Week One: Introductions by Daniella Sousa

Hello, my name is Daniella Sousa. I am 19 years old in my second year at York University studying English and Professional Writing. I am interested in the studies of literature, creative and technical writing, humanities and social science. What interests me about these studies are learning how and why people act and think certain ways, and learning how it affects society as a whole. With this knowledge I can learn to change the way people think in order to help the environment and humanity by writing informative articles. I have always wanted to make a difference in the world and I feel I can achieve this through journalism.

          

      If I want to inspire people in the future I have to know exactly what I am talking about by having accurate facts.  This is why learning how to correctly research is extremely important to my aspiring profession. I am very excited for what this course can teach me and how it can strengthen my researching skills. I have never used information management software like RefWorks or Zotero, but I am willing to try anything new in order to have the best researching skills I possibly can. When I have a research project I head to the library to find books on my topic or I rely on good-old Google. On my free time I scroll through Facebook and read interesting articles, and if I am curious enough about the topic, I will look it up to find out more information.

           

     I have never created a podcast and have no experience with them. I am excited about this project, but a little bit nervous as well. I love trying new things – especially things in the writing field that help me discover what I want to do in the future. I’m nervous because I’m not sure I have a very good “radio voice” – I’ve been told that my voice is “deep”, “flat” and “soothing” (It can put people to sleep!) . I believe I can overcome this obstacle through using appropriate humour, using different pitches, and using background music. This way the audience will be constantly entertain and won’t fall asleep to my monotone voice.

                Choosing a topic for this assignment will be the hardest part. Many of the podcast topics spark ideas into my head when I read the description:

On the Media – With this topic I can show readers how not everything they read is true and can be one-sided. I can show how the best remedy for this is to research the issues the article discusses.

Under the Influence – With this topic I can show how businesses target certain groups into believing their product is right for them. I think it will be interesting to see how people react when business’ tricks are revealed.

Everyday Einstein –I have seen many new inventions recently that I have questioned. I would want to learn about how it would change society and its impact on the environment.

               

    By researching any of these topics I can become closer to my goal of making a difference in the world through making people really think about the decisions they make and how they affect society.