As my class comes to a close, I realize how much I learned not only from the material, but the other students in the class. When I first started reading the “Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy” I thought to myself probably the same things that the other students did. Why on earth is the instructor making this book the required reading? Not being a person that’s fond of creativity and sharing the artistic side of myself, if it weren’t for this book, I sincerely believe that I would have a stunted view of the world as a whole.
I found Arthur Dent to be a rather reserved individual that only liked to live in only what he’s comfortable with and never wanting to push the envelope of his life that had him so confined. Like Arthur, I too like to be comfortable and rarely push my limits and by default, confine myself to the wondrous beauty that is called Earth. And like Arthur, who came to terms with “42”, I myself had come to terms that I needed to work with something I had been afraid to most of my life, my artistic side, and creativity. I saw his development from Earth being to galaxy traveler. Seeing all the different characters and how each one played a different part in this growth; it was easy to parallel and identify with this character. As he evolved in the story, I found myself evolving in my class. I realized that my journey through this galaxy, that I call MEDIA 111, isn’t one I am taking by myself. I recognized that I have classmates that shared a lot of who they are by the work they turned in and I have learned to embrace whatever artistic side I have and boldly go forth. And go without reservations, throwing caution to the wind. I learned not to panic, and to trust my teammates. At the end, where Arthur states that he is “peckish”, I got the sense that he was embracing where he was at in his life and learned to “go with the flow”.
What I truly got from the book was that it paralleled the class for me. Starting with writing on a discussion board, to learning to embed a video, to buying a webhosting service, to making a web page; this class has been a rather “Galactic” journey. Thanks for traveling the galaxy with me. Don’t forget your towel!
