Blog #1 Media Autobiography

Hello! My name is Angelica Reid and I am a Communications major at De Anza college. While at a junior college, I have enrolled in a program to become a certified interpreter for ASL (American Sign Language). I aspire to use my education in both ASL and communications to create a career as a public relations representative for humanitarian organizations.

I currently volunteer for a nonprofit organization that creates events for those involved in the Deaf community in the bay area. My job within the organization is to contact event directors and persuade them to donate tickets for events such as SF Giants baseball games or Disneyland, which my manager distributes to families with deaf children.

As for my personal relationships with mass media, I do not read magazines, newspapers, or watch tv because I don't find much use in them with other, more immediately convenient tools such as the internet or my smart phone. I read often and have always had an infatuation with books. I enjoy reading for both informational and entertainment purposes. I mostly appreciate "coming of age" stories and books with spiritual or motivational content. I also lean towards movies with the same two aspects, weather it be a documentary or an adventurous revelation of oneself, such as, Into the Wild. From the time I wake up, to my drive to school or work, my treks between classes, whilst studying, cooking, bathing or grooming, I am listening to music on the radio or an audio device. Out of all media recourses I probably use the internet the most. My laptop is usually used for school, work, or personal time passers (nonsense) but, my iPhone is and always has been a "frenemy". Social media got to the point of such a distraction that I decided to delete all accounts and apps that permitted access to them from my phone.  I now use instagram again and hope to gear the focus of my posts on more of an informative approach and share my knowledge and ideas of spirituality and health and less on "selfies" and "food porn". 
I believe that social media has tremendous potential to make myself and my peers more informed and involved with whats going on in the world. I think many people of my generation are waking up to their influential capabilities through social media and are actively making a change in how they use it. This is what i like to call "using our smart phones to make us smarter".