MY INITIATION: I AM OFFICIALLY A BLOGGER

So this is it. When I pressed “PUBLISH,” I officially could add the term “blogger” to my resume.

Let’s cut to the chase and get a little intimate. There are some things you would never catch me doing. Some of these things include:

• Eating calamari (because I think that is beyond gross)
• Bungee jumping (because I am deathly afraid of heights)
• Scuba diving (because even though I hate to admit it, I do not know how to swim and am not willing to put my life in the hands of fish with an appetite for human blood)
• Playing with cats (because they are sneaky)
• Quitting (because quitting is not in my vocabulary and is something that I would never allow myself to do)

As you may have noticed, blogging was not included in that list. Let me explain why.

When I first heard about blogging, I was sitting in PR Case Studies, listening to Bill Sledzik rant on about how he recently joined the blogosphere. Every time we met for class, he had something to say about his blog, Tough Sledding and how blogging changed his life as a public relations professional and professor. He talked about it so much; I knew I would hear about it again sometime in the near future. Boy was I right. I read about blogs in newspapers and textbooks. I listened about the intrusion of blogs on news stations and class lectures. The word “blog” eventually became a part of my everyday language.

While I was a community relations intern at Project Learn of Summit County, I thought it would be important if before my internship ended, I shared my understanding of blogs and other social media with the staff. My then boss, Rick McIntosh, permitted me to hold a session where I gave a crash course on the social medium that is transforming the way people and businesses communicate. I then thought it would be appropriate if I started a blog for Project Learn— so it too, could use the tool to communicate with its many publics. On November 4, 2007, Read. Achieve. Succeed. was born. But, I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted to make my own footprint in the world of social media.

Even though it wasn’t required that I take the PR Online Tactics course, I knew it would be very beneficial to me, considering my career goal. This course will allow me to quench my thirst for blogging. This blog will let me to apply what I learn in the classroom to what is affecting the world and interests me as a person. The focus of this blog is health and safety. I chose this theme because it is a topic that is relevant to everyone, regardless of race, sex, or age.

Some of the issues I plan to discuss include: toy recalls, children’s immunizations, the 2008 presidential candidates and their views on healthcare, diet claims and contingencies, controversial health issues, hospital dilemmas and any other problems or concerns that have an effect on the lives of one or many.

This is my initiation. I am officially a BLOGGER!