Letter to Self

Liezl,

This has been an amazing journey. Honestly, I was not sure at the beginning if I will be able to go through the class – especially an online class. Now I know that not all online courses are extremely tough. I admit that I almost thought of dropping a couple of times, but after the first in-class essay, I had a better understanding of what the professor is trying to do – and that is to make this class as fun and involved as possible and that’s exactly how I feel. I know that I can reach out to my professor and my classmates anytime I stumble on something. I did not like the peer reviews at the beginning, all because being criticized is one of my weaknesses. It’s like going through a panel of judges and getting ready to be sent home. At the end of the course, I learned that this is about creative criticism and my peers definitely helped me get better.

Popular culture is all around us. If we take a look around and observe our surroundings, I’m sure we can name some. We live in such a fast paced world and sometimes, we just have to learn to take a step back and appreciate the different kinds of culture around us – from Apple device users to race car drivers, we are constantly influenced by different kinds of culture practices, including religion and beliefs, the way we dress, the food that we eat, and even the television shows that we watch. I was asked the question that if we ever get an alien invasion, what part of human life would remain in this world. That was probably the toughest one for me. I did not know what to choose – should it be cell phones, laptops, cars, or dolls? I chose Disneyland as my American Artifact because of how popular it is. Millions of people come from around the world to see the “happiest place on earth” come to life. Technology and Culture, probably my favorite essay, definitely made me realize how much technology affects our lives every day. Technology influences our life constantly. Remember the times when we had to actually go to a friend’s place just to see them or talk to them? Well now, we can do all that in front of a computer, and then the cellular phones came. Landlines have become almost obsolete. Most consumers just keep their lines active in order to get discounts on their internet bills. Now, almost everybody walks around with cell phones on their hands, sometimes, we even see people who look like their talking to themselves, but actually, they have Bluetooth on their ears. We do most of our banking online, pay their bills electronically, send emails instead of letters, call instead of coming to visit, and of course, reach anybody on Facebook instead to reconnecting to friends like the old times. The world of technology has evolved so much and as consumers – we have to be careful not to be left behind. Analyzing an advertisement – a printed ad – is very interesting to me. I was told that a picture paints a thousand words and it’s very true. Just a snapshot of people in a particular place can tell us so much about what the idea of the advertisement is all about. Those small clips we watch on the television can be interpreted in so many ways. The corporations spend lots of money just to be noticed by consumers. Without any marketing, product will not be sold. That’s why the media has the power and influence because they are able to help us make decisions what we should be purchasing. That’s where the book opened my eyes completely of what advertising is all about. The entire book is definitely something I would recommend to anybody. Every chapter is very different from the next one. The four major parts of the book – Autumn, Winter, Summer, and Spring – described the different situations the consumers belong. Lasn started by describing a family, trying to reconnect to each other, then goes to describe what television really does to families – from the kids to the adults. I didn’t expect to like the reading as much as I do now. It’s both informative and intense for some readers, but the truth is that the information the author describe is very true. The book is a call for a revolution – it’s our time to take back our freedom and stop being naive about what these companies are trying to do. We have to stop being puppets and steer on a different path.

When I first signed up for this class, I thought to myself, this is probably just another course to pass all my general education requirements. I never thought I would actually have fun while I’m doing it. The class is very interactive – it keeps us involved all the way through. My peers have provided me with much needed reviews with the essays that I have written. I have never been confident with my writing as much as I do after taking the course. It definitely helped me open up my mind with what other people have to say. Going forward, I’ll feel better about getting other people’s insight about my work and I know that it will help me be a better writer. I’d like to thank my professor and my classmates for such a wonderful quarter and wish everybody good luck in their future classes and I hope everybody had fun at the course – I’m sure I did!