This second edition of Meet a Student Blogger features Thelnie of Thelnie Cracks and the University of California at Irvine.
Student Bloggers: Major?
Thelnie: My major is Social Sciences with a Specialization in Secondary Education. This major takes place of having to pass required tests in order to teach History. Originally I was going to go through with it but I decided to teach math instead. Originally my major was Economics because my parents wanted me to be an accountant but UCI didn’t have an accounting undergraduate major. That didn’t go well.
SB: Planned graduation year?
Thelnie: I was able to walk in commencement in June, but I still have two classes to take in August. I’ll be finishing up in September for reals!
SB: Why did you start blogging?
Thelnie: I’ve always enjoyed having my own website or space on the internet since I was twelve years old. I’ve had many failed projects but I think the reason why I’ve stuck to Thelnie Cracks! the longest is because I actually bought my own domain and webspace for the first time. Wordpress makes it really easy to post and makes my page professional, something I could never attempt to code myself. These factors made it feel more “official” to me and since I’m actually paying for it, I felt like I should really use it!
Sometimes I’ll be going about my daily business and I think about random interesting thoughts that I want to share. More often than not, I don’t write them down and they are lost forever before they make it to the page. My blog is an outlet to share how weird sometimes my brain can be. I also enjoy posting about my daily life because I like the idea that I can always go back and reminisce. I have a really bad memory!
SB: Have you experienced connection with other bloggers who you didn’t already know since you started?
Thelnie: One of the more interesting things I’ve encountered from my blog is how many potential teachers ask me about the CSET test (well, actually, just three, but that’s a lot of random strangers for me!). The CSET is one of the tests required for aspiring teachers and since I’ve posted a few times about my experiences with the Math CSET test, and that I’ve passed the first subtest, some people have asked me for tips about passing it. It’s times like these that make me think “what is all this news that we don’t have enough teachers in the US? There are plenty of willing candidates!” I’m also very delighted that I’m able to help other people out there with the same goals as me.
SB: Just to play devil’s advocate, what don’t you like about blogging?
Thelnie: Hmmmmmmm. I think that because I pour a lot into my blog, I’m most afraid that something wrong will happen and I’m going to lose all those thoughts in some server crash. I backup from time to time, but I’m not even sure if I’m doing it correctly! When the time comes when I need those backups, we’ll see if they actually work @_@.
SB: Has blogging ever come up in your classes? If so, how?
Thelnie: Have I ever blogged during class? Mmm…no I don’t think so…but I may have forgotten. I might as well though because everyone else (I’d say 80%) in lecture is browsing facebook on their laptops while the poor professor is trying to talk about the second industrial revolution (yeah, you! And you!). Have I ever needed to blog for class? I wish…but none of my course syllabi have ever asked me to blog as an assignment.
SB: Do you foresee continuing well after college? If so, do you think you’d change format, or your approach to blogging?
Thelnie: Well, I didn’t start my blog for college, so I can see myself continuing on without hesitation. I suppose I would have less stories about my professors and less stress about finals. I like to think that I’m always learning even after college and that I learn something new every day. So while I won’t be in college, I’ll still be a student of life and I can totally still blog about that.
SB: The Coldplay arrangement you did was pretty badass. Any plans to make that kind of thing a frequent part of your online presence?
Thelnie: I always looking for the next interesting project. My life is filled with projects I want to do and sometimes I’m too lazy about it. I’ve pretty proud of my Viva la Vida video and if another amazing song comes along that is cover-able by me, I would add it somewhere in my list of things to work on. Right now I have a video idea that’s at the top of my video list in my head but it doesn’t have anything to do with music and it probably has a smaller target audience. We’ll see what happens!
SB: Finally, what are the top three blogs you regularly read?
Thelnie: I read engadget.com and gizmodo.com for my tech fix. I also read my brother’s blog, jookwarrior.com, who is always an inspiration to me and I like to keep up with what he’s doing. I owe a lot of my nerdiness and gaming interest to him. He’s a hobbyist photog and foodie that likes to make me hungry with his yummy pictures of food. Also…www.mmo-champion.com because they have the latest in new WoW developments and leaks.
SB: Final thoughts?
Thelnie: Thank you for your interest in my blog and I hope I can be a continuing source of enjoyment to anyone who wants it!
