Extra Extra

I choose the topic of climate change and global warming as my focus for my blog for the semester. My reason for this topic was mainly because I didn’t know much about it and instead of choosing something I already know about, why not challenge myself and learn about something I’m unfamiliar with? Global warming has been an ongoing issue for some time now but recently it has come into the limelight because of how rapidly its’ actually happening. I know students and individuals who continuously campaign and spend hours trying to speak and persuade people to “go green” as it is a way that we can help save our earth. It’s not particular forte to create an electric run car or reusable shopping bags but in terms of this cause to me what would help most are the simple day to day things that most everyone forgets about.  Although as the course proceeds I would like to come up with an alternative solution and idea for a way to promote going green but for now my ideas rest on the simple things. In relation to the course the option for right now could also be to compose a piece of writing that I could send to government officials, businesses and companies that would speak directly about the cause and what could be done to help. Because it is something I’ve always had a fear of doing, I would write a letter to a public official or the president. Speaking about my concerns for my generation and my children’s generation may be a guiding force in getting him to take more action or do more to support the issue. A letter to companies and business would also be something I would pursue because in actuality they are many times the root to this problem. This would be something I have never done before but something I’ve always thought about and what better time to push my fears aside.

            Reading about the several doubts and fears that so many other students have in relation to mine was interesting. I know that many people feel the same way as I do, that they just don’t have a strong enough voice or that one person can’t change much, but after reading more into Shamoon’s strategies it became more evident to me that there are things I can do and it just takes some confidence to step up and do them. I look at how I’ve evolved as a public writer already, joining twitter and setting up my own blog, and overcoming those fears and struggles has made me believe that I can do even more. Joining an association or becoming apart of a larger group was something Shamoon pointed out and for my casue and because of my fears this may be a step that I can take in order to feel that sense of “making a difference.” Shamoon also pointed out something that never really struck my attention, which was “acting locally.” I think it is a belief of many people that when someone thinks about helping support a cause they think they have to do something outrageous or monumental in order to really create change. Pointed out by Shamoon, this isn’t the case at all. Acting locally is a great way to really build a stepping stone for support for a cause and can further catch the attention of a larger audience such as public officials in which it then becomes a cause that can gain more widespread attention and help. To promote success for my cause, I could take such steps but for my blog it becomes a little more different. With facebook and twitter this could be very easy. To post a daily article on my facebook wall and my twitter would be great and would catch people’s attention. Doing this would gain peoples attention about the cause but not my blog specifically. Every week I could send out a reminder or note to check out my blog and/or catch up on weekly interesting facts that I found regarding global warming. Interesting and fun interactive initiatives is a great way to get people involved and wanting to support  a cause so to me this is the most simple way that I could promote success for my blog and my cause.