Today is the first day of May and is the last day of the semester. Part of me is excited because my 21st birthday is next week(even though I can’t traditionally celebrate at Capitol at midnight), but the other part is trying to cram everything together before the end of finals week. Although there is always a feeling of stress and jumbling everything together at the end of every semester, this one has hit differently. This semester has been challenging due to the rapid changes. People do not realize how difficult online learning can be until they are forced to do it for half of the semester. Having more time does not necessarily mean having more motivation, especially in the midst of a pandemic. As I read Dr. Martin’s “Finishing Up” post on Bolt, it gave me some sense of clarity. This semester has been a challenge for all of us. Our lives were completely uprooted and changed. It will be interesting to see how this will change the way that we live forever.

I have learned quite a lot in my Rhetorical Professional Writing class, mostly about rhetoric and everything that comes with it. Going into the semester I had heard of rhetoric, but never had a full comprehension of what it was. My english teachers in high school would mention it but never go too deep into detail. Rhetoric is much more intricate than just a simple definition of ‘persuasion’. Everyone has their own rhetoric that is unique to them. Digital rhetoric has also become something noticeably interesting to me. As a mass communications major, learning about digital rhetoric has opened up a whole new world to me. 

As I am leaving my junior year behind me, I think about all the ways I could have handled things differently (especially during quarantine). But, I also think about all of the memories I’ve made over the past year. From making new friends to scoring an internship, the year has been quite interesting. There can be so much rhetoric found in my memories, with lessons learned and new ways to have fun. It saddens me that it was cut short, but I have come to learn that you can’t always focus on what you don’t have, but focus on what you do have. It scares me to think that in a week I will technically be a senior. Being a senior in college means going out into the real world and finding a job, which in simpler terms sounds like starting over. I have never given too much thought into what I plan to do after college just because I am interested in so many things within my major. I always wonder what life has in store for me after college. While it is good to plan ahead and think about your future, it is also good to live in the moment and think about what is right in front of you. I know many of my sorority sisters are graduating this semester and are regretful of how they lived in college. It saddens me to hear them speak like that, but it also makes me realize everything that I currently have. When you leave college, all you have is memories. 

I have learned a lot about myself this semester. I have learned what I am capable of and what I need to work on. I have learned what I like and dislike. I have also learned that I cannot change who I am, but I can enhance who I am. Self discovery has become one of the best things to happen to me in recent months. There is no better feeling than learning about yourself and what makes you. There is so much rhetoric found in self discovery that can benefit you. As people always say, you should never stop learning and enhancing your education. Most importantly, you should never stop learning about yourself.

It’s a day unknown of quarantine and I have found myself thinking a lot about COVID-19 and how it has taken over our country. The first couple weeks of the virus entering the states was kind of like a gamble. Some people took it seriously, and some people really did not care at all. Personally, I had no clue what to think of any of it. I knew it was something serious in other countries, but I never really thought it could become something as big as it has. It’s definitely one of those things that can be explained by “you don’t know until it happens to you”.  Although the cases aren’t as bad in Columbia County, they are getting drastically worse and worse everyday in my hometown’s county. This leaves me worried for my parents and for other people that I know from my hometown. I’m taking a trip down there this Sunday for a couple of days to pick up a few things and to, of course, see my mother for Easter. We usually go to New York every year for Easter, but this year that plan obviously got pushed away. Although I’m upset about not getting to spend the holiday how we usually spend it, I am more than sure we will make the most out of what we have. 

Social distancing is not as bad as I initially thought it was. When the university first announced that we would be doing everything completely online I honestly thought it was the end of the world. No seeing my friends, no social events, no dining-in?! All I thought was what am I going to do with my life and how will I handle five online classes. But as the days went by I started to grow more fond of social distancing. Not just because it’s necessary, but because it has given me a lot of time to think and get things done that I had minimal time to do before. Although I am still adjusting to online classes, I feel as though I am in a better headspace for most of my classes. Even now, just sitting here typing with no distractions from the outside world is peaceful and allows me to pour out my thoughts easier and quicker. It almost makes me wonder what life will be like almost all of this is over. Will we ever go back to normal? How will health and sanitary precautions be changed? Or even more drastically, will we ever even go back to the way we were before? That is sure a question I have been pondering lately. 

Besides doing homework and chores around the house, I have been doing a lot of things to make the time go by too. I have been taking lots of walks, more than I ever did before quarantine. They have made me realize how much I love just walking outside getting fresh air and sunshine, it is also a great way to cleanse the mind. Just like everyone else, I have also been streaming tons of shows and movies. Last night I watched a Korean film that I have been looking forward to seeing, Parasite. I also finished watching season two of You on Netflix. I typically tend to think that second seasons of Netflix shows are not as good as the first seasons, but I thoroughly enjoyed this second season. I think my favorite way of passing the time has been playing Club Penguin though. Club Penguin was a widely popular site when I was a kid that was shut down a few years ago. Because of quarantine, the owners decided to bring it back and it has honestly become my guilty pleasure. 

Years from now when I look back on this quarantine I honestly might start to miss it. Between freeing my mind, getting things done, and even playing a game for children, these past few weeks have been very comforting. Maybe quarantine isn’t all too bad afterall.

The semester is now halfway over. It seems like my junior year is going by too fast. As more time goes on I think to myself how I even let all of this time slip away from me. Freshman always wish they weren’t freshman anymore just so they can be a little older, and juniors and seniors always wish they were freshman again just so they could do things differently. It’s funny to think how everyone is so scared of life after high school, but once you get to college it’s no big deal. Even though I know I ended up fine with life after high school, life after college seems more real and raw. These thoughts are things that have been crossing my mind a lot lately, especially being around all of my friends that are going to be graduating in May. 

Last week we ate some delicious pizza and wings while watching Mona Lisa’s Smile, which I totally expected to hate but I absolutely loved. When first hearing Dr. Martin talk about the movie I thought it’d be hard to follow and a cliche boring movie that I’d be forced to watch in AP English in high school, but it ended up being one of my favorite films that I have recently watched in the past couple years. It’s also not everyday that I get to watch a badass female main character in a film that I can relate to as a young woman. The rhetorical message about gender roles was something that really made me think about how women are still treated similarly in current day, even if it wasn’t all the same issues. Although it isn’t as prominent in today’s society, in a male/female marriage, the men are still expected to be the “breadwinners”. If the wife makes more money than her husband, it is considered abnormal. In reality, a job is a job and it doesn’t matter who makes more in a marriage. The film also brings up the subject of how women are expected to go wherever their husband ends up and not do anything with their college degree. In my mind, it is pointless to get a degree only to not use it and become a housewife. Although love is important, finding yourself and becoming your own person as a young woman is even more important.

For my final paper proposal, I have been thinking about which subject I want to do. Since we were given such big leeway on our topic, there were a few topics I was interested in writing about, but I finally narrowed it down to body image on social media. This is a topic that I have always thought about heavily and how modern day social media can affect people’s perception of themselves. Also, since I am a mass communications major, I have a big interest in social media and studying how people are online. I will definitely find researching about this topic interesting since I got to choose it on my own. In all honesty, I haven’t done research papers in over 4 years before taking this class. Even back then I only wrote a couple, so research papers are a little foreign to me. I also totally suck at citing sources, because I was never taught the proper way in high school. With that being said, this paper will be a challenge for sure, but at least I’ll be researching a topic that I care about.

This semester is my fourth semester at Bloomsburg University. Usually I’m not excited to come back to school and start a whole new semester, but this semester I was overly excited. As a second semester junior, it is starting to hit me that the end is near. This realization has brought a lot of different things to my attention that are stressful but also exciting. Although graduating means no more school, it also means a real job and paying student loans, which definitely will not be enjoyable. This semester has hit my 2 year mark in my sorority and as the new freshman girls are coming in I get jealous of how much energy they have. As a mass communications major, I need to have an internship to graduate, which I am actively looking for. Although having an internship and a job this summer will be a lot of work, I’m excited to learn new things about my field of study.

I am taking this Rhetorical and Professional Writing class for my minor, technical and professional writing. A big subject in class is politics, which honestly makes me nervous. Growing up in high school we were always told not to mention politics, naturally because of how people can get when the subject is brought up. I also was never a big fan of politics and didn’t pay much attention to them. Both of my parents are republicans so that is all I heard in my house as a child and teenager. Once I got old enough to form my own opinion I realized that I do not affiliate myself with either of the 2 major parties; democrat and republican. Being an independent is nice because I do not have to lump myself into one category. Despite not being a big fan of politics, talking about politics openly in a safe environment may get me to become more interested in the subject. Along with talking about politics, in class we will be doing a mock impeachment trial of President Trump. I’m more than sure that talking about the impeachment will teach me a lot about the subject and will open up my mind to the subject.

In the past I had a class that required us to write blogs, but the blog topics were much more strict. In this class we can discuss what has happened lately in class and relate it to our lives outside of school, which makes these assignments more enjoyable and easy to write. It also is great practice for my writing and causes me to think about what was learned in class, which in some way is a form of studying. I am also excited to read my classmates’ posts and see what they have to say, also so I can see if we have the same opinions and experiences. 

Since this is a rhetoric class, we will also be on the subject of arguing. Unlike most people, I don’t totally despise arguing, it just depends on the topic and my knowledge of it. I think most people get too emotional when they argue and just end up arguing about something not even related to the topic anymore, which even I am guilty of doing. To properly argue, you need to be a level headed person who can control their emotions and respect other people’s opinions. From my own experience, it is very difficult to argue with people who let their emotions take over. For example, my mother is one of those people. She turns every argument into something about her personal emotions and it throws the whole mood off.

Overall, I enjoy the classroom setting of Rhetoric and Professional Writing. With a small class this can allow us to work closely together and think more deeply. With a variety of different subjects, I can hopefully expand my knowledge and enjoy my fourth semester here at Bloomsburg.

Lately in class we have been discussing the five canons of rhetoric. The five canons consist of invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. Despite having taken many English classes in high school, this is a topic that was never brought to my attention before. Sometimes I can be guilty of just throwing words on a paper without even realizing exactly what I’m writing, which now I am starting to realize that doing that can become confusing to my audience. Although I have always considered myself a decent enough writer, I feel as though these canons can help me improve my writing by miles.

Style is one of the canons that stood out to me. Everyone has their own way of writing and their own style, but do we realize what our style is? As I’m sitting here writing this post, I couldn’t even tell you what my own style of writing is. I feel as though my style of writing would be hard to put a label on. Since I am a mass communications major who focuses on journalism, my style of writing for my major is very different than my style of writing for my minor, which is professional and technical writing. My style also changes depending on the type of piece I write. For example, my blog posts are very laid back since my audience is my classmates, but in a research paper I wouldn’t write this casual. I feel as though being a good writer can consist of changing your style based on what you have to write.

Delivery is probably the canon I struggle the most with. When it comes to public speaking, I get a bit nervous. I always imagine that it’s going to go one way and I’m going to sound amazing, but once I get up in front of everyone I forget everything that I wanted to do. You would think that I would be good at public speaking and delivering a message since I am a very social person, but I think it is the professionality of it that scares me. I will say though that my public speaking has greatly improved since my freshman year of college. I also just realized that delivery is not only about your tone of speaking, but it is about how you present yourself and your body language. Personally, I feel better talking in front of a group of people if I am standing in front of a podium of some sort (I’m sure I’m not the only one like that). I always wondered how my professors can just get up in front of a class and lecture on for an hour with no issue.

Sometimes it can be hard for me to focus on just one subject and organize my thoughts onto a paper, which is when invention comes into play. In high school we were always told to brainstorm, but I never found it helpful when it came to writing a paper. Personally, I didn’t see the point of briefly jotting down all of the things that I was eventually going to write about anyway. This is all probably why I sometimes have troubles organizing my thoughts. I also work better under pressure, which is another reason why I can’t just jot down all of my ideas before I write a paper. Of course, if it came to giving a speech, I would prepare what I was going to say before I got up there. But, since a paper is written on my own time alone I just find it easier to write my words as I go.

Overall I believe that these canons can benefit me not only for my major and minor, but for things outside of school. They especially come in handy when it comes to applying for a job and getting an interview. Hopefully as the semester goes on my writing skills and rhetoric will greatly improve.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

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The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

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