The semester is now over, and what a great experience it’s been—especially with this class!
This class, PUB 101, was interesting to me because I have never really been in a student-centered class, where we work on basically one project throughout the entire term—which, in this case, is our website.
I loved how the lectures were more conversational than a “traditionally” structured lecture. Suzanne really tried to get the class engaged in lecture content by having conversations with us and even by having us play games like Kahoot!
Lauren also gave really detailed feedback whenever I asked for it—and even sometimes she just tells me during tutorial or office hours when I visit her. She is such a nice and fun person to talk to and I loved having her as a TA.
I honestly cannot believe that the semester is over already. Time flew so fast! Over the last—and fast—13 weeks, I really learned how to portray my online self publicly through my site. The energy I felt in this class is great, and I hope to see more of this energy in my future classes!
I know this sounds cliché, but I think this is a big deal to have. My site is all about trying to be optimistic and remaining motivated in a fitness journey while being busy with school, and my posts are mostly just reflections of my experiences during this time. So readers should be respectful of me and my content, as well as anyone else who is going through the same thing I am.
#2 No Hate Speech
Although very similar to the first guideline, this one dives into more specificity in what people should not be commenting on my posts. Any harmful comments are not only hurtful to me, but to anyone who visits my site and is looking for something to motivate them in improving their well-being.
#3 No Spamming
Spamming is annoying, and it disrupts readers from the content they are meant to see on my site.
#4 No Illegal Content or Promotion
Pretty self-explanatory—no one should comment or post anything that promotes any illegal activities.
Why These Guidelines?
My site is meant to serve as a safe space for anyone who is struggling on their fitness journey and wants to find a means to stay motivated. I believe these guidelines enable my site to be a safe space.
Consequences
Anyone who violates these guidelines will be flagged immediately and will be blocked from the site.
I set a goal at the beginning of this semester. I aimed to go to the gym consistently at least four days a week and eat cleaner, and I would track all of my progress along the way. I really thought I could do it, especially since my personal trainer boyfriend was there to help me out.
But school and life got in the way. This term was one of the busiest semesters I’ve had in my entire university career. I was constantly in meetings for group projects, working on my own individual assignments, studying for midterms, and all that jazz.
My body felt tired. My brain was ALWAYS tired. Even though I was not physically moving as much as I would if I were to go to the gym, I was in no mental shape to push myself to go workout or even cook for myself (my mom does that for me…thanks mom! <3). If I did these things I would feel stressed thinking I am just wasting time when I could be studying.
I did not workout the last couple of months…well I did for a week and then stopped…does that count? Anyways…everytime I would go back to the gym after God knows how long, it would honestly feel like I am starting back to square one each time.
And that never felt any good. As someone who used to lift really heavyweights a year ago, it never feels great to know that I am struggling with weights that used to be so easy.
Also I am slouching more now. As a SIAT student minoring in Publishing, I am CONSTANTLY sitting at my desk in front of the computer. My back is also always cracking, and it hurts by the end of the day because of how long I have been sitting for. I feel like if I have gone to the gym consistently throughout the semester as I planned, then maybe my back wouldn’t hurt so much.
As for my diet, I think I’ve done fairly decently. By sticking to my diet (most of the time), I think I was able to maintain my weight for the most part, which is a very good thing! However, I do know that if I had gone to the gym consistently, I could have lost more weight.
So that is where I’m at. I was not always in the best headspace when it comes to this, but I know that things will get better from here. Next semester, I hope to find more time to put my physical and mental health a high priority, and to be able to do the work in doing so.
Regardless, this has been a great semester—I have learned so much and have had great experiences. Can’t wait for the next term! Time to rest for now (:
I think one thing I could do to incorporate more transmedia integration into my online publication is to create graphic design imagery, such as adding a short piece of text onto an image or colour block. An example of this is an Instagram post of a graphic I created for Earth Day 2020 as shown here. The type of messaging I would incorporate with these images would revolve around motivation, especially in terms of fitness, and mental and physical health.
Instagram would probably be the main channel I would focus on because posting images is still one of the main things people do on this platform, and I believe that it is a place that is popular among my intended audience.
Although there are many people/accounts, such as @wetheurban shown here, who use Instagram as a platform to post images that carry some type of motivational messages or affirmations, I think this space allows for people to reflect on their health or experiences and hopefully be in a better state after reading the message that came with each post. By contributing to this space, I can hopefully help someone become more motivated, and help them feel better about themselves mentally and physically.
So on my last blog post about my fitness update, I told you guys that I can eat rice again but alternating veggie only days and rice days…
Well, I’ve been doing that for the last few weeks but turns out I was only supposed to do that for a week—oops!
It was just funny because when I told my boyfriend (aka my personal trainer) about it, he said “I thought I was clear on this” but I misinterpreted what he said.
All good though! If you guys mess up like I did, just know what it’s okay because it’s all part of the process!
Gym Update
I should also note that I haven’t been to the gym the last few weeks either. I was so caught up with school stuff that I am always feeling so tired everyday and I just did not have the time to workout while having so much studying to do and having time to rest.
Now that things are kind of getting a little more chill, I am planning to go back this week!
Just a reminder—it’s okay to take time off from the gym to prioritize other things. We all get busy so it’s okay to rest, but be sure to not overwork yourself to the point our mental and physical health gets compromised!
We are about 3 weeks out from the last day of school and I couldn’t be any more excited.
The last few weeks have been so busy—the busiest I probably have ever been in my entire academic career. I attend so many meetings for group projects and office hours.
But despite the fact of how busy things have gotten this term, I am confident that it is all worth it because all the hard work I put into my assignments, projects and overall studies will pay out.
Marilyn Brimacombe’s blog is a place where the author (Marilyn) aims to share tangible tips, tricks and hacks for beauty, wellness and lifestyle, as well as how to live your best balanced life.
When I first got onto the site, I noticed that the site overall has a certain aesthetic and style to it—clean, cute and girly. The first thing I noticed was the carousel of images, which visually illustrates what the site is generally about. As a user of this site, I am particularly drawn to it. I also saw a few hints of pink in the images, which feels like it ties the entire aesthetic together. The font choice also fits the aesthetic well, making the entire site consistent, which makes me want to keep navigating through the site.
Another thing I like about this website is how easy it is to navigate through the different categories of the site. Not only are these categories shown in the top navigation bar, but they are also shown closer to the bottom of the homepage as clickable images with a text label of the respective category. In addition, I think that the categories are well chosen because it shows the type of content I would want to see as someone who is part of the intended audience.
One thing I think would make the homepage a bit stronger is to add a little bit more detail on what the site is about or what its goal is. Currently, the only pointers I saw that hinted what the site is about is the tagline under the site title, which reads “The ultimate guide to beauty and wellness,” as well as the categories. Adding another short blurb on what this site aims to do for its intended audience might be something that could incline more users to stay on the site and learn more about all the tips and tricks for beauty, wellness and lifestyle.
Diving deeper into the site, I can see that the headings of each post are really big in the previews. This catches my attention and inclines me to read more about them. Moreover, titles and general content for each post is well related to the goal of the site, which is a good thing because as a user in the intended audience group, it would make me confused if the content did not relate to the goal of the site and would make me not want to continue using it.
Lastly, the about page is great in describing with detail who Marilyn is, what she does and why she does what she does. The goal of her site is very clear here, and she ties in her passions and interests, and what she does to the goal of her site in a cohesive way.
It was interesting to play around with Google Analytics and seeing how many people are visiting my site.
However, I had trouble going through Google Analytics during the tutorial in lecture today. Not sure why but the interface I saw on my end was really different from what Suzanne was showing.
For example, in the screenshot below, I only have two columns (Suzanne’s has three) and I don’t have a UA code.
Even some of the other stuff like the left side bar is different as well.
Not sure why this is happening…maybe I didn’t connect my site correctly? Or is this a new version of Google Analytics? But then again everyone’s should be the same because its Google…
This wasn’t as intuitive as I had hoped but hopefully we get it figured out!
