Refresh

I started as a shy development-communicator-in-training. I was never really confident about my skills. But my mistake back then was never really believing in what I’m capable of which led to settling to the bare minimum I could do. After a whole semester in the College of Development Communication, I have gained a lot of lessons that I could surely use throughout my DevCom journey.

Being a development communicator needs to get out of their comfort zone. How are we going to be able to help and reach out for others when we let our fears hinder us from flying high?

Before, I gave myself (2) to almost all of the qualities such as: curious, imaginative, loves to read, and the others. However I gave (1) to qualities such as persevering and industriousness, because I knew to myself that struggles never hindered me from pushing harder and aiming higher. The quality I struggled with the most is resourcefulness. I couldn’t approach people and make connections because of my lack of confidence and drive in exhausting all the possible sources.

I’ve learned to be more resourceful by being curious and inquisitive when it comes to data gathering. Engaging with people will make it a lot easier for the data gathering process. I tried stepping out from my safe space and tried approaching people. Data gathering being the backbone of the content a writer would be making, is a very vital process. With that, one semester has taught me to give importance to this process and step up my game in exhausting sources of information.

In the skills of a media writer what I struggled the most with are data gathering, validating information and writing clearly and effectively which with (2) being its rating. Among the skills, It’s hard for me to write clearly and effectively. As a creative writer, I had a difficult time simplifying ideas and being direct to the point.

With the help of the lab exercises which helped us greatly in becoming news writers, I learned how it really is important to write clearly. Moreover, it made me realize how hard it is to write clear sentences for the audience. I still couldn’t give a (1) rating to this skill, as well as the other ones because I know I could improve more as I continue my DevCom joruney.

The whole semester has been tough. It was my first time in journalism. There were days that I felt like giving up the dream because of my lack of confidence. However, if I stop then I surely couldn’t make it. Thus, this semester made me tougher and stronger when it comes to facing new challenges. There will surely be a lot of road blocks ahead, but that shouldn’t stop you from improving and working harder.