For Inkling, I wrote two articles for the Culturama of 2019. The style, tone, and format of the articles were similar to what I did for MUN; in this way, it was a familiar activity to do. However, it was different in the sense that the topic of our articles were broad and we could and encouraged input our opinions into our articles. And that was where I struggled with most, in my opinion.
I didn’t like the activity being so vague in what needed to be in the article. For MUN, it was specific and clear: we needed to present the sides discussed in the debates. For Culturama, the articles could range from how we personally felt watching the dance to what techniques were performed in the show to how it was received by the crowd; we could write about anything we wanted to for Culturama.
I’m better at writing in an objective manner, or at least as objectively as I can be, focusing on facts and being able to present both sides. I’m good at summarizing a variety of topics and able to find someone who can explain to me what is going on if I’m not so knowledgeable about the subject; while not comfortable doing so, I’m able to track people who are knowledgeable in the field of concern and ask them questions that would better inform me and the audience.
Most of these skills were not needed nor particularly wanted for this assignment. Opinions require subjectivity, but I don’t like expressing my personal thoughts on anything. Summarizing a dance isn’t very entertaining to read either, and entertainment is one of the key focus of the assignment. Likewise, it would be hard to recap dances in words in a clear and concise manner.
The activity taught me how to better handle activities that did not play into my strengths and how to force myself to complete it even if I didn’t want to, though I can definitely get better.
