College Recap
or my mental health check-up
My first semester of college is over—four more to go. Fortunately, I‘m not worried— the years will go by fast if the first semester proves anything.
I learned a lot in my first year. I majored in digital journalism to better understand journalism and improve my Medium blog.
I learned what mistakes I’m making and how to improve them. My recent articles use those techniques.
Here are a few things I learned:
- Bring the main idea of an article to the front.
- Don’t delay it with a long-winded preamble or anecdote. Keep it short, sweet, and to the point.
- Journalists write three-sentence paragraphs because that’s how many fit on newsprint.
- Journalists use the AP (Associated Press) style. I mixed it in my recent works.
What else did I learn?
I took a filmmaking and music class. I enjoyed my filmmaking course — it reignited my love for movies and taught me more about the craft. However, I’m indifferent about my music class. The history of jazz and Rock n roll class was a hybrid: half online and in-person. I wish it weren’t since the teacher knows plenty about music, and I wanted to learn what I didn’t know.
I know we would’ve had a good discussion, given I pushed aside Led Zeppelin in my group presentation. I made one slide because I didn’t feel like talking. Sorry, professor, VonBerg.
Either way, my first semester was a success. I earned all A’s, and the cycle will continue.
What about my mental health?
We’re humans. We have our ups and downs. The first semester was challenging, and I had many dreadful days.
I woke up at 5 a.m. to catch a bus at 6 a.m. to arrive at my 8 a.m. class. I could drive there, but I’m not one for driving long distances. So, because I lacked sleep, I felt exhausted. And this weariness led to depression.
Feeling depressed clouded my judgment. I didn’t think I was good enough. What was the point of college? I disliked people. I didn’t want to speak to anyone.
Through it all, though, I’m okay.
I’m less exhausted, and I somewhat dislike and speak to others.
What’s next?
I’m not taking summer classes, so I’m focusing on Medium. With the semester over, I can concentrate on my big project about Max Headroom — I hope I research and take note of everything to write an excellent article.
I thought to open access to writers on my pub, Shotgun, this summer, but I’m postponing it until I graduate college. It’s a long time from now, but here’s hoping Shotgun doesn’t fade into obscurity like the media I write about on there.
So, with that said, I’m looking forward to my Medium return and reading excellent articles, poems, and (non)fiction my Medium acquaintances write.
We are razin heat.
Side note: I’ll write a recap after each semester leading up to graduation.
