My four years in e-communication.
It's finally over. For four years now, I've experienced the high school life. Just like any normal person, I took the required core classes such as english, math, history and science. What separates me from other kids is the fact that I was fortunate enough to get to participate in e-communication. Everyday I looked forward to that class. At the beginning of the year, I never would of guessed that I would be so close to some of the people I am close to now. That's the beauty of e-communication, forming friendships that could last a lifetime. E-comm has taught me so many things. Technologically, it has expanded my knowledge with programs such as Maya, After Effects, Photoshop, I Movie, Dream Weaver and etc...I've learned to use some of them really well while others were just temporary. Collaboratively, e-comm has taught me to be more outgoing and share my ideas. I've learned how to work with others and be a team. I've learned that communication is a very important thing. Everyone needs good communication skills later in life. People need communication skills to live a life. Socializing is a big thing in today's world, without it, you wouldn't be able to network, function or accomplish much of anything. Another thing I've learned is project management. It's so easy to lose track of time when your doing something you enjoy doing. Constantly, I found my perfectionist side coming out. I wanted everything to look absolutely perfect and once I thought something looked perfect I would move on...only to change that perfect thing later on or add to it. Time management is huge, sometimes you just have to turn in what you have and move on. It's better to have something then nothing. Finally, I've developed leadership skills. Being a leader is a difficult thing. People rely on you, look up to you and expect good things from you. It's easy to lose insight and become stressed when you are a leader. Some people just don't understand how it feels to have that much weight on your shoulders. Leadership is healthy for the mind, it develops you further and puts you above normal. All of these lessons and skills didn't always come easy. They were all challenging in their own way. Those challenges are what make me the person I am today and without them I would never be able to take my next step in life. Sometimes we need to take risks to learn something about ourselves.
Strengths & Weaknesses
My strengths and weaknesses are different each day. I have days where I feel like I can accomplish anything and then I have those days where I feel weak and unable. To start, I know for sure I am weak in the time management area. Time management isn't necessarily a weakness for me in everything I do but for modeling it sure was. Like I said up above, I am a perfectionist. I used to sit and trace cursive words when I was younger. I would practice for hours. After I finished tracing, I would transition to a blank piece of paper and try to write the words I traced. I would re-write them until they came out perfectly. If the words didn't come out perfectly, I would cry and erase it. I know it sounds like an issue but it actually comes in handy. We see ourselves as having issues but we don't focus on them as being beneficial. Today I know how to write in cursive...but that's not all my "issue" does for me. It helps me to make my ideas and imagination come to life and appear visually attractive. However, it does hold me back when it comes to time. I found myself staying late after school to work on my 3D city of the future. My internship made it more exhausting due to me having to leave school, go to my internship and drive back up to school to work. I did finish my 3D model though, right at the last second, literally. Sure, I wasn't completely finished and yes I saw some things that needed improvement but I learned that you just have to turn in what you can. You never know what the outcome will be.
I am also somewhat weak when it comes to sharing my ideas and criticism. When it came to group projects, I was kind of hesitant to share my thoughts. Like when I had to get together with some peers and do a stop motion, we were all struggling with ideas to do. I had a few but I didn't want to share because I was afraid of criticism or being judged. E-comm has helped me to feel more confident and view criticism as a path towards improvement. It's still hard to accept it, but who doesn't think its hard to take a punch? I actually kind of find joy in taking criticism and accepting it as a challenge though.
One of my most valued strengths is my creativity. I have been able to exercise my brain in so many different ways during these past 4 years. I have expanded my brain and explored parts of my brain that I didn't realize I had. I feel I have many creative ideas...it's the making it come to life part that is the tricky part.
I also value my ability to learn. I keep my eyes and ears open each and everyday so I can learn something new. I was able to further my abilities by focusing and listening to my teacher and the peers around me. Whenever I would go for help on a project, I always learned a shortcut or something new that I didn't know before. I am always open to expand my knowledge in everything and anything I do. As humans we crave knowledge, we want to know more. That's what makes it so hard to die, unsatisfied curiosity.
What now?
I feel I am going to do so many great things with what I have learned in e-communication. All of the skills I have developed and put into action are all needed to be successful in life. Some students don't realize how important these skills are until the time has come when they actually need to use them. I will go out into the world and network, create contacts, manage my time and use it wisely, use my knowledge, use my creativity, be leader and do so many great things. I will definitely need the leadership skills for when I possibly create a business one day. I hope to climb the ladder to be a CEO. It will take work, no one said it would be easy but they did say that it would be rewarding. Sometimes you don't have to be doing something great for these skills to come into play. It's in everyday life that we need these skills. Around family, friends and strangers.
To be honest, there is nothing I would change about my experience in e-communication. Everything I learned and improved, all of the friends I have made and all of the challenges I have faced and failures I have experienced have happened for a reason. I wouldn't change one thing about my four years in high school. They have made me who I am today and who I will be later on.
Overall, this journey is both rewarding and memorable. I will look back years from now and remember the big impact that e-comm made on my life. I will miss the atmosphere of the Animation room, the multiple personalities, the projects, the people and Mr. Netterville. Sure, I may have been quiet, a little less crazy than most of the people and I may have seemed like I didn't have fun in Animation but truly on the inside, it is one of my best and favorite high school memories that I will carry along with me for a lifetime.
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