Work Hard, Play Hard, Reflection
I was very
conflicted when we were initially presented with this assignment. A few friends
of mine in the class asked me to be a part of their group. Their idea was to
rewrite the words to a song centered around academic writing and the freshman
experience. Even though I thought the idea had a lot of potential, I am never at
my best working in groups and I often get annoyed if I think I am doing too
much or too little. For these reasons, I thought it would be in my best interest
to work by myself and try to figure out my own idea. The only problem was that
at the time I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to write about! My mom had
suggested that I make my own “academic writing” version of the popular YouTube
clips, “a bad lip reading.” As cool and entertaining as I knew that would be, I
had to veto that idea because I didn’t know how to make it on the computer,
what site to use, or how to even get started. I consider myself as someone with
very limited computer skills, so looking back on this process I am a little
surprised that I made the decision to try to work with an application about
which I had little knowledge.
I wanted to step
out of my comfort zone and make a video presentation that would be enjoyable
for viewers and especially incoming freshmen, to not only watch but also
discuss with their friends and classmates. I planned on asking my friends to
give me some of their advice so I could compile a video montage of all of their
responses. I knew that one of the biggest keys to making a successful video is
the chose of the background music. This song will immediately give the viewer
an idea of whether or not they are going to be interested in what is to come.
There wasn’t much contemplation before I thought about and finalized the
decision to use Work Hard, Play Hard
by Wiz Khalifa. This song is a very popular one, and I think the title in
itself is very relatable for all students, especially freshmen who don’t know
what to expect from their upcoming college experience!
Quite honestly, I
never expected the video to turn out as well as it did. I was amazed by the
support I received from so many of my friends, not to mention their excitement once
I explained my request. All participants sent at least one picture regarding academics,
in particular academic writing. Everyone also sent a second picture dealing
with the social lifestyle of college. I was very pleased to receive such a wide
range of responses that any and all students can appreciate. When thinking of
which friends to ask for help, I intentionally tried to focus on friends with
different interests. For example, I tried to include artists, and sport and
music enthusiasts. I also tried to focus on kids who approach their typical
Friday and Saturday nights very differently. I asked kids whose first priority
is partying, friends who are more focused on schoolwork and activities on
campus, and friends who have a healthy balance between the two.
For this project,
I knew there wasn’t a lot of room for error: if the soundtrack wasn’t good or
the signs were boring I knew that I would lose my audience. Fortunately, I feel
that I was successful in both of these areas. I can’t take all of the credit,
however, because many of my friends came up with great ideas on their own, worthy
pieces of advice to write on the signs. I realized that many of my friends
either wrote words of wisdom that had been given to them, or advice they wished
they had received before coming to college. I remember well how I felt three
months ago, and wish I had been given some of this advice. It is very easy to
put myself back into the shoes of incoming freshmen and I know that my friends
took the same approach when creating their own signs.
When I was working
on my project I remembered the essay we read in class entitled “When Ideas Get Lost in Bad Writing; Attacks
on Scholars Include a Barbed Contest With 'Prizes.” Even though my video
project is not entirely a direct correlation to a scholarly article I tried to
approach part of it in the same way. My goal in this project was to use short
pieces of advice that I could incorporate with each other to tell a story. I think that my style can be seen as just another
variation of academic writing. In the article, Dinita Smith was talking about
different tactics of writing and how some ideas can be more effective than
others. I tried to approach my project in a new way that can be seen as
academic writing but that most people wouldn’t expect. Sanford Pinsker gave his
opinions and talked about how approaching different styles are like a “set up a
whole [to a] new world of language.”[1]
Without a doubt, I can understand that my method can be seen as unconventional
academic writing, but I tried to follow many of the rules and work around many
of the common mistakes that contribute to “bad writing.” For example, “Ms.
Nussbaum says scholars are sometimes encouraged to write in obscure language.”[2]
When I gave directions to all of my friends I asked them to make signs that
would be as easy to read and as “to the point” as possible. I didn’t want the
audience to spend the whole time rapidly reading the different signs because I
knew that would take away from a lot of the enjoyment. The fact that many of
the signs were concrete, to the point, and often acted out, made each picture
much more enjoyable to look at and think about.
I loved the signs
that were directly related to academic writing, but also the ones that gave
broad-reaching advice regarding more than simply the college experience. It’s
honestly very difficult for me to pick some of my favorites because I can
relate to just about all of the signs; however, in my opinion some of the best
advice given that correlated directly to academic writing include “Editing your
work is just as important as writing it,” and “Make an outline template so you
can use it for writing assignments.” Editing work is a skill that can not be undervalued.
No one writes a perfect paper on their first try nobody writes a perfect paper
their first try or even second try which is why rereading (aloud), peer editing
and group revisions are all so important.
Some other pieces
of advice that really resonated with me included “Know Yourself… and do what
makes you HAPPY,” and “Pursue Your Dreams With Dedication.” I really liked
these examples because like so many others that were submitted these pieces of
advice can be applied to but not limited to college life. Both of these
examples are very relevant in every day life.
In the last 15
second of the song I tried to deliver a specific image to the viewers. When Wiz
Khalifa says “Work Hard,” I inputted a picture of someone working hard in their
respective field. In the specific case of Lindsey Vonn, she was working hard to
return from a set back (injury.) In the next picture, when Wiz Khalifa says
“Play Hard,” I added a picture of the same person succeeding in their field. I
attempted to deliver the message that if you work hard enough and put in the
required effort and commitment you can eventually reach and even exceed your
goals. The reason I included Lindsey Vonn’s injury is to further explain that
in no way, is the “Work Hard” part of the journey is easy, and it will almost
certainly include set backs. As Harvey Dent said, “the night’s darkest just
before the dawn.” I think this specific quote goes quite well with the point I
was trying to make in the last part of the video. This quote only further
emphasizes my point of the necessity of working hard until you get to the
opportunity to “play hard” which in my mind is the point of success, when you
can be satisfied with your work. This philosophy should, but doesn’t always,
hold true for college life – work hard in and out of the classroom before
focusing on partying and other social activities. More importantly, this
outlook can be a strong one in more general situations where hard work needs to
be the first priority.
This writing assignment
has been one of my absolute favorites. I was able to produce something of which
I am very proud, and the fact that I was able to exceed my own expectations
with an application about which I was unfamiliar, is definitely an added bonus.
I feel like I was able to effectively communicate my main ideas and goals which
many viewers will be able to understand without over-thinking the specifics of
the project. It was really enjoyable to get out of my comfort zone and try
something new. I think people will not only enjoy watching this video, but will
also remember words of wisdom given by students who have learned valuable
lessons during their first semester at college.
