Coming up with a blog topic was a rather thought-provoking and introspective process. While I want my blog to be personal enough that I enjoy the subject matter, I would love for it to be useful enough that others would feel compelled to read and take something away from it. Coincidentally, what I’m passionate about and how I believe that I can best be of service to other people seem to have fit neatly together into a tightly wrapped box. My life after college seems to be headed in a NASCAR style loop; I plan on entering the field of Higher Education, where I can pursue a career that will allow me to develop positive student experiences in a variety of settings. That being said, there’s a certain informality that the professional world lacks that I will miss dearly; hence this blog. My blog will be parodically titled Matt’s Declassified College Survival Guide, and will (usually) be anything but formal.
credit contentamp.com
While the information will be key, the tips will be based on my own experience, and hopefully be accompanied with my own images. I hope to use these images as a basis for many of my posts, but also to act as the linking image to my blog posts. I want the posts to be multimodal, incorporating images, gifs, memes, YouTube videos, and anything else I can find that’s relevant to break-up the potential monotony of information. Most important to me in my blog will be transparency. My posts will be based on tips and suggestions, which are ultimately developed through my own experiences. They will not be relevant to everyone, and will most definitely not work for every type of personality, and my blog needs to reflect that. I hope to be upfront about the ways in which my experience has been shaped in order to produce the suggestions I publish so that my audience can adjust based on their own experiences and personalities as they wish.
My inspiration for this style comes partly from a great blog titled Green Kitchen Stories. Obviously, it’s not the most relevant to my topic (being that it’s a food blog.) Stylistically, however, it’s everything I’m aiming towards. It’s image driven, multimodal, and incredibly transparent. If I can replicate these characteristics in my own blog, I will be happy with my work.
credit matthewbeale.wordpress.com
I think this project is outwardly helpful but inwardly selfish. This is an opportunity for me to look back on everything I’ve learned and experienced at the end of my undergraduate career. It’s a fantastic reflection project. I can only hope that anyone who reads it will get something out of it, because I know I will.