At this point in the semester, we are all done with everything pertaining to this course. No more feeders, unit projects, workshops, all the things we got in such a regular schedule of doing. In fact at the time I’m writing this, most of us are done with classes all together. That sounds nice until you take into account that this just means it’s time for finals. This is arguably the hardest time mentally throughout the semester, as the finish line is in sight but we all have our fair share of cramming that will be done before we can cross it. With how busy we have all stayed it has been very easy for things to run together and seem like a blur throughout the semester, but as everything comes to end it is always nice to look back on what all has been accomplished along the way.
The semester was started with unit one, an introduction to the course and also our first large assignment we had to complete for a grade. This assignment put us in the position as if we were an author for a popular health article and we needed to compose an entry for a topic we feel passionately about. Throughout this process we learned different methods of research and how to obtain information that backs up the claims we would like to make in our writing. Once the information had been gathered it was our job to translate jargon and results from studies that may be confusing to the average person to convey the message of the studies, we pulled data from along with the message we wanted to push. Of the three projects we completed throughout the course in terms of final product this was the closest to a traditional paper, but through the feeders laid groundwork to help us in the latter two assignments that had more moving parts.
After we finished up unit one, with pretty much no turn around jumped straight into unit two. By this point in the semester everyone was settled into a groove of working and schedules were becoming more consistent as we were hitting the thick mid-point in all of our classes. For this unit we put ourselves in the shoes of a public health specialist interested in exposing and addressing a current problem. In order to do this, we were tasked with conducting research about the issue we chose and presenting the research as if we were in an academic conference presentation. To do this we had to use our research to put together a script speaking on our issue of choice, then record a video of ourselves presenting said script. This was new for many of us as we were more used to writing in essay format rather than something with the intent of being a script. All of this came together and allowed us to get more comfortable writing in different styles while as gaining experience using different forms of media to present.
Lastly, we made our way into unit three. By this time the burnout we’re all experiencing had been set in for a while and the end of the semester was right around the corner. For this unit we observed how topics of health and medicine are demonstrated artistically. To do so we all selected a written story that had undertones of health and medicine and continued to dissect important passages to understand the authors goals of their writings and how they attempted to achieve them. We then used the analysis to write and create a video essay on the story we chose. Like the unit two project this was a style of writing most of us were not very familiar with along with a method of presentation that was also new to everyone. This involved learning to use video editing software in a very short amount of time along with attempting to perfect our script for the video. This project allowed us to be creative and learn how ideas about health and medicine are circulated through things we consume every day.
Overall, this has been a semester full of hard work and learning for everyone in this class. The different projects allowed us to become better writers while also harnessing skills with different forms media we may not have used otherwise. These are skills that are important to have going through college and I’m sure will assist all of us in future going through other courses. Although it is important to work hard during the school year the time of relaxation is among us and we should all take advantage of this no matter what that looks like for you. Hopefully this can be a safe and rejuvenating summer for everyone to come back better than ever next year.
Feature Image Citation:
“Summer – What to do?”. Summer written out in the sand on the beach. ArchCareersGuide, 13 Jan. 2019, https://www.archcareersguide.com/summer-what-to-do/