Overall, writing my first feature turned out to be a lot more challenging than I expected it to be. My idea was pretty sudden, and before coming across the social media post which inspired my article, I planned to write about the swim team at UNE, which I am a part of. Comparing college campuses to walkable cities seemed like such a good idea, and an article that I would have no trouble finding research to support.
Once I started writing, I quickly ran into the issue of finding research to support my claim. While the idea made sense in my head, in order to be at all credible, I would have to find research. This was definitely the most challenging part of this experience for me, as my idea is quite new in the psychology and sociology fields. Eventually, I was able to find research, and come up with people to interview. I decided to interview two of my classmates who have travelled to Morocco, and their comparisons of life at UNE in Biddeford and life at UNE in Tangier, gave me a lot of good information.
Leading up to workshop day, I was super nervous, and I did not have a lot of confidence in my article. Overall, I recieved a lot of good feedback, and after having workshopped my article, I feel a lot better about it. My classmates’ words of encouragement helped a lot, as many of them told me I was on to something. Their advice helped me a lot, as they told me what kinds of research I should include, as well as what can be cut out.
Overall, I had a very positive experience writing this feature. I enjoyed the creative freedom, as well as workshopping my own and my other classmates’ pieces. I look forward to my next writing project and will remember my first feature fondly.
