BSU BlogFest - Day One: Learning

This week, I am participating in Bridgewater State University's BlogFest, a five-day blog series focused on a different topic/theme each day.  The blogs are written by BSU students, staff, and faculty.  As a Resident Director here, I'm excited to also contribute my perspective!  BSU BlogFest is one of the featured aspects of Social Media Week, hosted by the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership.  Social Media Week aims to initiate conversations via various social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogs. For those interested, follow me on Twitter at @mtgoodha (please know I'm still getting the hang of it).

Please check out other bloggers' contributions via the BSU BlogFest web site!

Monday's BlogFest Theme: Learning

We've been offered a prompting question for each theme just to help exercise our brains, and I can easily work with today's prompt:  "What has been a learning experience that has impacted you the most in your life?"

Learning is such a broad concept, but to start this conversation, I think it's important to consider that learning is an individual experience that is affected by many factors such as genetics, the way we're treated as children, personality, teaching and learning styles, and social interactions.  We don't all learn the same way, and "teachers" don't all teach the same way, either.  I put the word teachers in quotes since they could be in or outside of the classroom.  The best form of learning is one that contributes to our personal growth and confidence throughout life.  While learning might be a single "ah-hah" moment, I like to think that it's more about a series of moments that reinforce our growth.

For me, my most impactful series of moments of learning revolve around reading and writing.  Writing is among the abilities where I feel most confident.  As a relatively quiet introvert, writing plays an integral role in my life.  My "teachers" empowered me with (and reinforced) the ability to read and communicate in the written form.  It's a useful skill that helps counterbalance an adequate speaking ability (certainly, I can speak publicly with some confidence, after much life-long practice - but it's not my strength).

Confidence in reading and writing started for me at an early age when my mother nurtured an appreciation of words.  She saw I loved when she read books to me and I'd request it often as a toddler.  She was then purposeful in directing me to read books out loud to her; I enjoyed reading out loud so repetitively that it became fairly annoying!  But, this reinforcement and attention instilled my quickly progressing enthusiasm for vocabulary in the English language.  When you love learning about something, you tend to stick with it.

The Alluring Speak & Spell

Remember the movie E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial?  Well, it's a prime example of how the media can influence what we learn.  There's a significant scene where E.T. uses a Speak & Spell toy to phone home.  Product placement in the movies at its finest.  I was three years old when E.T. came out in the theaters in 1982.  So when I got this toy and used it frequently, it reinforced my love for words - and more importantly, spelling the words correctly.  It's probably not a coincidence that a little later in life, I'd look forward to and thrive in annual spelling bees in school, eventually making it to the regional levels in the eighth grade.  Thirsting for re-living the Speak & Spell experience?

I appreciated it when teachers guided me in the right direction, too. Even in college. I distinctly remember when Dr. Tod Burke, a professor of criminal justice at Radford University where I received my undergraduate education, made it a point in class to everyone on how to properly spell judgment, writing it on the chalkboard. I was among many in the class who spelled it "judgement," but you better believe I remembered the correct spelling after that.

My second grade teacher made a big impact in my development, too.  I was learning that it was fun to put words together to create short stories.  I think it was Mrs. Capehart who saw how much I enjoyed writing.  She encouraged me to keep writing and then would occasionally send me to a kindergarten class to read my stories out loud to my slightly younger peers.  I'm so impressed by her creative means of inspiring me in this way.  This was a process that trended throughout my life, where I'd enjoy writing, then appreciate the positive (and critical) feedback from teachers, family, and friends.  English classes, especially ones that focused on creative writing, were consistently among my favorites.

We'll return now to my mother, who assisted in expanding my grasp of the written language by taking the time to review my papers that I'd have to do for classes.  She'd point out how I could re-word a sentence or where I needed to correct a grammatical mistake.  I yearned to know how to properly arrange sentences, where to place a comma, when not to use a semi-colon, etc.  I guarantee I will have re-read this blog posting several times to ensure it's as perfect as I can make it (no guarantee that it is perfect, though).

I firmly believe all of this learning -- and constant practice in writing on a daily basis -- has been exceptionally valuable for me.  Writing a final case study in graduate school, putting together a quality cover letter for a job, and maintaining two blogs are all examples of... well... a lesson learned.