What I Have Learned from Blogging

     I love to blog. It is by far one of my favorite things. I can promise you though, I was not always like this. I never used to like to tell people what I thought or even talk to people in general. I was always shy growing up and never really voiced my opinion. When I was accepted to SMC, I was given the opportunity to "try out" for a blogger position. After a few months of blogging, I was chosen to do it! I was so excited and that excitement is still with me today every time I post something new. Over the past.....3 years....wow, that's a long time, I have learned a lot of things through blogging.

ONE// Blogging has taught me that every skill you learn through it is useful in life. Through blogging, I am able to understand social media on a much deeper level. I am able to look at content and see the message that they are trying to get across. I can look at it and figure out the target audience or the method that they are trying to us. Blogging has helped me to understand companies' goals and help with my decision making skills along with my time management skills.

TWO//Blogging helps to foster connections with people. I know the target audience that I am writing for. It is college aged students and students looking at colleges. Yes, my mom and dad also read my blog. Especially through the blogging program here at SMC, I have been able to foster relationships with other bloggers. We write about pretty much the same thing, but they are the people that I turn to if I need advice and encouragement. I never thought that my blog would connect me to some pretty awesome people that share my same love and passion of blogging. (Wanna check out these awesome human beings? Click this link HERE to see what they are doing!)

THREE// Blogging has helped me to understand how the Internet works. The Internet is a magical place, my friends. Even though I spend far too many hours on it everyday, before I started blogging I literally had no idea how it actually worked. Before blogging, I just thought things existed on the Internet. I knew that people had to create content, I just had no idea how it was done. I have come to know now how websites work and operate. How they once start from a series of numbers, letters and characters on a page to create something wonderful when you are putting off writing a paper. Now I have the ability to look at other websites and understand the way that they came to be. Granted, I still have much much much more to learn, but I have definitely progressed over the years.

FOUR// Blogging has helped me to become a better writer. I tend to think that I am a pretty good writer. I think I am much better t creative pieces rather than research pieces, but that is besides the point. But making that decision is not up to me. It is up to the people that read the things that I post. Sometimes, just for kicks, I will go back and look at my very first posts. Holy goodness. Let's just say that the content is much more interesting now and my posts are much better written. I like criticism. I can take it. It helps me become better at what I do. I like when people tell me they liked a certain post or if they really didn't like one. It helps me to refine my skills. Practice makes perfect.

FIVE// Blogging has taught me that all you need is a little spark to start a wildfire. I love blogging, but sometimes it is nearly impossible to write. There are some days when I can churn out five or six posts and others when it seems like an impossible feat to just write one. All you need is a tag line or a simple idea to light the spark, once you have lit a spark, the flames just start to pour out.

SIX// Blogging has taught me to not wait for opportunities. One thing that I love about bloggers is that they all came from the same place. They all saw an opportunity and took it. All you have to do is create a name and a page and you're off. Blogging can catapult you in whatever direction you want to take your life.

Blogging has completely changed my life. At times it can be a challenge, but its a challenge that I truly enjoy and love doing. Try it. Start a blog and see what happens. If you don't want people to read it, write down your thoughts in a journal so if one day, you think blogging is what you want to do, you already have perfect content.
   Blogging has made me appreciate the little things in life. Every view and every comment makes me so excited with the content that I am able to share. As this year comes to a close, I look back and see how much I have evolved through this lovely world of blogging.

P.S.- We've been in the midst of blizzard-like conditions for what feels like an eternity, but it has only really been like 2 days. That being said, SMC is honestly the prettiest campus in the snow. Even though it is pretty all year round, the snow makes it even better. Also last night was Christmas dinner which is one of my favorite meals in Alliot. The best part? S'mores pizza!  

This is what my walk to class looked like this morning. We basically are living in Narnia and I am totally ok with it. 

 

Ahhhhhh!!! It was sooooo delicious!

Love,
Susanna

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