Akwoung's Writers Chair

I failed a very important test recently and so I just want to devote this post to a free write of my feelings about blogging and any other thoughts I have compiled in the past few days. So failing this test has put me in a very despairing state. I’ve been ignoring all my friends that want to go play Tennis and do other fun things; the strange thing is that Tennis or any activity that takes me outdoors is very therapeutic for me but right now I don't even feel like opening the door to my apartment. I have been doing nothing but sit in front of the computer and eat loads and loads of junk food, particularly Twinkies. I’m really mad at myself for caving in under pressure during the test and whenever I’m mad at myself and feel unworthy, to the point where I don’t want to do anything, I distant myself from the world and the people I know for a good amount of time. For me, during these times, I'd rather be alone so I can re-evaluate my life.

I guess this is why I haven't posted about biology lately. I haven't felt like doing anything. I think it’s important to just take a breather when you need it and do some self-reflection.

Anyways one thing I have been doing a lot the past few days, besides indulging in s***** food is reading on the net; random subjects from articles on Yahoo and posts from other Blogs and I don’t really know why this is the only thing I feel like doing. I've been able to read because I actually deactivated my Facebook and other social network accounts. Staying off social networks and spending the extra time reading, I realized that there is really not a lot of time spent on writing these days and expressing oneself or analyzing problems thoughtfully. Instead, we spend our time on one sentence or one word statuses, watching videos on Youtube only to leave a f*** *** or other 4 letter curse words on comments of videos you don’t like, which I must admit I’m guilty of from time to time. I even came across a Blog that discussed about how Blogs are becoming extinct now since it’s only older folks that are doing it and once they are gone so will Blogs. MORE HERE

I started this blog, not necessarily out of passion for biology, but because it was required for an English class I didn't want to take but was forced to for graduation. The teacher assigned blogs, and at first this seemed like another boring and pointless activity -- another essay on a topic I care nothing about, another test on material I will forget as soon as the course is over. Initially, I was just going to post about biology issues, sound like a textbook with bare minimum lengths and be done with it because I thought Blogging was stupid. WHY. After reading other people’s Blogs, from classmates and other strangers on the internet, I really feel like Blogging is a form of an open diary where you post issues about your topic while also incorporating a bit of your own thoughts. Besides expression, I realized that blogs can be a form of self-discovery -- through writing, you can xxx -- and blogs can be quite calming at times -- when I write, I find that .xxx. ,Self-discovery and a calm approach to life are not common with people these days. We rush from xxxx We check our blackberries, facebook accts, email... But what about self-expression? I bring up expression, because if we would have done essays in my English class, instead of this blog, I don't think we as students would have been able to really say what we think, really express our ideas and feelings, due to confines of grading, due to not being able to incorporate videos and pictures and due to having to write about something we don't like.





Of course, at this point, I haven’t produced a lot of posts… well at least the amount required. However; I do spend a lot of time thinking about what my next topic should be. I also go back to my previous posts occasionally to read and work on the flow and correct any errors. Most importantly, I really try my best to research on my topic, refresh my memory so that I can make it easy to for people to comprehend and also thought provoking; try to avoid any fancy or complicated scientific terms so that it’s more relatable and less confusing, and steer away from many of the complicated processes or at least break it down straight to the point.





As I hinted on before, I was going to explain everything with my current knowledge and write without much thought; but after the class evaluations and everything it wasn’t going to happen anymore, which I’m kind of glad. By doing research on things I think I know about, I discover more interesting things and I feel like I want to explain it more with care as opposed to just randomly talking about it like nothing. In a way it made me ponder upon certain issues deeper instead of just recalling the scientific facts I’ve memorized about them.





I don’t know how long this interest will allow me to Blog, if any, after this class but at this moment I think I’m getting the hang of Blogs. I realize that perhaps writing does have some benefits besides for school work. Anyways, I'm a bit glad I took some time out to do some self-reflection and evaluation.