I Guess This Means Goodbye
So in my final blog post I am going to do a reflection on the community engagment program that we completed in class. In such strange times, it seemed almost impossible to me to do a community engagement project via online. I mean I am so used to doing projects in person. So many things ran through my mind like if it would even be possible given the current situation that we are living in. Gladly, we were able to do it.
The magical and wonderful Google dictionary defines community as, “A group of people living in the same place or having a praticular characteristic in common.” Community implies being among others, similar to how a neighborhood functions.
Did I think a community project would be possible? No. But, that is because my perception of community was quite different at the beginning of the semster than what it is now. After all, last semester I was enrolled in a political science class where we talked about community and were even upposed to go to a center in Boyle Heights and do a hands on activity with the kids. However, that project was cancelled because of COVID-19.
I do not think I am the only one who’s perception of community was challenged, but there is no way of knowing for sure.
When the class decided to do the community project on TikTok I was unsure of what to think. I am not well rehearesed on Tiktok and its trends so I did not think I would be able to provide valuable input. However, being in a group of people who were familiar with the platform made it all the better.
What also made this community project unique for me personally was that it challenged my perception of community. (I know I already mentioned this but it’s true!) Having to be at home 98% percent of the time, it is quite easy to feel isolated, like the communities that I once belonged to no longer exist. However, Tiktok is a community that welcomes people from different walks of life to do whatever the hell they want. I have to admit when I first made my account a few weeks ago the first thing I did was look up basset hound puppies because I have one at home. I found an overwhelming amount of bassets and quite frankly I was in heaven. I had found a community of people with similar interests.
Tiktok is the perfect platform for our community service project. Its an interesting way of communicating grammar lessons while attempting to make themfun and relevant. Now a days, it feels like kids are much more aware of politics and the antics of the Democratic and Republican parties, so it seemed very fitting that we talked about the election.
Overall, navigating Tiktok, was a good experience, and I cannot wait to see who learns from our grammar video!
