On the day of our first lecture, I remember going onto the CT 101 website and reading through the syllabus. It felt overwhelming, especially the part about being required to do 2-3 assignments per week. It’s been about a year since I’ve last been in a college classroom, so I was a bit worried if I could handle the workload.

However, despite the initial fear I had of the class, after meeting Professor Seslow in the Zoom meeting, I began to understand the class a little better and realized Professor Seslow’s main concern was not to follow some strict guideline, but to allow us to utilize creative freedom.

Personally, I enjoy being creative and doing artistic works more than working with numbers like in calculus and computer science. When I heard about all the creative content we would be making in CT 101, like blog posts, I admit that I got a bit excited.

Compared to my other classes, CT 101 is definitely my favorite class of this semester. All my other classes require me to read 40 or more pages per week on topics I am not really interested in, and then I’m assigned very specific questions regarding the text I read. It’s certainly straightforward, but it’s also very dull and boringly systematic.

After completing the first assignment about Internet Happiness, I realized how powerful digital storytelling was. There’s so much more appeal in telling stories through the use of organized text, design and moving visuals rather than just tiny, compact words (like in a newspaper).

Considering how much society relies on technology and the virtual world, learning how to create stories digitally is invaluable.

My major at York College is Communications Technology with a concentration in Web Design, so learning how to create appealing, EYE CATCHING messages for online audiences is definitely a plus.

I’m really excited to see what this class has in store for us. Hopefully, by taking CT 101, I can learn what makes applications like Imgur so popular, and overall, expand my creative horizons.

 

 

The one thing from the Internet that brings me the most happiness is my favorite show of all time, My Hero Academia.

I first found out about My Hero Academia back in 2016. I was simply scrolling through Youtube and saw a trailer for it in my recommended section. I clicked on it out of curiosity and from that day forward, I’ve been eagerly waiting for new releases on content every week.

My Hero Academia is a superhero action series written by Kouhei Horikoshi that focuses on a boy named Izuku Midoriya, a boy born into a world where everyone has super powers…except him. He is constantly looked down upon and ridiculed for this abnormality, but even so, he doesn’t give up on his dream of becoming a hero. After an ordeal with a villain, he is given the opportunity to become a hero by his favorite superhero, All Might (who is essentially the Superman of this story.)

Aside from the fantasy elements and AWESOME fights, I grew to love this series because I was able to relate to the struggles of the protagonist, Izuku Midoriya. He is constantly haunted by his insecurities of not being good enough, which push him to improve in both academics and physical training. And even though he is a cartoon character, he is actually one of my biggest role models and inspires me to workout consistently and do my best at school.

Many people might just consider this show to just be a cartoon, but to me, it’s so much more. Everything about it, from the lovable characters, the amazing fights, the overall narrative and the central moral of “Going beyond your limits” has made me integrate this show into my life in more ways than one. I wear My Hero Academia shirts, I listen to the music, I draw in my spare time and most importantly, whenever I feel burnt out, ready to give up, I tell myself “Izuku Midoriya didn’t give up, so I won’t either.” My girlfriend calls me a nerd for saying this, but I’m proud to admit that it’s helping me reach my goal of graduating from college.

Like I said before, this show has a GREAT message, but it is still a show about superheroes and villains. If you want to know why I love this show so much, check out this fight scene.

If you want to learn more about My Hero Academia, click here.