Like superheroes, many people have their own sort of secret identity. That girl in your class may be ravenously obsessed with a television show; that person you saw across the dining hall could be a first-class juggler. And in this day and age, pretty much anyone could be running a blog.
By now it’s possible to carve out a space of your own in the rugged frontier that is the Internet— and indeed, Scripps students contribute to everything from creative writing blogs to blogs more focused on social justice, spaces celebrating geekdom, and places to describe in loving detail each aspect of studying abroad. What unites Scripps bloggers (and really, bloggers in general) is a passion that leads them to put fingers to keyboards, touchscreens, and frustratingly imprecise phone keyboards to talk about what they love.
At least that’s the case for Megan Gianniny ‘14. She says, “I think my identity as a geek/nerd is a really important part of myself that people can’t always tell from looking at me (although they certainly can if I’m wearing one of my many “Doctor Who” shirts), and blogging gives me a way to share that passion with a wider online audience.”
Gianniny says that community provided by blogging has been a great part of what makes blogging exciting and enjoyable for her — and in fact, a large motivating factor for many bloggers is the idea of a community with similar interests and passions.
Sarah Luna Lockwood ’16 also found that she thrived in an online community— “in my life,” she says, “it provided a very vital connection. It’s never good to spend too much time online, but I think that the Internet can provide a certain kind of happiness to people who don’t have access to it otherwise.”
For many people, that happiness can be a powerful motivator. But there are as many reasons for starting a blog as there are blogs and people who run them. Alicen Lewis ’15 says she started her own blog in part to have a platform to express her opinions and share her views.
“I have so many ideas I want to put out there,” she says, “that I just don’t have time to put down on paper.”
Others agree— “it is a perfect opportunity to be creative,” says Selene Hsu ‘15, “and exercise writing skills that would really help articulate the kind of person you are to future employers or to anyone on the blogosphere!”
“I highly recommend anyone interested in blogging to go ahead and make one,” continues Hsu, who mainly focuses on her experience studying abroad in her own blog. “My only advice is to not go into making a blog with the mindset of having it perfect. Be authentic. Learn from your mistakes. Have fun! Don’t be intimidated by established blogs since they all had to start from somewhere too!”
“I think if it’s something that someone has a strong interest in, and something they’re truly passionate about, then I would recommend they go for it, no matter what,” agrees Gianniny. “I think the joy of getting to share your passions with an audience, however large or small it may end up being, outweighs the difficulties of balancing it with student life.”
Sure, balancing schoolwork, a blog, and some sort of social life can be a tough situation. But at the end of the day, it’s pretty good to have a space to be yourself— express your own views, talk about things that get you excited, or just share your day-to-day life. It’s a great big world out there. May as well get blogging about it.