#Week 12: Overview and Reflection

So that’s it here comes the end of 2013 Fall Semester.

Personally, I’ve had great experiences with COM125. With a background of surfing the web and chatting with friends on an hourly basis, well…the online world is sort of familiar to me. However, COM125 has helped me realize what I have been doing the whole time is just simply stretching the surface. For the first time, I’ve finally come to understand and appreciate the significant impact of the internet upon our society. The internet does not only allow us to communicate in ways that have never been before, but also plays a crucial part on altering our perspective with regards to the world.  Just thinking of how weird it is for an individual not to adopt any kind of social networking in this digital era, or how common it is for one to abandon newspaper and instead adopt online articles you would get what I meant.

After 12 weeks with COM125, my most favourite lecture would be on "politics and the internet". Even though I know how powerful the internet is, I have never been that aware when it comes to taking advantage of social networking platforms such as Facebook or YouTube to efficiently promote something that so national and critical as political campaigns (President Barack Obama used it and he was successful!). In addition, "journalism and the internet" is another concept that I have found interested in. After that lecture, I can finally see how technology has been and is about to shape journalism. Nowadays, with the growth of internet and changing customer demands, old methods on how news are gathered and delivers have no longer been in practice. And citizen journalism, which remarkably sharps the transformation from traditional to digital journalism, have caught my attention the most.

Even though I hate to say how much I am sick of doing group research paper, my group work experience on COM125 surprisingly turned out not to be that bad. In fact, it was fun! Since my group chose Online Dating, which was quite a cool topic to present on, I was so much motivated to go online and research about it. Unlike the other courses where lecturers usually assign students to focus on several boring topics, COM125’s group project was different as we got to decide anything we really wanted, anything! Isn’t is awesomeee!! Learning from other groups’ presentation is another great experience that I’d love to thank Mr. Choy for. I felt super relaxed while listening to my friends’ speeches; presentation lectures are one of the best moments for me!

Last but not least, I’m grateful as this course has offered me precious opportunities to learn interesting concepts which I would never be able to study on my own. This module does not only make me realize how superficial my knowledge is, but prepare me with tons of experiences that are needed for my future. And of course, my com125 journey wouldn’t have been that great if it’s not for Mr. Choy’s dedication and kindness. Thank you and I love you!