First blog of the semester

Hey y'all,

I guess the best way to start things off is to tell a little about myself. My name is Kevin and I am in my 4th year at Southern Miss, thought I am not a senior. I have spent my college years living from one great experience to another. College has allowed me to participate in the Journey of Hope, which is a 4000 mile charity bike ride that raises funds and awareness for people with disabilities. This trip changed my outlook on life and has made me into a more thankful person. My next great adventure took me to Ft Benning, GA. There I underwent 4 months of training to become an infantryman. I have been a proud serving member of the Mississippi National Guard for the past 2 years. Once I graduate college (May of 2011) I will become a 2LT in the MS National Guard. Aside from my past, there are a few things I like to do outside of the classroom. I love to cook, fish, and hunt. But now onto the meat of the assignment.

Being a criminal justice major, our writing assignments are usually based around case reports and analysis of court cases or court decisions. Having never been in a work setting that required lengthy written proposals, the only time in which I write reports would be during my bi-monthly reports in ROTC. This reports are in a BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) format where you cut straight to the facts of what has happened. I have not written any public documents however.

I have a confession, I really dislike writing in formal manners. I prefer the writing style used by the military where writing is simple and straight forward. The style of writing I dislike the most would have to be where very little instruction is given. I am a person who needs direction and guidance, so writing that is free form is very difficult for me.

Having not really written many reports where any action would come from my writings I have had no actual break downs in communication. One factor that I could see that would cause writing to fail would be the fact that people in my generation are not used to expressing themselves in a formal written form. I believe one way in which we can fix this break down is by forcing ourselves to work on having better written communication.

To conclude the assignment, I hope to learn to become a more proficient writer by being able to get my point across accurately and be able to be understood by all that read my writings.

Till next week!