier job. It wasn’t a bad job but it was boring and repetitive and I knew that wasn’t what I wanted for the rest of my life.  I have always been a person who enjoys a challenge and doesn’t like to follow a routine so this alines with my personality.

 About a half a year into working at Walmart I put in my resignation due to having too many hours to handle and I wasn’t enjoying the job. On what was supposed to be my last day my coworkers talked to the store manager about making an exception for the minimum hours to work because I was a dependable and hard working. This was the first time I realized how I act truly affects others. It made me think about how much the people I work with impact my mood. From that point on I tried to keep a more positive attitude while working to potentially improve others to make the environment more enjoyable.

 The first semester of university has been a major learning experience for me. I thought making friends would be easy living in residence but it wasn’t. I learnt quickly how to be self-reliant quickly since I didn’t have friends or family to lean on anymore. This was a negative learning experience but positive things came out of it. I became closer to my parents and it pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and try to make friends in different places. Meeting more people and making new friends is definitely something I still need to work on and is a goal for this semester.

 First semester I also learnt that I have to do more work than just showing up to class to succeed. During the first half of the semester I neglected doing work for chemistry and it got me a 34% on the midterm. Although this was a very negative moment it pushed me to do the work for the remainder of the course and I ended up finishing with a 67% which I was extremely happy with. This experience taught me that I need to practice in order to understand more mathematical concepts.  I have developed better organization skills and study habits.

Writing this blog post has made me realize I would like to work on my writing skills potentially by going to the Library Writing Centre. I’ve never been a confident writer which causes stress while working on assignments like this. Its something that could greatly improve my university experience if worked on. I also realized I should take more time to reflect on my experiences, so much so that I would like to make it a goal of mine for the next semester. It could make me a stronger learner and help me understand how to preform better. 

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1.Metacognition and learning are highly connected. If you have a understanding of your own thought process and are aware of what you know and don't know, it can help you learn. Reflection also encourages learning. Being able to step back and think about what I have learnt allows me to understand how I can do better.

2. I choose to reflect by talking talking to friends or family members. Normally they can give advice that I can’t think of myself or give me a different perspective. It also allows me to think out loud with gives me a better understand of what I actually know.

3. I can develop my metacognitive skills by asking for more feedback when I don't do well. Normally if I don't do well I just think of well and don't look at it ever again. I would learn so much more if I knew what I did wrong and how I can fix it for next time.

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Blog Post #2

1. The major aspects that stood out about the guest speakers learning journeys was that university itself won’t necessarily get you everywhere and to be open to new experiences. It’s incredibly interesting how Jodie and Daniel both started out in science programs but found there way into more arts programs. It opened my eyes to realize that just because I’m in a certain major now doesn't mean I have to stick with it if I realize its not for me. I also never thought about how much a volunteer position could make a difference in your journey. Kimm talked about his international volunteer trip which was very interesting and is something I’ve always wanted to do. Something I’ve never really been good at saying yes to opportunities. After hearing what a difference these speakers experienced after taking different experiences I want to work on saying yes more often.

2. I choose the University of Guelph because it was the perfect medium for me with the program I wanted. I knew when applying to schools I wanted to take Human Nutrition. The only schools that offer this program are UoG, Brescia, Ryerson and the University of Ottawa. The Ottawa program is only offered in french, which I happily stopped taking in grade 9, so I knew that wasn’t the school for me. Next was Brescia, which is about 30 minutes from my hometown and I knew I wanted to get a bit farther away then that. This left me to choose between Ryerson and UoG. Ryerson is positioned right in downtown Toronto and coming from the small town of Strathroy I knew I would not be happy there. From that point on I knew Guelph was the school for me! 

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Blog Post #1

The first day of classes really sets the tone for the rest of the class more than I ever realized. This semester I am taking General Chemistry II, Introduction to Nutrition, Couples and Family Relationships, an online Introduction to Computing and  21st Century Learner. 

My week started out with Chemistry. I was extremely pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed my first class. The professor, Lori Jones, seemed very personable telling us about how she came here from New Brunswick. She handed out cue cards to the entire class of 600 students and asked us to fill out information about ourselves. This made me feel more included and part of the class more then any other large class I’ve had. The room was totally packed but everyone was attentive.

The next class I went to was Introduction to Nutrition. As a Human Nutrition major this class is already an interest of mine but after the first class I’m even more excited to learn. The professor, Dr. Jory, seems like a very in charge woman. She called out people for leaving the class and having their phones go off. Although her in part strict natural she seems like an approachable person which I appreciate. Dr. Jory gave a brief overview of what to expect of the course and some facts like 35% of cancers could be prevented by eating a healthy diet, having a healthy body weight and being physically active. 

Couples and Family Relationships is defiantly the class I am looking forward to the least. The instructor Sandra Pericak gave me the impression she was nervous and timid. This I believe made the room less attentive due to the many side conversations happening while she was lecturing. She tried to learn more about the students with a Kahoot game but the majority of the class just left instead. I had low expectations for this class to begin with and the first lecture didn't peak my interest anymore. 

My final first class was the first year seminar 21st Century Learner. Although the main reason I took this class was to experience a first year seminar, I’m happy I ended up taking this one. The instructors seem very friendly and approachable. The class is by far the smallest I have been a part of and I’m hoping this will get me to participate more. The tone set for the class is defiantly more free flowing then any other class I have taken in university. It allows for more discussion and opinions which is exciting.