Keeping Yourself Motivated
Hey everyone,
This week I'm talking about remaining motivated while blogging and, in conjunction, how I motivate myself to blog!
I often get asked,
"How did you start?"
"Why did you start?"
"How have you been blogging for so long?"
In order to answer these questions honestly than you need to understand my background in blogging and writing! I began blogging when I was in middle school after I had just created my first email account. I was eager to put it to use, and the first place I used it for was the website Blogger. For the next few years I would write off and on about middle school and, later on, high school.
Once college came, I had battled with the thought of creating a blog again as a tool to help out of state students like myself navigate the University of Hawaii. Throughout my college search, as much as Hawaii stood out to me I also realized that the school was lacking some serious information that could make or break the school! This was anything from updated pictures of the campus dorms to how many clubs are actually active. This kind of blog, and content, was very specific, but I knew that if there was a tool like this out there when I was first applying that I would have taken advantage of it. This was my reasoning for creating and cultivating my blog to what it is today.
In creating this blog, I recognized that there was something missing out there for students going off to college at a school they had never visited. I realized that there was a need for a website that could provide potential students information on a school they might not be able to tour and feel out for themselves. And, above all, I knew and understood the pain and frustration that came from searching countless sources that would turn out to not provide me with the information I wanted. Lets face it, sometimes the schools' sources just don't give us the information that we need to know.
The first year was easy, I could talk about the condition of the dorms, what opportunities students would have, and what some classes ended up being like. I would post about my finals and the campus atmosphere. I even threw in a few cultural pieces, such as words you would need to know and important places to visit off of the grind. But from there on out, the options for posts got harder and harder. This is where I struggled with motivation to continue posting, but this is also where I needed a new perspective to keep me going.
First, as much as I created this blog to help others, I needed to realize that this blog was something that I could use to help myself. I would often talk about homesickness (and the lack thereof) and also the struggle with deciding whether or not to transfer. I talked about the disappointing experiences I had with some professors, and how I changed majors. I talked about things I wish Manoa had, and things that Hawaii could offer students that other schools could not. Without realizing it, I was slowly changing my content to be a more holistic approach to college than one that focused on a tiny niche.
During the summer motivation can be hard to come by, but even recently I have found that there is never a wrong time to revamp a blog. While I'm going to be home until September, this allows me more time than ever to post about things that interest me, and when I go back to school I look forward to carrying those interests with me.
I hope reading about my motivation can help spark some of your own.
Until next time,
2 comments
Oh my goodness. This post came at the perfect time, I swear that this is just what I needed. Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDelete♡ Natalie | teaspoonofnatalie.co
I'm so glad to hear that, Natalie! I hope this inspired you and that you now have a fresh perspective on what you're going through.
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