Twitter and Social Media

Well. What can I say? The “week of Twitter” assignment was definitely not the most comfortable thing I’ve been asked to do for school, but it was very refreshing to see social media from another point of view than Facebook, which I can admit I have a slight addiction to since entering college. Twitter was definitely a whole new approach to social media. The concept of the “tweet” was a very hard notion for me to overcome—I didn’t like being restricted to 140 characters when I had a lot to say.

I believe this assignment was to give us an all-around better awareness of the world around us and the technology that we are endowed with. There are many different types of social media, and each one has its own special use in the world. It’s nice to have Twitter in that you can just get little clips of what’s going on in celebrities and business’s views, and breaking news right as it happens.

Another good point to this assignment was to teach, and stress, the importance of professionalism. It’s not wise to parade on your social networking profile about your partying habits, have inappropriate statuses or information, or have unruly photographs for the whole word to see. Future employers can easily access that unsightly information about you, and it can be a deciding factor in whether or not you get a job. Also, a sense of common courtesy should be displayed. There’s a time and place to let people know you have an absolutely depressing life, and your Facebook status is not it. Be sure to keep your relationship status appropriate and keep your profile page neat, clean, and professional.

I would say that this assignment was certainly interesting, and it definitely gave me a new perspective on how I present myself on the Internet. I can’t promise I’ll ever use Twitter again, but you’ll for sure see me on Facebook! :)

Thoughts on Diversity

You’ve all heard the line “never judge a book by its cover.” For me, I hear that phrase and automatically think of diversity in the United States. Especially on college and university campuses, diversity is a universal issue when numerous different types of people end up attending classes in an area of only about 5 miles. It’s hard not to have misconceptions and prejudices when you meet someone different than you. I’ll admit I haven’t always got to know people before judgments are made in my mind—but I’m glad to say I’ve always had the awareness and the tolerance needed to attend any American college!

"Best" Situation

It’s very hard for me to think of, let alone depict, the moment in my life when I was at my “best.” However, several moments come to mind. Leadership is always that has come naturally to me. Going through my high school years, I was involved in numerous leadership activities, including officer positions in FFA, student government, and National Honor Society. I was also the FFA and senior class president. Being in charge of around 40 people can be a little intimidating, but one event in particular definitely tested my leadership skills and my patience!

Every year, our FFA chapter puts on an end-of-the-year banquet. The purpose of this is to welcome members and their family, hand out awards and scholarships, and introduce the community to our chapter and agriculture. As president, I was automatic chairperson of the committee of the spring 2010 banquet. The agenda for what needed to be done was large: food, programs, invitations, script, awards, and keynote speaker and entertainment.

Everything was done with the help of the rest of the officer team. While I believe this day showed the best of me, it also showed a not-so-good side of me. Stress was definitely in the air that day, and everyone felt it! Being a senior, the thought on my mind was the scholarships that were to be handed out that night. The amounts were unknown, but it was common knowledge that I was to receive the top scholarship. There was, however, a lot of dispute over what amount I deserved among the underclassmen. Needless to say, my stress caused me to say a few “choice words” to the specific underclassmen who were determined to undercut the scholarship amounts—none too gently.

As the time for the event to start finally approached, I had just about the biggest migraine anyone could have. I was two weeks from graduation, and the whole chapter was feeling very heated towards one another. As I stepped to the podium to welcome the crowd, I decided that I would just forget about everything for two hours and put a smile on my face. In doing this, I bit my tongue and put on a professional front that was all the crowd could see. No matter what happened, I was going to be as positive as I could be. When the chapter leadership pins were given out, I was announced as one of the recipients by my FFA advisor. He said that I completely deserved it for all of my dedication and hard work towards the chapter and that night’s banquet. All of the effort I put into my four years of my high school career had actually paid off. This is why I consider May 8, 2010, the day when I showed the best (and worst) of me!