This year in Media and Communication is a meaningful year which full of new challenges but lots of awesome experiences with creativity and discovery. At the beginning, I see media as a tool of entertainment and even don’t know what media and communication is. But through this year’s learning, I gradually exploring and understand it is a powerful tool shapes how people see and think. This year, I also created lots of media products which made me more and more interested in the world of media.

 

The most important discovery is the media literacy. Before this year’s course, I thought being media literate only meant understanding how to use media platforms or recognize fake news. However, Potter’s article helped me realize that true media literacy is much deeper which involves critical thinking, self-awareness, and responsibility. Potter has points out that we need to focus on personal locus. This idea made me reflect on my own habits. Sometimes I accepted information or media messages passively, without questioning their purpose or effect. After learning it, I usually to pay more attention to why I watch, read it, and how these views and choices influenced my thinking. I also understood that being media literate is not just about analyzing other people’s work, but also about taking responsibility for the messages I create. This insight has changed the way I approach both media consumption and media production. The values of media literacy became clearer when I begin to start the projects by myself.

 

A major challenge for me is that how to turn ideas into real creative products through practice. At first, I often had many thoughts in my head but each time I start to try, I find it is a hard thing for me to express hem clearly or make them work visually. Through project like the film poster, after learning the basic knowledge of a poster and analyzing famous posters, I have lost of ideas to design my own work. However, I don’t know how to use tools and applications to express my idea. From that time, I realized the creative work is not just about imagination but also require planning, testing and the ability of problem solving. To finish my work, I beginning to learn how to use those tools, search for others perfect works, sketch my ideas, trying different layouts, and asking help and feedback from my classmates and teachers. Through this experience, I not only improved my technical skills but also built the confidence to turn imagination into meaningful media products.

 

The AT3 Newsroom Project further demonstrated my growth and achievements in both creativity and media communication. At the beginning, I know nothing about the topic of tariff or international trade, and the most challenge me is how it connects with our students. To complete my section, I took the initiative to study basic economic knowledge and try translating these complex ideas into my article. Writing the article helped me realize that communicating clearly is just as important as being accurate. Since our audience was mainly students, I tried to write in a way that was formal yet friendly, using light humour and simple examples that students could relate to, such as imported snacks or electronics. I also researched how tariffs might influence student life, which made the topic feel more relevant and realistic. As I learned, I began to realize that journalism is not only about reporting facts but also about shaping how audiences understand complex issues. Meanwhile, I also discovered how powerful media can be in making difficult information meaningful to the public. Now see the process and article, this achievement strengthened both my confidence and my understanding of how media can inform, educate, and connect people. 

 

Looking back of the year, this course has changed me the way I see media. Now, I no longer learn new things passively but analyze its meaning and the way it built actively. From all those experiences, a girl who was afraid of making mistakes into someone who thinks positively and dares to try new things. Furthermore, I also find myself interested in media design and marketing field. Hope I could continue learning and exploring digital media and communication in the university and make more progress both personal and academic growth!