Critically Minded

Image found on http://betterwritinghabits.com by Suzannah Freeman.

It’s amazing to see how many connections I can make between my IT degree and my English degree.  One connection is having a critical mind in regards to writing–whether it be poetry or programs.

I took a Software Testing & QA class this semester, where the primary goal of a software tester is to eradicate defects and make sure that the product fits the needs of the customer.  Hmmm, doesn’t that sound like editing?  Make sure that there aren’t any errors (grammatical, spelling, usage, etc.) and make sure it pleases the customer (teachers, professors, especially if they have a particular grading style).  Whenever an English major would ask me about this class, the response every time was, “Ew.  That sounds awful!”  In response, I would note the comparison to having someone edit a paper.  The same occurs on the IT side of this argument.  I have nearly, if I didn’t actually do it, compared a concept in Software QA into writing a paper, which most of the students would not relate quite as well.  The teacher might see the connection, but not the students who never want to think about the prospect of papers.

Both being an IT major and an English major have given me a critical lens.  After seven literature courses, and writing classes like Visual Rhetoric and Writing & Digital Media, I can analyze a poem, story, image, even a song, in order to find a greater meaning.  I can look at things to find what is wrong, with a constructive criticism purpose, of course.  Through these courses, I’m learning to look at things with an analytical mindset.

Even though, I am someone who hates getting the red marks in papers and getting comments that suggest things that I thought that I had already done, I know that these things are helping me to become a better writer, as well as a better programmer.  Sometimes we have to take a bite out of our own pride to make ourselves better.  This is not limited to writing, programming, or anything else school related, but can also apply to life.  I want to be the best person I can be.  However, I physically cannot see myself the same way as everyone else can.  I need to rely on my friends and family to point out my flaws.  It may be painful, but sometimes you have to bear a little pain in order to get better.  Just like testing out programs or editing poems, we, as humans, we need to work on ourselves and have a solid group of people to keep you accountable and point out what is wrong.  This is not to say that we need to nit-pick each other, but we need to look at each other in love when help each other.

Don’t you love how I turned a technical post into a sappy post about life?

Summer Splendor

For the first time since I’ve been in college (all 5 years), I will not be taking Summer classes. Usually I take summer classes because 1) I get bored and anti-social over the summer, 2) I need to catch-up on courses for my double degree, and 3) Because I like to keep my mind moving.

However, due to reasons beyond my control, I will not be taking summer classes. This opens up several opportunities to do things that I would normally have to push aside until later… which never ends up coming because I jump right back into school. Here is a list of things that I want to do over the summer to keep my mind going and keep me occupied.

1. Read!  I am not the most well-read person out there, despite being an English major.  In fact, I read more in my first World Literature course than in high school.  I’m just not a reader.  However, I have been told numerous times that in order to become a better writer, one must read.  So, I’m starting to compile a list of books that I want to read and re-read, including: “1984“, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer“, “To Kill a Mockingbird“, “Alice in Wonderland“, “The Invisible Man“, and several other stories that I’ve been meaning to read.
2. Re-learn Java.  As much as I fail at being an English major for not reading all of these famous works (Ok, I read 1984, but that’s it), I fail at being an IT major for not staying up-to-date with my Java programming skills.  I have to take Advanced Programming, a course that I thought that I was grandfathered out of, in order to take my capstone course in the spring.  Programming has always been my Achilles’ Heel.  I like all of the other aspects of Software Development, but I’ve always had difficulty programming because I was not given a good foundation for it.  I’m hoping to re-learn Java so I can do well in Advanced Programming this fall.
3. Find a job–See previous blog post.
4. Play softball.  I signed up to play softball with my church.  Keep in mind, I’ve never played softball beyond 12 years old, outside my backyard.  I also haven’t been involved in any sort of physical activity in a year or so.  Playing softball would do me some good, perhaps give me a new appreciation when an Atlanta Brave grounds out, how hard it is to actually hit the ball square.
5. Write.  Yes, you read correctly: write.  I want to be more involved with this blog than in past months.  Plus, by writing on a regular basis, I will stay fresh as I hone my skills.  Plus, my ultimate career goal is to host my own magazine to write and organize.  By maintaining the blog, I will be able to prep for this future dream.
6. Swim/Play Volleyball.  Because I didn’t get to do either last year, and I’m still kind of mad about it.

Those are only a few things that I want to do this summer.  I don’t think that I will be able to accomplish all of this in a short 3-month span.  I do, however, think that this summer will be fun.  Most of all, it will exercise my left brain through practicing programming, as well as my right brain by reading and writing.  I want to keep both sides of my brain working so that I might be productive.

Nowhere Near The End

So, my semester is winding down, thus the purpose of this blog has come to an end…

Or has it?

Despite being done with my Writing & Digital Media class, of which this blog was designed for, I think I will try to maintain this blog.  I have numerous other blogs like my blogspot, which has basic “this is what I did” posts, as well as a Tumblr (yes, I write on Tumblr, not reblog) which has more deep thoughts about things.  However, I would like to see this blog gain more publicity since I’ve already started a following.

So, does this mean I will still post content about being a double major, technology, and writing?  Of course!  However, I will try to add some more stuff to this lovely mix.  Come spring, I might write a post or two about the Atlanta Braves, or maybe post some sort of observation I see, or write a poem just to entertain you.  Anyway, I’d like to see this blog grow into something that could be beneficial.  Maybe I’ll inspire someone with my writing.  Who knows?

Anyway, I hope that you might spread the word about my blog to folks.  Thank you, readers, for following me thus far, and I hope to continue the journey of writing with you!

The Sonnet: The Left & Right Brained Poem

I was bored.  I wrote a sonnet.

——

To organize to my heart’s desiring
of perfection and this left brained structure,
Must I cease to see art calculating
Into something beautiful and so pure.

But how do I find rationale in art?
To see emotion, but not to fall in
Without having support or a good start
To suffice my OCD mind within

Finding beauty in the order of life.
Something lovely in this perfect routine
That makes one’s head turn round and round with strife
yet it captures the heart, just to be seen.

A sonnet can join the two sides with ease.
The creative and programed to appease.

-J. Blair Sanders

If I Had My Way…

I like to think about things... like my future and knowledge.

I’m going to let you (yes you, my amazing readers) in on a little secret.  Though I have aspirations to complete two completely separate degrees, a career is, well, not entirely what I am going for.

Yes, I know I’m crazy.  Yes, I know it’s weird.  Especially in this economy, it is strange to want to seek an education that does not place the majority of the emphasis on a career.

Yes, I want to be a writer.  Yes, I want to have a stable lifestyle.  However, I also want to be a stay-at-home mom who home-schools her kids.  This is definitely a taboo subject, especially in a world where both parents are expected to hold down a job, and stay-at-home-mom-ism is frowned upon because it violates almost every feminist rule in the book.  In the end, I don’t care what people think.  Heck, I’ve never been the type to cave into what anyone else thought of me anyway.

Anyway, the more I look over my degrees, the more I realize that I have passion for learning.  I actually LIKE school.  If I hated it, I wouldn’t have dared tacked on another degree when I was somewhat close to finishing the first one.  But I actually enjoy classes, teachers, and everything that goes along with school, minus the homework.

Back to the title of my post… If I had my way, I would get a salary for being a student.  Not just some financial aid grant, but a paycheck of fairly significant value.  If I could get paid for being a student, I could come back and get numerous degrees, just to expand my mind in directions that I didn’t know it could go.

This all being said, I am starting to look at graduate programs in Georgia.  I’ve found one program at Kennesaw State University for professional writing.  This program intrigues me because it focuses on different aspects of writing, not just creative writing.  The program has a concentration in applied writing, which made my mouth water (in a strange, academic nerd kind of way) at the first mention of it.

I’m definitely going to continue my search for knowledge.  Maybe this is another example of being a knowledge worker: someone who desires knowledge and the skills to utilize it.  Just an idea.