In CT101, I have learned…

JK.

I have learned so many things but most importantly the many ways to tell a story. First, we learned how to make engaging and unique blog posts, which has completely changed how I approach project creation in other classes.

Next, through the DS106 Assignment Bank, I tested my skills in other media forms. I worked on journaling and photo-editing, two forms of expression I am not accustomed to but definitely stuck with me. The Canva application I tinkered with in Assignment #5, ended up being what I used to create fun graphics for another class’s final (pictured above)!

Lastly, the biggest thing I learned was that either I am a genius or anyone can create a website! Website creation was my favorite part of this course by far! I see myself continuing to edit and add to my blog throughout the summer. It has become an extension and explanation of my personality; and as I develop, I want the blog to grow as well!

I think considering how much effort I put in even though I have missed some assignments, I would give myself somewhere between a C+ and a B. Thank you all for a great semester!

After some thought, finding a domain for my site came very easily to me. At first, I wasn’t sure what cool blog name to make. I ran through some very corny contenders – like “bloggable” and “blognessmonster”. 

However, a lightbulb went off in my head with a very simple solution. When I first created my Instagram, I thought it would be a great handle in case I become famous or start influencing. It’s my first and middle name, it is easy to remember, and I think looks pretty.

Just jamilah.aniyah.com, very simple to the point! And since my parents gave me such a unique name combination, it was available!

This is not a plug to follow my Instagram, but look out for my blog when it is complete. The process of setting everything up was very simple. Getting a walk-through from the professor on using the domain site, was extremely helpful. I am so excited to have made a website, that’s so cool!

For now, this is what my blog looks like, but I have big dreams for what it could be!

There is one word I would use to describe this semester’s progress… forgotten. I have admittedly fallen way behind on updating this site. While I do enjoy the work in this class, I found it hard to keep up once I was considerably behind.

However, I have learned so much over the course of the semester! From creating engaging interactive blog posts to work on digital art projects, I have worked on things I thought only experienced coders would understand. Every time I complete a project, I feel that much smarter. Prior to taking this class, much of my computer knowledge was in editing photos on Instagram, so needless to say, my arsenal is a bit more stacked now. 

Honestly, I am missing quite a few assignments, but I try to leave comments whenever I can make it to class. I will try to respond to a few as well. When I am in class, I take notes, look through the dashboard and ask questions. I just admittedly have missed a few classes. However, I put a lot of effort and thought into every blog and comment I have posted. With all of this in mind, I think I deserve, at most, a B. 

I have attached my blogs thus far below:

Carnival Tabanca: Internet Makes Me Happy

Why I love CT101, but GIFs

Assignment #4: My Passion for Fitness

For this project, I actually chose 2 projects from the DS106 Assignment Bank that I was a bit familiar with  – one considerably more than the other. One project was focused on writing and the other focused on creating a visual element.

As a humanities major writing comes naturally, so expressing myself was a breeze. This first project was a Self-Wellness Check – which I’m sure we all need this semester. The instructions were pretty simple and I honestly needed a mental check-in. There has been a lot going on in my personal life and while the gym tends to be my preferred emotional release, sometimes it does help to write things down. Journaling has tons of benefits for your mental health. Here’s an article with a few advantages, if you’d like more information from a trusted source.

To get in the right headspace, I put my favorite playlist on and found a quiet spot to reflect. I tapped into my inner Lofi girl and got to work. Here’s how I answered the questions:

1. What worries me most about the future?

Indecision. I am a terribly indecisive person. I don’t have a specific passion or know “what I wanna be when I grow up”. Even though I am aware that I can just try things out and figure it out over time, I constantly fear that I will make the wrong choice. Especially with my time in college coming to an end soon, the pressure is unbearable when it comes to planning my future.

2. What am I doing about the things that matter most in my life?

Right now, I think I am taking inventory and nurturing the things  I care about most. I feel like I  am in a space where I am figuring out my values and what I care about. And as I have a hard time deciding what these things are, I am trying to take care of each piece as best I can, whether that be my friendships or my health.

3. What do I want most in life?

What I have always wanted in life is to be satisfied and happy with myself wherever I am in life. This is not to say I am unhappy currently, but I don’t want to ever feel uneasy about my lifestyle or my path. This is becoming increasingly difficult as a young 20-something trying to explore independence in New York City.

4. When did I last push the boundaries of my comfort zone?

The last time I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone was in my swim class. This semester I have transformed from someone terrified of drowning to a pretty decent swimmer. A feat I hadn’t yet concurred was diving. Though I am pretty confident in my swimming, diving was a whole new beast. This past weekend we practiced diving into the 14ft end of the pool without life vests. For reference, I am a cool 5 feet 7 inches, so 14ft is a huge jump. I was the last to jump in and I was so scared my toes gripped the edge of the diving board for dear life before I went airborne. The initial splash made my heart race as I sank deep into the pool. After a few seconds of panic, my body floated to the top and I swam to safety faster than I ever had before. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and taught me that sometimes in life you just have to dive in and see for yourself, or you’ll never experience change! Below is a visual representation of what I thought would happen, but I am happy to report that I am just fine.

5. What goals do I need to have to get where I want to be?

I need to aspire to better discern what I can and cannot control in life, find happiness in the things I do on a daily basis, and create space for myself and others to feel safe in figuring things out.

Moving onto the second project, I chose to focus on creating a visual. I love art but don’t have much experience making it virtually. Here are the instructions I followed. For this project, I used Canva, an application I have used once or twice for group projects but never on my own.

I looked through the array of templates for inspiration. A travel ad caught my eye the most. As a college student, it can be hard to have a fun-filled summer since travel could be so expensive. I decided it could be fun to visually advertise a staycation while verbally telling people they can travel the world. New York is the perfect city for this, since you could probably find every culture here.

I identify as a certified gym rat, and I think I’m a little more obsessed than passionate. I have been a regular at my local gym for the past year and I started seriously strength training 3 months ago. It started out as a casual hobby that took up about 45 mins twice a week, or whenever I felt like it. Nowadays, even with a pretty busy schedule, I go 3 days/week for 90+ mins without fail and often lose time in the gym. It’s like an adult playground, and the whole world of fitness intrigues me. Now, I seek out high sources of protein for better muscle growth and my favorite shopping addiction is cute gym attire. 

I am the type of person to start 10 different hobbies and lose them over time. For some time, I was a knitter, I garden seasonally, and I love art but am ashamed of how long it has been since I opened my sketchbook. It took some deep self-reflection to realize why I took to this hobby so naturally. It wasn’t a new stimulus, just me rekindling an interest I wasn’t very aware of. 

These pictures are of me and my HS Women’s Sabre(fencing) team posing after winning individual and team championships in my senior year. I went away to boarding school for high school and, if you ask anyone else who has, we would agree that those schools try hard to keep teens busy. There is always something going on, – after school, during lunch periods, on the weekends, during breaks – always! My school, in particular, required all students to pick up an after-school activity and play at least 3 seasons of sports. So high school Jamilah, excited to be in this new environment, did 3 seasons of sports – fencing, volleyball, and tennis- and joined a dance company for all 4 years. At the time, these activities were things just fun to do after school or ways to spend more time with my friends. Now as an adult, I have realized how much those activities impacted my physical, emotional, and mental health.

Transparency moment…..

My first try at college was a very stressful experience. The classes were extremely difficult, the social atmosphere was almost non-existent, and the school culture was pretty toxic. In addition to these things, I often overloaded my class schedule, participated in work-study, and organized multiple clubs while tackling personal issues of anxiety and trauma. Needless to say, I had very little time or motivation, to participate in sports or regular exercise. Although, in retrospect, my weeks always felt better after I took a random Yoga class or walked through the Arboretum. And my favorite mental escape was to bike wherever my legs took me. The bikeability of small-town Ohio is probably the only thing I miss about the Midwest. 

In 2020, I decided to come back home. However, for obvious reasons, there were very few opportunities to get out and do anything. I found that taking long walks, volunteering to do grocery runs on foot and gardening helped me clear my head and recenter myself. At this point, it should’ve been obvious to me that fitness and movement make me happy, but the fitness industry never catered to people that look like me so I assumed I didn’t belong.

Over time, I built up the confidence to put myself out there, but there was a beautiful community that helped me along the way. A close friend of mine decided to start an amazing community around body inclusivity called the Unplug Collective. Through this site and related social media, I heard stories from other people who felt like I did and made me feel less alone in the overwhelming world of slim-bodied expectations. I started going to the gym on occasion to get familiar with the equipment, do what felt good, and get comfortable in the space.

Now I am a regular at my local Blink Fitness and have been going more regularly for over a year now. It has been the best habit I have picked up in life. I don’t feel right when I skip my gym days. It gives me a huge boost of serotonin every time and has become my emotional outlet.

In the past 3 months, I have started a weight training journey that has further boosted my passion for exercise. I do lots of research to be sure I don’t hurt myself and am getting the most out of the work I put in. I work alongside a trainer at my local gym (by the way, if you have a Blink membership you have a free personal training session you can redeem anytime!). He has given me some great guidance and helped me reach my goals. TikTok has also been a great resource for fitness tips and community. It is imperative, however, that you choose the right people since the fitness world can be toxic and fat-phobic. Here are some of my faves:

1. Cranon , an inspirational, black woman weightlifter
2. Nataleebfitness , black woman helping gym newbies feel comfortable
3. JPGCoaching , gives great gym tips, dispelling fitness trends
4. FormerFatGuyFitness, gives great recommendations for high protein meals
5. Callherkarenbby , rare, but necessary, thick girl gym-speration!

Some honorable mentions for great tips and good vibes: BritneyNgwese, Swolerickets, leanbeefpatty, and _castawayj.

If you ever need someone to talk to about fitness or the gym, I am happy to make virtual gym buddies. I currently have a 275lb deadlift and 180lb squat (and climbing), so I think I have a bit of credibility on progress over time. Just remember, there are 100s of reasons why someone wants to get into the gym or fitness in general. Weight loss is not everyone’s goalpost and definitely not mine.

In all honesty, I enrolled in this course last minute, because I was just a few credits short of being full time, which is required for me to stay in the ACE Program. So, when I first started CT101, I was a bit confused and frazzled.

Further, it was until after Professor Seslow’s email about attendance that I realized the class met in person. When I sat in on my first physical class, I was instantly intrigued! Reading and hearing things online sounded complicated and almost impossible.

I thought to myself, “I’m going to CREATE a gif?!”. In my mind, those were made with complex code by computer geniuses.

But after attending class, and having the Professor walk us through that process and talk about the power of blogging, I felt so empowered!

I am a very visual/kinesthetic learner and getting walkthrough instructions with examples throughout this course has been a lifesaver! I have always loved writing and as a Zellenial (the generation between Millenials and Gen Z), I am constantly interacting with the internet. Because of my writing intensive major, I have very little time or motivation to write recreationally. However, I think this class has the potential to spark that interest in me.

I appreciate how the assignments are always guided by self-interest! My other classes are alright, but they would be 10x better if the assignments tied to my interests rather than some generic theme or topic. I love my major and the content but it gets tiring to constantly regurgitate information in research papers as opposed to writing on my understanding of Freedom in America, for example. 

This class has the creative potential to revolutionize learning in all majors. I think this style of writing, collaboration, and media literacy makes learning more fun and works with moving the generation forward in understanding technology. It feels like we are in the future!

I feel like after learning how to use all of the tools in this course, I can classify myself as one of the cool computer geniuses that I mentioned before. I can’t wait to use this course to express myself and become a computer genius!

Recently on the internet, I am most excited about the way the internet has played a huge role in the education and cultural exchange across the African Diaspora. Yes, the internet was made to connect people all over the world, but it still blows my mind how well it works!

For some context, I am a Black Studies major here at York, I work in Diversity and Inclusion, and I am the child of Jamaican and Guyanese immigrants. With that being said, my interest in spreading knowledge of the diversity of the Diaspora is a passion of mine. The diaspora refers to the worldwide spread of Black people and culture as a result of African Slave Trade, and here is a handy map of how far that reach was. 

As Mardi Gras draws millions to New Orleans for the great music, food and culture, Caribbean/West Indian people all over the world make the pilgrimage back to the islands to celebrate Carnival. (Here‘s a bit of history, for context). Many are only aware of the Rio Carnival, in Brazil, with its ornate floats, lively dancing and vibrant costumes. However, Carnival is a tradition upheld across South America, the Caribbean and almost anywhere with a large Diaspora presence, like the Knotting Hill Carnival in the UK and Labor Day Carnival, here in New York! Here’s a calendar of some carnivals that were proposed for 2020 (prior to COVID shutting the world down).

For most of my life, I generally knew these existed but it wasn’t until the growth of Instagram and TikTok that I really saw how similar but unique each island’s traditions are. This all started from a single video I watched on Instagram [that I can’t seem to find =( ] where individuals were celebrating in a parade-like fashion, down a city street. The music, the dance, the vibe – all resembled different aspects of the Diaspora. It had the dance and instruments that resembled New Orleans Mardi Gras, the Soca music and costumes resembling that of Trinidad Carnival and the diversity of skin tone and hair textures that are reflected across all Brown communities. As the celebration continues, we are taught that this melangé of Black culture is located in the Montserrat, a Caribbean Island north of Guadalupe. It is amazing because, I would have never known this existed if it weren’t for social media!

As a Black Studies major, I am very invested in learning about my culture and history; however, this opportunity is only (sometimes) accessible at the university level, as the basic American Education system falls short of explaining the complexity of many Black and Brown histories within this country. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok has been revolutionary in connecting Black Communities around the world and bringing the knowledge outside of privileged classrooms. 

A great example of this is #geecheetiktok, a hashtag comprised of the lost lives, histories and cultures of the Gullah Geechee peoples. The Gulla people are an ethnic community created by enslaved Africans in the low country, coastal areas of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, where a lot of language and tradition has been preserved to this day. And even I, being a Black Studies major, had not learned much about the Gulla people until I encountered @gullagritstv and @geecheegoddess, two content creators of geechee descent who use TikTok to teach about the language and culture of their community. This hits home because my paternal grandmother is a descendant of the Gullah people. While she is still alive she is quite old and her memory of the history isn’t the clearest. So, it warms my heart to have a casual platform like TikTok be the connection between me and my ancestral community, and for others to learn of theirs.

Here’s a great video showing how some Gulla Geechee people, today, are still looking to help connect and empower the Diaspora by reincorporating the language of their culture into the modern black vernacular.

As of now, I suffer from Carnival Tabanca, a deep longing to celebrate and experience the joys of Carnival season with my people. And, until Caribbean Heritage month starts in June and New York summers become synonymous with West Indian culture, I have been relegated to blasting countless Carnival playlists and Road March mixes through my headphones, to last me a lifetime.