I had never done a blog before and I never expected to. In the past I always associated blogs with people who sat in their dark houses with the curtains drawn all day and wrote to unknown readers about their pent-up negativity. However, this exercise of blogging about current events and issues gave me an entirely new perspective on online blogs. At first I was unsure of how to write in my blog--what would interest the people reading it? But as the semester went on I realized how easy it was to not only have an opinion on the things I was writing about but state my opinion in a clear, understandable way.
Like I said in my presentation, I decided to focus on the Middle East because it is one region of the world that I am absolutely fascinated by and I want to know as much about is as I can. Even when I was in highschool and living at home, with a newspaper waiting for me on the front counter every morning, I am embarrassed to say that I was awful at keeping up with my current events. I continually felt too busy to take 15 minutes and glance over the New York Times, at least. But there was a time in my junior year when I took a current events class and our assignment was a weekly one, very much like our blog in International Relations, and I found that I became an expert on a variety of issues in such a short time. I like feeling in the know and that I could keep up with the conversations that occurred between my parents and their friends; and that is what this blogging exercise did for me again.
Another interesting thing about this exercise is I found out what kind of stories I gravitate towards. For instance, my genuine interest in the Middle East derives from the fact that the lives of those millions of people that live there are so drastically different from mine. Hence why I tended to focus a lot of on the role and lives of women in the Middle East. It is so bizarre to know that as I sit in Belk Library right now, looking out at this nice sunny day, there are millions of girls and women across the globe who will never feel the carefree happiness that I feel right now; it is weird for me to think that at this exact moment, someone is leading a tragically different life from me. Of course that is not to say that there are no happy women in the Middle East and that all of them loathe their lives, but is rather a statement about the women that I read about--the pained, the suffering, and the poor women that make the headlines.
From following the stories of some of these women I benefit in two ways: I become increasingly more knowledgeable about the kinds of lives they lead, and I become increasingly more appreciative of my own life and the people in it. My appreciation spurs me on to want to help bring change to the regions of the world that need it, and thus my knowledge brings me closer to making that change a reality.
In conclusion, I really liked blogging and hope that I will do it again in the future. In the meantime, I will be keeping up with the Middle East and other regions of the world as if I were blogging and continue the expansion of my knowledge and deepening of my appreciation.
