And I’m 100% okay with that.
As many of you know, I tried my hand at poetry writing a bit ago. I’m always telling people how much I love Blogging University, and I was taking full advantage of the coursework by taking part in the Poetry class.
So here’s the confession: I only did seven out of the ten lessons. And it really bothered me that I didn’t finish.
And here’s the catch: One of the benefits of Blogging University that I always rave about is the fact that you can do the free course at your own pace. It’s totally okay to skip lessons or fall behind.
But I didn’t listen to myself, and it ate at me. My pre-holiday life was filled with personal and professional deadlines, my energy level was fighting a sugar-induced dip, and my brain was starting to spin towards next year’s goals. I had the lessons on my to-do list, but kept pushing them off until the lateness was getting pretty embarrassing. Headaches ensued, and I considered staying up hours later to catch up. Not an optimal choice.
Then it hit me. I had the freedom to let go. That’s what Blogging University is all about. I can always take the class over, or write those prompts another time. It will still be free so no $ lost. Only wisdom gained.
The fact that I was three lessons behind did not take away from the reality that:
- I actually wrote poetry for the first time in forever.
- I learned about different poetry styles.
- I met some seriously talented writers in my class who are now my role models.
- I received critiques that made my writing stronger.
- I was greatly encouraged by the community.
- And now I have some incredible poetry to read when I relax with coffee and my WordPress Reader.
What an incredible take-away! Yeah, I only hit 70% of the assignments, but I benefitted 100%.
Thanks for the free courses, Blogging University!
See you on the Commons if you are in Blogging 101 in January 🙂
9 responses to “I Got a 70% in Blogging University”
ah, stuff keeps coming up…we get that. One of the options is to hang out with other bloggers on the commons and/or other blogs. I do a lot of hanging out. I LOVE poetry…I have so much fun. wish I didn’t have other stuff I have to do. Thanks for all the help in my various panicks. Happy 2016…!
I do love the Commons and following blogs. Great ideas. Happy 2016 to you as well. It’s been nice getting to know you in 2015 🙂
I love WordPress and blogging…writing poetry…meeting other bloggers. see you around! 🙂
You did 100% more than I would have. Congrats!
ha! Thanks 😉
Who were the Happiness Engineers during your course? I am asking because you were HE during my courses and I find this role reversal fascinating!
Ben Huberman and @pmciano were the HEs. When I helped Ben in the poetry class in October, I realized I was out of my writing knowledge league in poetry. I was still able to help in the forums because I helped with more techie stuff than actual writing, (and I learned about each poem style fast). But that’s what made me realize that if I wanted to help in future poetry classes, I had better educate myself more on the topic. I’ll actually be teaching course myself later this spring (topic isn’t announced yet, but I’m writing the lessons now). Maybe I’ll see you in it 🙂
Definitely! 🙂 I’ll be there. Ooh and who was the other teacher? You know, like, two HEs and one instructor.
Ben was the instructor. There was only one other HE. I was on call for technical issues if they needed more help, but they didn’t end out needing me. 🙂