My time in the Media, Self and Society Scholars program at the University of Maryland has been truly life changing. It has brought me friends, teachers, lessons, and opportunities that will last a lifetime. I have learned more than I could ever imagine and it is truly saddening to think that I won’t have my weekly media class to look forward to anymore. In coming to this sad but exciting end, I will take some time now to reflect on my experience and all of the wonderful memories I have created along the way. I think my understanding of media within myself as well as society has deepend an extreme amount. This class has opened my eyes to how much media really does play a role in our everyday lives no matter what. Over the past three semesters, we have analyzed almost every type of media you can imagine. Throughout this process, I have learned how media can add so much positivity to our lives. On the other hand, we have also learned that media can bring along some negative effects as well. My understanding and view of media as a whole has completely changed after being a part of this program. After learning as much as we did, I can confidently say that I would consider myself a media expert. One example of a critical analysis of one type of entertainment was during our activity for weeks 12 and 13. In this activity, my partners and I decided to analyze the stereotypes in the movie Wonder Woman. After a week of focusing on stereotypes and marginalized social groups in the media, my group was able to have a spectacular conversation about this movie. My media experience definitely helped me to be able to have a better understanding as well as a better conversation as a whole about this movie and the stereotypes that were highlighted. This activity really helped me pinpoint these types of stereotypes in real life media and entertainment as well. One example of media production or content that I have witnessed as a college student and could be harmful to me or my society was something I came across during my group presentation about speech regulation on social media. My group analyzed the different social media platforms and their different rules regarding hate speech and harmful comments on their sites. We learned that Reddit is one the sites with the most lenient rules, there are common occurrences of offensive posts and comments that do not get taken down or reported. However, one forum page called r/The_Donald stood out to me over the rest. After a terrorist attack in London, this post began with a comment that was written saying, “But hey, it wasn’t all that bad. In the end a Muslim was shot.” This post continued to attract likes and reposts until it was taken down almost three years later. Being lucky enough to be a part of this program, my group was able to analyze this website and learn how to better ourselves from it. We as media scholars know how to produce positive and helpful media instead of participating in such harmful and disrespectful media such as this Reddit post. I have always seen myself as a critical consumer and producer of media instead of a passive consumer. Especially since being a member of this media program, I have always been someone who analyzes the media that I come across as well as all of the media I post myself. Throughout the past three semesters, we have been lucky enough to learn about all of the ins and outs of the media business, through media analysis, projects, and outside speakers. Because of all of this training, I feel confident in myself as well as the rest of my media classmates in the way that we produce and consume media. The Scholars program definitely brought me in contact with people that challenged my previous beliefs and opinions. Our class was on the bigger side, allowing all of the students to come from a variety of different backgrounds. This type of diversity in our class allowed for such a strong mix of opinions and beliefs. My classmates not only provided me with new insight that changed my pre-existing notions, they opened my eyes to different perspectives that I had never thought about before. Even when it came to little things, such as a class activity analyzing a type of media, my classmates and I always had great conversations comparing our opinions and understanding one another’s thoughts. Being a part of a living and learning program such as our Media Scholars was something that I really was unsure about going into college. I was confused as to how I was supposed to make friends outside of class when the people in my class were also the people I lived with. However, after just a few weeks of this experience, I learned that it was one of the best situations I could have ever asked for. Not only did I get to know my classmates so well, but it was also the best feeling to be able to knock on my neighbor’s door just to talk about our homework or walk to class together. Living with my fellow media scholars was one of my favorite parts about this program and really allowed us to bond together. Before COVID-19, I think I definitely participated in colloquium projects and field trip activities. I loved being in groups with new classmates and getting to have conversations with people I never knew before. My favorite field trip experience was our day trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It was a day full of learning and great memories with my classmates. In conclusion, I think the Media, Self and Society Scholars program has really helped me become the person I am today as well as the person I want to be in the future. I have always known that I want my career to be something related to media and communication. Whether it is journalism or public speaking or something else that I find along the way, I knew this media program would help me achieve that goal. I can see the opportunities this program has brought me lasting for years to come. Between connections, friendships, and little pieces of information that I will always carry with me, I know this Media program will shape my future for a long time to come.
This is the National Museum of African American History and Culture, one of my favorite field trip experiences from our program.
This is the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, another field trip I got to participate in through our Scholars program. This was a true learning experience for me and my classmates.
Finally, I decided to include this picture of me and my boyfriend Andrew in front of Cumberland Hall. Although he was in a different Scholars program, his program also lived in Cumberland so I was able to meet him. I am forever grateful to the Scholars program for bringing me to him.