And Breathe… Looking Back After a Busy Semester

My Blogging Profile.

My Contribution

To begin, I want to comment on my participation within the organisation and process of the blogs this semester. As a cohort, we set out with a task of creating a ‘blogging schedule’. And so, in the first meeting I volunteered to structure, present and send out the schedule for everyone to follow. Having completed this, I continued to take an active role in the blog meetings. Here, I raised queries regarding the structure of the blogs this year, and asked questions concerning marking and blog content. Further, I assisted some members of the class who approached me for help. As a native English speaker, I tried to show some simple writing techniques that they could use to refine their English literacy skillset. Not only did this help them, but the experience highlighted some areas I need to work on. Ultimately, working on clarity would help me deliver more concise and thus ingestible  explanations. In addition, the nature of this semesters blogs meant that this pursuit of clarity and endeavour to be concise was even more necessary.

A Different Approach to Blogging

With the word count 300-400 words, compared to last semesters 700-800, the blog had to be direct and punchy. Although, this was a style of writing more alien to me. Throughout my academic career, length of discourse has enabled me to build arguments with suspense, with the opportunity for elaboration after the climax. This was not the case here. Nonetheless, I relished the opportunity to diversify my literacy skillset and hone my ability to be concise. I feel I have progressed in this area.

Regarding blogging, I tried to utilise the ‘link’ tool. This was a development on semester 1, where I did not even know it was available to me. Adding a link to a piece of work that further explains an important point allows me to achieve a more ‘concise’ tone. Also, a link to another blog allows the reader easy navigation of the platform. This makes all of our Urban Design blogs interconnected, and the website more dynamic. Thus, improving the overall reader experience.

Although this semesters blogs were structured differently, I still have a fondness for blogging as it is a useful and relieving activity. Amid a busy and exhausting semester, I found getting my thoughts and opinions out on paper helped massively (I write my blogs by hand and then type them up). Also, these blogs reveal different people’s perspectives on similar topics. This breadth of opinion enabled me to understand how different people approach things. I then used this to adjust and refine my own approaches to design and in some cases, it helped me to see the bigger picture.

Going Forward

Blogging will remain a useful tool for me. As I continue to progress as an Urban Designer, I feel it will be a great method of gaining clarity on some complex issues. Looking at this semester as a whole, I struggled to balance the workload. Between the blogs, two design projects and design thesis proposal, I have learnt that I need to be more decisive and prioritise. This is the area of my life where I will need to improve most on, especially with the design thesis deadline gradually getting closer.