It is of great advantage, that using social media would only allow us to capture and share an image of ourselves, but it gives us the opportunity fir self-reflection and self-creation. Social media increases the connections with other people to create society, in which opinions and images can be shared. By connecting and sharing, social media also improves creativity and social awareness.

Self-reflection

Sharing a selfie is not only a part of self-representation, but also a form of self-reflection and self-creation. We are not only trying to share and image with friends, but with ourselves. A selfie is the documentation of a passing moment or experience where we are not only being watched but we are also constantly watching ourselves, monitoring our public image, and working on how to present, and represent ourselves to the world.

Visual

Due to the lack of digital cameras and the speed of downloads, bodies were hidden in pictures in the early 1990’s. Visual communication is truly a powerful tool you can use when you are trying to make a point. This is why most of us use the visual aid to express ideas or share information.

Communication

When the web cameras became popular in the late 1990’s, we were able to communicate better visually and through texts. Our bodies were no longer hidden, as the visual increased in the social media and internet. Social media helps us communicate with others, but there is some social sites and apps that make it hard. We Heart It is a photo sharing space that does not allow users to comment. Users interact by sharing images. There was also person-to-person conversations in the early communication spaces. In these spaces users would share other methods of communication, such as email, telephone, and messaging.

Lurking

Users that choose to watch, read and do not participate are lurkers. Lurkers set themselves in the position of a traditional reader, or audience. they tend to view the writer as a text, not a human being. To create an identity online, you must see yourself equal to communicating to others. We choose not to lurk, as we engage in social communication, when we write and share anything with our friends on Facebook.

 We do not only think about ways on which we present ourselves, but also to record any moments in our life to remember on the future. We can see the selfie as a valuable tool for self exploration and expression. Unlike mirrors, social media allows us to do that.

Reference

Retteberg, Jill Walter. Seeing Ourselves Through Technology . Palgrave Macmillan, DOI: 10.1057/9781137476661.0001.

Importance of higher education 

The Minnesota Office of  Higher Education reported 69 percent of high school students graduated in 2014 and attended college right after (College Participation Rate). For personal development and better career opportunities, it is important for student to continue their education after high school. 

Job Stability

Job stability is very important aspect in life. Having a stable job mean that you can obtain a better pay and good benefits. Furthering your education makes you more competitive in the hiring field and can improve promotional opportunities. Studies have show that a college degree holder makes twice as much than someone without one. Now a days, the marketplace is very competitive that some businesses are downsizing so by having a higher education you have a better chance of keeping your job. 

Student Mode

A traditional student is a student that enrolled full-time in a community college or a university right after completing high school. By doing so the student is fresh out of high school and is in the ready mode, meaning that their mindset is ready to go. As a traditional student, you have less responsibilities in life, such as a full time job, a family to care for and bills or mortgage to pay. Students who put off their education after high school for a full-time job, they tend not to go at all. With a full-time job it is harder to manage their college and work schedules. 

As a non-traditional student there are challenges we expect to face, challenges outside the classroom such as relationship, family or work problems. My story is like many non-traditional students. I have a job obligation, I am married with four kids. It is been 20 plus year out of high school and going back to college to pursue a degree is not easy. One of my biggest struggles is time management. I often find myself stressing about my job, school assignments and my family needs. Another challenge is the ability to adapt to modern technology. I struggle to keep up as things have changed since I last attended school. I must be able to navigate my way around the new technology to be able to succeed. Balancing financial obligations is also a challenge for me. Bills and mortgage have to be paid, bills do not wait, they come every month. At this point in life, parents or family members are less likely to financially support my studies as they would have years ago. For some of us non-traditional students, we sometimes feel out of place, and experience lack of confidence. 

I believe that non-traditional students face struggles as we further our education. For me, while going back to school to finish my college degree brings a strong sense of accomplishment and personal satisfaction. It is an opportunity to tell my kids every day, that education and finishing what you started is important. I want to teach them perseverance and there is no better way than demonstrating it. 

Works Cited

Minnesota Office of Higher Education . 2017, ohe.state.mn.us/mPg.cfm?pageID=753.

Reading like a writer can help you learn techniques you might use to make you a better writer. It helps you visualize and understand in order to construct your own writing skills. 

Questioning the author before and during it is also very helpful because it is the best way to learn to write. It also helps you to understand and join the writing. This means that you are able to see the choices the author made. 

Reading Like a Writer vs Normal Reading

In normal reading a person usually reads for information, looking for a very specific topic or interest. With normal reading we tend to skim through the paragraph to get to the main points (Brison). We try to get as much information in a short time, when reading any text. Most of the time we start and stop to look up words that we don’t understand getting us sidetracked and we lose focus. Reading like a writer is a different form of reading. It helps you understand how the author created the text so that you learn how to create one of your own (Bunn). This form of reading helps you strengthen your skills in story telling and communication.

Questioning the Author

Reading and questioning a text is an opportunity for the reader to think about his/her role as an author. For some of us this is a new way of reading, so questioning the author before and during is beneficial. When reading like a writer it is a good practice to fill the margins with questions, highlight and underline anything that has to do with the authors’s choices to make our own decisions. Questions also help us clarify our understanding. Sometimes we try to think, guess or assume what the writer is going to say next. We anticipate things, it is just our human nature. But these questioning strategy requires us to raise questions about the reading and challenges us to understand of the work being read. 

Language

Reading like a writer helps us to gain knowledge and to grow our vocabulary. it is also the best way to improve our grammar. The way language is used can make a text appealing to us. That is why perfectly appropriate language can make us visualize and keep us reading. According to (Brison) the best writers use words that will trigger different parts of our brains. They know how to choose the right words, metaphors have the ability to do this. Every writer’s goal is to draw the readers into their ideas. A writer wants you to engage and convince you that their words are worth reading.  

 Reading like a writer enhances the reader to stop every once in a while and consider what the writer is doing, and why, and how well. This approach is very helpful in editing our own writing. Reading Like a writer helps the reader to understand how the process of writing is a series of choices and by doing so can help recognize important decisions to use when working on our own writing. To read like a writer gives us the opportunity and techniques to become a better writer. 

Works Cited

Brison, Todd. “Neuroscience explains the astonishing benefits of reading books like a writer.” cnbc.com, CNBC makeit, 27 May 2019, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/27/neuroscience-explains–how-successful-people-read-books.html.

Bunn, Mike. “How to Read Like a Writer .” The Saylor Foundation , vol. 2, 2016, pp. 71-86.

Today blogging appears to be more popular among readers over the traditional newspaper. It is a great way to spread information and connect with people in many ways. 

Blogging has the upper hand on print. Bloggers have the ability to provide their readers fast access to information. “Blogs are available 24 hours a day form mobile devices at the readers convenience”(Nedder, Melanie, et al. e3).

They can blog on the net whenever and about whatever they want. They do not have to wait until they get to a desk or office, it can be done in the comfort of their own home. It is immediate and formal.

Newspapers move somewhat slowly because of their rules and traditions. Journalists that work for large companies have to write a certain way and about things they might disagree on. The blogging community decides what is important news to the community. There are a variety of blogs such as business, lifestyles, entertainment and news. People can read about their topic of interest, where in the traditional paper one can only read what is on it. While there is still many blogs run by one person, there are also large blogs run by by institutions and companies. Blogs not only gives the opportunity to individuals to spread the word to their audience, but to organizations and business as well (Rowan).

Unlike the traditional paper, blogging allows the reader to engage and share similar opinions related to the topic of their choice. These blogs are not only used to inform but to educate the audience as well.  Blogging is useful in so many professions. One example is in the nursing career. According to (Nedder, Melanie, et al. e2) blogging in nursing is helpful as it allows nurses to support student and share the experiences in  nursing. Blogging also allows them to share information among patients and other health care professionals in rural areas. Bloggers can educate readers on the topic of their expertise. 

Print may provide us with local or national news, whereas blogging provides and connects us with information across the globe. Blogs provide tools that make it easy to share its content with social media such as twitter, facebook and instagram. Newspapers have no such tools. It would be a slow process for print to do such a thing. 

Blogging is way faster and inexpensive. As (Nedder, Melanie, et al. e3) stated, “blogs are simple to use and inexpensive or freely available from multiple sources”. Newspapers have the expenses of paper, ink, printing machines and delivery costs. Newspapers would be more profitable without these expenses. The content of a blog can easily be updated at anytime. It would be time consuming and expensive to edit or update the content of a newspaper once it is published in the print from.

Blogging has more advantages than disadvantages over print. It gives readers the opportunity to connect and meet new people locally or globally. It provides the reader access to and the spread of information at their fingertips. Blogging is way faster and inexpensive.

Works Cited

Nedder, Melanie M, et al. “Blogging as an Innovative Method of Peer-toPeer Educational Sharing .” Critical Care Nurse, vol. 37, no. 1, Feb. 2017, pp. e1-e9. EBSCOhost , doi:10.4037/ccn2017642.

Rowan, Elisabeth E. “Effective Blogging for Libraries.” Journal of the Medical Library Association , Oct. 2011, pp. 321-322. EBSCOhost, 10.3163/1536-5050 .99.4.014.

There are a lot of benefits to eating a healthy diet. According to the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2017 heart disease was one of the ten leading causes of deaths in the United States (Heron). Consuming a healthy diet does not mean to limit yourself from eating good food that you enjoy. People tend to assume that a healthy diet means depriving yourself from foods that you love. Choosing a healthy diet is crucial to our overall health. Why Eat Healthy? It prevents diseases, promotes good health and helps maintain a healthy weight. Eating healthy improves memory and helps maintain strong bones and teeth as well.

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

Heart disease, such as high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, heart failure and atrial fibrillation are the leading cause of death for men and women. According to (Heron), in 2017 there were 647,457 deaths in the United States. A person can change the statistics by adopting a healthy diet. For example limiting salt intake in our diet can lower our blood pressure (Heron). Diabetes and cancer are also major diseases that are caused by eating unhealthy. Diabetes is a disease in which levels of sugar in the blood are very high. Most of the foods we eat contain high levels of sugar. Many of us neglect reading the labels of the food products we consume. High levels of sugar in the blood can cause serious problems, such as damage to the kidneys, nerves and eyes. Limiting sugar in our diets can prevent diabetes of  help control it (Heron).  There are many types of cancer, studies show that preventive health measures such as diet and lifestyle changes may be effective in the prevention of colon, prostate, breast and lung cancer. More fruits, vegetables and less fat in addition to exercise and weight management could reduce the cases of cancer by 30 to 40 percent, according to researchers (Underwood). 

Healthy Weight

Obesity is associated with serious health risks. Obesity contributes to heart disease, it can spike bad cholesterol and cause blood pressure to rise. Controlling your weight influences a healthy life. Eating healthy along with exercise is the best way to manage your weight. It is proven that obesity makes your life uncomfortable and lowers the quality of life. It is very important to maintain a healthy weight, not only because it reduces the risk of disease, but increases energy levels. 

Improve Memory

Researchers reviewed the existing research into nutrition and mental health and found a relationship between certain nutrients and mental health. The authors assessed the current evidence to gain a clearer understanding of the true influence of food on mental health. Can diet influence mental health? According to (Annette) a combination of a healthy diet with adequate amounts of water, minerals, carbs and protein can improve your mood leading to the reduction of anxiety and frustration. Some studies also suggested that long-term exposure to an unhealthy diet is a risk factor for depression. These studies also prove that healthy foods nourish the brain, leading to better grades and high self-confidence. Students that experience stress tend to lower their grades and drop classes. Your brain requires a constant supply of fuel, fuel that comes from foods you eat and directly affects the structure and function of your brain and, ultimately, your mood.

Eating a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, lean meats and less high-calorie foods provide health benefits. Recent research proves that consuming a healthy diet, not only promotes good health but prevents chronic disease that can cause death. What we eat affects our body physically and emotionally. Poor nutrition can contribute to overweight and obesity that can lead to physical illness. Improving your diet can help to improve your mood, give you energy and help you think clearly. A nutritious diet is not just good for the body, but for the brain as well.

Works Cited

Annette, Dunne. “The effect of food on emotional wellbeing and mental illness.” Nursing and Residential Care, vol. 12, no. 4, 29 Sept 2013, pp. 165-168. MAG, doi:https://doi.org/10.12968/nrec.2010.12.4.47096.

Heron, Melonie. “Deaths: Leading cause for 2017 .” National Vital Statistic Report;, no. 6, 19 November 2019, p. 68, https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/statistics-maps.htm.

Smith, Melinda, and Lawrence Robinson. “Cancer Prevention Diet.” Help Guide , June 2019. Help quide, https://www.helpguide.org/articles/diets/cancer-prevention-diet.htm.

Underwood, Cowley G. “Cancer and Diet.” , 1998, pp. 60-66, http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.augsburg.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=107215511&site=ehost-live.

I choose the (CC BY-NC 4.0), because I would like my work to be shared. This would give help me give anybody permission to use or share my work with certain conditions. Even if someone would want to share, tweak or remix, they would need my permission and give me the credit for it. It is not separate from copyright it is just an easy way to share copyright work. Not saying that people would share or use my work, but if they do , I would be somewhat protected.

The set up was a little crazy, technology is definitely not my friend. Technology left me behind a long time ago. Thanks to a couple of classmates and Bonnie, I was able to get to where I am now. I still feel like I am behind but hopefully I`ll get caught up. I am still a little confused about the licensing and copyright deal. I can not wait until blogging comes natural.

My name is Jorge Martinez and I am 44 years young. I am married and have four wonderful kids that keep my wife and I on our toes. After the company that I worked for closed, we decided that I need to return to school, so here I am. The healthcare field is what I am interested in, do not know how far I`m going to get, just focusing on a semester at a time. I received my CNA certification last year, and I am excited about that. On my spare time I like to take my family camping and take trips, we try to pick a different location for both. I am very nervous, but yet excited to go through this journey. Wish me luck.