Stepping back to say hello

In a coffee shop last week, a friend gently challenged me to tell her what it was I wanted to do and focus on with the graduate degree I’m working on.

I’m not taking any classes at the moment, and only working some of the time, so on most weekdays I ask this question to myself and come up with half-formed, convoluted answers. After a moment of disorientation I was thankful to be asked this question (and just to be out of the house, talking with another very understanding human rather than putting all my life choices on trial in my head).

This is the light in which I view the first Blogging 101 assignment to write an intro post about “who I am and why I’m here.” It’s a nudge to step back from complex thoughts in my head that would have never turned themselves into a post, because I’m plagued with perfectionism and needed a prompt to let them out in, maybe, a less complex form.

At the risk of sounding repetitive to the small group of friends that read this blog and obviously know me already… hello!

Who I am

My name is Andrea. I am a Media Studies graduate student who worked in local journalism for about five years before going back to school. I’m married to my soulmate and best friend. He enthusiastically joins in my sitcom obsession and I step outside of my comfort zone to embrace the drama and fantasy he’s into. This is hopefully a metaphor for our relationship and a description of our TV watching adventures. Ah, words.

I have always loved making and designing things, and one of my strongest interests right now is graphic design. Although I’m still learning, I got a lot of meaning and inspiration out of being a Course Assistant in a Design Principles course this past spring.

I’m very much in a “building” phase, professionally, which often amounts to feeling lost. Half the time I research the ins and outs of getting started as a freelancer, while at other times I sincerely miss office life (something I wouldn’t have pictured myself saying a year ago).

Why I’m here

I’m “here” in Blogging 101 because of the above dilemma, partly. I have so much free time this summer, and have a hard time just doing nothing. So I’ve branded it as a #selftaughtsummer. Tutorials, Twitter chats, learning to code, webinars: you name it, I’ll sign up if it’s in my interest area. These things have been great in this want-to-learn-but-can’t-always-afford-things spot in life.

I’m “here” on this blog to write about the media generally and broadly: ideally, you’ll find an examination of trends in technology and how they might be affecting individuals next to roundups of links from brilliant writers, always infused with a social justice perspective. My goal is to listen first and reflect thoughtfully, never to co-opt voices but to respect and amplify marginalized perspectives.

The problem with nuance is it doesn’t always lend itself to volume. Maybe some post will be old-school personal blogging, or all about the visuals, as blogging becomes more of a regular practice. That’s what I’m here to figure out!

Elsewhere

Making it multimedia: I’m also on tumblr and Twitter.

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