Certificate Summary
Even before transferring to UGA in the fall of 2020, I knew that I was going to pursue a New Media Certificate. I’d taken an introductory coding course at my previous school and wanted to dig deeper into front-end development, so it only made sense to continue learning about it. Throughout my certificate journey, I’ve gained so much knowledge and been able to get hands-on experience with various programs and software. In this increasingly interconnected world, I recognize how important it is to be well-versed in all things digital. The New Media Institute has gifted me with the opportunity to graduate college equipped with the skills I need to be confident in entering a workforce that looks very different than it did ten years ago. So, as new software and technologies continue to develop and become integrated into our everyday lives, I find myself no longer viewing the need to quickly adapt as daunting, but as something to embrace and have fun with!
NMIX 4110: New Media Production
This course not only supplemented the little coding knowledge that I came in with but expanded its breadth and depth immensely. Initially, the thought that I’d be crafting websites from scratch was hard to grasp, but as I moved my way through the course, I realized that these projects were not only much easier than I was expecting — but they were enjoyable as well. Of course, there were challenges, too — sometimes things didn’t show up the way that I wanted them to or I couldn’t quite figure out how to accomplish what I’d envisioned, and though this was frustrating, I realized that this meant I was simply growing. I wanted to nail things on my first attempt because I was actively engaged in the material I was learning and I wanted to get better at it. Over the past few months, I’ve learned how to hand-code websites from the ground up using HTML, CSS, as well as Bootstrap, I’ve expanded my knowledge on how to use WordPress to build websites, and I’ve learned the basics of JavaScript. As the semester progressed, so did my websites and while my very first project may not look as good as more recent ones, I’m still the proudest of it. Click on the link above to view that project and others from the course!
NMIX 4200: New Media & TED
I went into this course not quite knowing what to expect. What surprised me most was the amount of preparation that we had to do before meeting and working with presenters. I took this course and “Intro to Public Speaking” at the same time, and this made seeing the differences in what makes speeches successful in one course versus the other extremely interesting and fun. The TED presentation style is so specific — it’s relaxed and conversational while still being aimed at getting across a piece of information. I really took the skills learned in this class into Capstone because of the frequent presentations involved in the course. When writing our final presentation script, I was taken back to the TED course and even referred to some of my notes from “Resonate,” for it, and I was proud of what I produced. There are no projects to feature from this course, but it really helped expand my thinking on public speaking. I struggle with anxiety so having to deliver my own version of a TED talk was no easy task, but I think I’m better off having done it.
JOUR 3380: Introduction to Digital Design
It was so exciting to take this course and even more exciting to have been a part of its’ first iteration. I truly got the best of both worlds with having this count toward my major and my NMC, because I was able to see how specifically the things I was learning through the certificate could directly be applied to the field I’m interested in. One of the most helpful things I learned in the course was the idea of journalism as a product. Since learning that, I have become so interested in the backend process of distributing and disseminating news, especially for nonprofit newsrooms. This course pushed me, that’s for certain, it was fast-paced and every other week we were learning something new. I finally was able to experiment with various Adobe Creative Cloud tools, and I went on to use this knowledge in Capstone as well. I’m incredibly pleased with the things I was able to create in this course. Click on the link above to see three of my favorite pieces!
NMIX 4220: Digital Brown Bag
As opposed to taking Digital Brown Bag at the beginning of my New Media Certificate journey, I let it bookend my experience. And in hindsight, I think this was a good decision because the course’s content coincided nicely with my penultimate semester of undergraduate since it was all about securing a job, entering the workforce, and other essential Intro to Adult Life lessons. While I didn’t actually utilize any of the skills I’d gained while in my New Media courses, I was able to hear from many NMC alumni who are within industries that call for them to regularly use their NMC knowledge. It was both nice and reassuring to hear from those who found their footing after graduating as there are so many fears and worries that come along with your time in college coming to an end. The biggest thing I’ll take away from this course is that truly everyone is in the same boat at some point and your future doesn’t need to be planned to a T at 21. It’s very easy to get lost in this feeling that everything must be figured out now, so it’s nice to be reminded to try and step away from this and just take things day by day.
NMIX 4510: New Media Capstone
Each semester since transferring, I have spent taking a New Media Institute course. It’s hard to imagine my last semester here without taking any more, but I’m incredibly grateful to have been able to complete this certificate. Much like the TED course, I had absolutely no idea of what to expect for Capstone. When I was placed with a team of girls and we were tasked with working on the Amazon Echo Show 15, I couldn’t envision what our project would look like at the end of the semester. This made our pivot to a completely new idea halfway through the semester an exciting one. Before this, I felt my role in the group was not as solidified (I was doing research and a tad bit of design, but not much), but after deciding to create an app, I officially stepped in as our sort of unofficial designer. While hard at times because of my busy schedule, it was so fun to be able to make our logo(s), assets, and posters, among other things. This was the first group project I’d completed where I felt everyone pulled their weight and simply cared about the end result. I’m so proud of how everything turned out and to be able to say that I helped with the creation of an app that can really be downloaded and used is insane. Click on the link above to view some of what I created for Athventure and visit our team website!