So long! Farewell! Whathaveyou!

And so Strategic Presentation spring 2026 is coming to a close. This is my third year at Rutgers and the fourth class I have taken in pursuit of my digital communication, information, and media minor. As mentioned throughout my blog, my major is acting. During my freshman year, I decided to pick up this minor as a sort of art-major safety net. I thought this minor would open up career options in theater that were more practical, like casting or theater management. While those are still options for me, this specific class made me feel as though I actually gained artistic skills that helped me in both this minor and my acting major. This became very evident to me when I was writing my blog post on a skill I wished I had, which I titled, "I wish I knew calligraphy."

That blog post stuck with me because it was the first post I made that I felt authentic in. I have gotten used to treating my DCIM classes as something I had to put on a fake persona for. Still me, sure, but dialed back to be who I thought people who took more academics would respect. I spend my days doing vocal sirens and rolling around on the floor, so presenting academic work to people studying Poli-sci and Anthropology is a bit intimidating to me. For some reason, writing that post, I didn't have the energy to write from a point of view that wasn't my own, and I realized how much fun I have when I write things that actually excite me. From that moment forward, I decided to make every blog prompt into something that I truly wanted to share.

I took this attitude into my final project. I went through my blog, racking my brain for what the essence of my site was. Eventually, I found it in my "About me" section. I wanted people who read this blog to feel connected to me, their classmate and peer. It made me realize how important connection is to me in my everyday life. When I came up with the concept for my podcast, I had no idea who to interview. It was my mom who suggested my cousin Danielle. Though I submitted only a portion of our conversation, Danielle and I actually spent an hour on the phone. She told me various stories to give me options, most of which I'd never heard. Though my podcast was designed to form connections between strangers, it helped me to connect deeper to my family.

In conclusion, this class taught me a lot of things, intentionally and unintentionally. I learned about how I operate, about how I learn, various tech skills, and about my family. Honestly, I wish I had taken it sooner so I could do all of my DCIM classes with this perspective. So thank you, thank you for reading and teaching me. Signing off for now.