Thanks for the memories

So. End of the semester. Which means the end of Comms 239. (Oh, and yeah, that title was a blatant ripoff of the song, "Thanks for the Memories," by FallOut Boy.)

I really enjoyed the class--a lot more than I thought I would. And actually, I had pretty high expectations for it in the first place.

Not many classes outstrip my initial expectations, but when they do, it's fantastic.

It wasn't just the subject matter of the course--although I enjoyed that too. It was the structure, how we were all learning together, how we discussed more than were lectured at. I think that that was the most effective way of learning.

Instead of being told what good journalism was, we talked it over, examined it from different angles and different points of view, and we were all able to reach our own conclusions. I was able to fully examine this question, though I can't really post about it until the final exam is due on Monday.

Instead of taking a multiple choice test about ethics in journalism, we were presented with the facts and the history, and we decided for ourselves how far was too far, and what we would and wouldn't do for the sake of journalism and our careers.

And our final exam is just one more example of how freely structured and learning-based this class really was/is. It's not that the final exam is easy--actually, it's the exam I'm most concerned about. But the challenge to think for myself, to be brave enough to take a stance (and stick to that stance) on issues that will affect my career in journalism, is why I liked the class. The challenge made it worth it.

The blogging was a lot of fun too. I enjoyed reading everybody's blogs, and I appreciate all the comments I got on my own blog.

So I guess the whole point of this post was to say thank you and good-bye. Thanks everyone for sharing your opinions in class, and thank you for challenging me. I had a great time in this class, and hopefully I'll see all of you in journalism classes!