Hi everyone, my name is Anna Kalil and I am currently a junior here at MSU studying Chemistry. I have gone through a couple major changes, which has definitely altered my future college path. As a freshman I was studying Chemistry, and as a sophomore I decided I wanted to do Chemical Engineering instead. Needless to say, that did not work out. I am back to Chemistry because engineering was really just too hard and stressful, and I want to enjoy my studies and my future. With a chemistry degree, I am hoping to get into the cosmetic science industry, either formulating makeups, skincare, fragrances, or candles. My interests and hobbies include makeup, fashion (although you would not guess that if you saw how I dressed), baking/cooking, music, volleyball, and I have recently started up with golf!
Looking over the course schedule, weeks 5 (Podcasting and Communication as Public History) and 7 (Digital Art History, Visual and Material Culture) seem to grab my attention. Podcasts seem to be a creative way to connect with an author or some kind of expert nowadays and personally, many influencers have recently started podcasts and I feel like it’s been a great way to engage and connect with someone you look up to in anyway. I am excited to learn about ways to incorporate podcasts for the benefit of my intelligence as opposed to just for fun. Additionally, learning about digital arts sounds like a very fun week. Being able to see representations of the past and getting visuals of what happens always seems to make me feel more connected to the material I am learning. Oppositely, I am quite nervous for week 8 (Text Analysis). I could be making this up, but I am convinced I skipped the development period where I am able to critically think while reading content whenever it has any correlation to history. History has always been a weak subject of mine, and definitely writing as well. So, incorporating those two things makes me very nervous.
Ever since switching to virtual classes, and I hope I am not alone on this, I have felt like I am completely alone in my college journey. I feel like I am the only one who struggles in the classes I take, or I might be the only one not on the same page as everyone else in the class. Having that in person interaction is so important to me and, I am sure, to many others as well. Although I am very comfortable with using technology, learning just is not something best done with technology and it is much better in person. I do have to admit, being able to stay in bed until 5 minutes before classes start is something I will certainly not miss if we ever go back to in-person classes.
Welcome, Anna! Thank you so much for this post, it is nice to learn more about your interests and background! And also, golf is such a great sport–I love playing golf with my dad. It definitely tests your mental strength as well!
I’m glad to hear you are excited for the weeks on podcasting and digital art history– I think it will be a unique opportunity for students to be creative and to produce some really cool work. I completely agree with you on the value of art history; it’s amazing how much we can learn from visual and material culture, but I don’t think very many people have the opportunity to experience it.
As for the switch to virtual learning, I think you will find that almost every other student also expressed loneliness in their blog posts. I think that is the case even more so for students who are taking asynchronous classes. I hope that meeting via Zoom in this course will not only give students some structure, but also the opportunity to interact with one another and use the space to converse. It’s so important! We will take this one day at a time, and I look forward to hearing more from you!