The semester went by so fast – it’s like I created my blog only yesterday, and now I’m looking back on my journey, and it felt better than expected.
And since it’s an ending, and endings are bound to get a little cheesy… This video is a metaphorical summary of my entire blogging journey:
Throughout my journey, I learned a lot of things, including social media and software skills:
- Blog (obviously) with over 1000 views
- Promotion on a Facebook page, as well as on my personal Facebook
- Over 800 Twitter followers
- Multi-track audio editing with Audacity
- SoundCloud
- Slideshows
- Video editing with YouTubeEditor and MovieMaker
- BBC 5-shot method and news package form for videos
- Storify
- ThingLink
- SocialBro
- … And finally, I learned that I am able to work under pressure and deadlines, and that it’s actually not that hard to approach people
But, most of all, I got a sneak peek into the childhood of my interviewees, and each and everyone had reasons and stories to tell about their idols. Let’s take a brief look back at who their idols are:
Male: Jim Ryun (athlete) for his sports achievements, as well as for his later involvement in sports camps for kids and service in Congress.
Female: Sally Field for her cuteness, but mostly for her ability to grow into a serious actress and activist.
Male: Bugs Bunny for his clever tricks and ability to manipulate others into doing what he wants them to do.
Female: Danielle (Drew Barrymore’s interpretation of Cinderella) for the fact that she takes action instead of waiting to be rescued.
Male: Dumbledore for his wisdom and for being the type of elderly person she strives to become in her later years.
Female: Bloom for her magical abilities and supernatural power of fire.
Male: Indiana Jones for his intelligence, adventures (and attractiveness, of course).
Female: Traxex for being dark, vengeful, strong and fun to play because of her great damage.
On the topic of Star Wars (in light of the coming sequel), she shared that when she was younger, she wanted to marry Han Solo!
Male: Edward Cullen, because he helped her go through her first break-up, even though she feels his character isn’t realistic.
Female: Hermione Granger, because of her intelligence, organisation and respect for order… Although Deni did mention that her first favourite character was Barbie, and Hermione came later, but had the greater influence.
Male: Tom Sawyer for his playfulness and adventurousness. She also mentioned Harry Potter, because his ability to find a family in his friends reflects her life and ideas about family and belonging.
Female: Luna Lovegood for her ability to be different and to be herself even when others see her as crazy or strange.
Male: Popeye… because his spinach-driven strength inspired her to start eating spinach as a child (which meant a lot, since she wasn’t really fond of eating)
Female: Luna Lovegood for thinking outside the box, being different, but also smart and loyal to her friends.
Male: Geralt of Rivia because of his ability to remain impartial and do what is morally correct in a violent and corrupt world
Female: Arya (from Eragon), because of her selflessness and ability to ignore her feelings in order to achieve a greater good… and also because he had a bit of a crush on her.
This answers the question, “Who are they?,” and as for the part regarding “What do they say about us?,” I tried to answer that for each person individually in each of my posts. However, there are a few general trends that I noticed:
- The Harry Potter series were the most popular ‘source’ of childhood idols – 4 of my interviewees (Alexandra, Denitsa, Jetmira and Hristina) had an idol from there. This seems about right, because most of my interviewees were from my generation, and I think we were really influenced by Harry Potter as a group.
- Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter seems to be the idol of the semester – 2 people (Jetmira and Hristina) independently had her as an idol!
- On that note, I think it’s worth mentioning that 2 people (Iva and Bozhidar) shared idols that were played by Harrison Ford. I am full of respect for his acting.
- Additionally, If I count myself, it would be 2 of us (me and Iva) who shared idols from Star Wars!
So there they are, the idols of the semester:
And finally, we come to the actual end… I will not be writing anymore posts, but it was a wonderful journey and I am endlessly thankful to those who agreed to share a piece of their childhood with me, as well as to you, who kept on reading!
Like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter, if you wish. And may your childhood idols always be with you in your heart, because they are wonderful memories and an endless source of inspiration!
Childhood Idols 