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writing to tell my story

A quote by E.L. Doctorow that encompasses how I feel about writing and my writing experience abroad is, “Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.”

 

My freshman year I took a class called Writing for Mass Communications (JOUR 202). I have always loved to write and have a real passion for it but I never really knew the concepts and best practices for it.

 

Lucky for me, JOUR 202 was a foundational course for my public relations major. At the heart of public relations is being able to write concisely and effectively. This class provided the tools to become a better writer. The important concepts I took away from the class dealt with employing editing skills to revise and improve writing while thinking critically, creatively and independently to evaluate my work and the work of others.

 

In this class I was taught how to write for several media forms like creative and news writing, blogging, broadcast writing and feature writing. I studied and practiced the complete writing process that involves, planning, prewriting, writing and revision that lead to a polished product.

 

Knowing how to write for different forms of mass communications was great but I always learn best in real world situations that come from beyond the classroom experiences. The chance finally came to put my writing into practice when I studied abroad at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia. Ironically, QUT’s slogan is, “A university for the real world” and this was perfect for all the hands on experience I wanted abroad.

 

I kept a blog for six months documenting my experiences abroad especially when it came to meeting new people and learning about different cultures, adjusting to the new environment, traveling in the country and the overall ups and downs of the journey. I was prepared to blog for six months because of my experience blogging freshman year in JOUR 202. A big part of studying abroad was to document the adventure while bettering myself personally and academically. Because I took the time to fully commit to the blog, I am now able to look at back on the experience and read the story of my life Down Under.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since QUT is focused on providing real world opportunities for students, I took advantage of that and joined the QUT Journalism and Media Society (JAMS). In this club I connected with other mass communications students and learned about writing opportunities in Brisbane. I obtained a position as a creative content writer for an online news site called Media Times. I wrote on topics ranging from travel, technology, social media and student life. Getting to write on such broad topics improved my writing. Nothing motivates me more than when I have a story I am genuinely interested in. I loved writing on all these topics. An important aspect of the position was writing under constant deadlines. I was well prepared for this challenge because of the frequent writing assignments I had in JOUR 202 that had hard deadlines.

 

Ater Media Times, I found another opportunity to write. This time it was for QUT’s student run magazine, Universe. For this issue I wrote two stories titled, “Brisbane from an Exchange Student’s Perspective” and “What’s in the Bag?” The exchange student story was my heartfelt opinion of my journey studying abroad in the city. It was the piece I was most proud of. Most of my writing consists of third person so having this story was different but helped me diversify my writing. It was amazing to see my work in print because this was my first time writing for a magazine. The fact that I was an exchange student and got two articles featured in my university’s magazine was a big deal for me.

 

As a public relations major I am always looking for opportunities to write different pieces and writing for this magazine was one of the best opportunities. What makes it so unique is that instead of someone having to read my entire blog to get a gist of my experience, it is all summed up in this article. Now I am able to share my story with friends, family, colleagues and employers. This writing was beneficial because I did not want to just see Australia, I wanted to experience and document the adventure.

 

Writing is a simple thing, but there’s so much power behind it. The fact that I can create stories for myself and for others, motivates me to keep writing. The more I write the better I become and JOUR 202 was the class that started this journey.

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