Welcome to the summer 2013 blog for the University of Michigan Community Based Research Program!
The point of these blog posts are to document your journey though the community based research program. This will be useful for both you and the program. From the program side, we can see how you’re doing and show your blog posts to future students who will want to know what it’s like to participate in the program. It is also a wonderful way to document the impact the program has on you and the organization you will be working with throughout the summer. When writing your posts I encourage you to give an honest assessment of your experience. For instance, if there is something you are struggling with and feel comfortable enough to share it, I encourage you to write about that experience in your blog posts. In addition, this will be something that you can refer back to in the future when writing your resume, cover letters, or interviewing for jobs or grad school. When reflecting on what you actually did all summer, you will have a great resource to refer to!
The blog should be a place to:
- Talk about your organization and what they do
- Discuss the community your research focuses on
- Talk about the tasks that you are working on, and the progress you make
- Record your accomplishments and struggles
- Tell others what you have learned about research, your organization, and the community you are working with
- Discuss what you are learning through the seminar experience
- The program experience as a whole…hopefully you will gain a sense of community feeling with the other students in the program
- This can also be a forum for you to talk about what it’s like to work 35 hours a week, while balancing other responsibilities
- Discuss what it’s like living in Detroit, for those of you who haven’t done so before
- Any revelations you have about future plans (graduate schools, career paths, etc).
- …and anything else you are willing to share!
This will be a great opportunity for you all to stay informed about what everyone else is up to over the course of the summer.
You will be required to write at least one blog post per week, although you are definitely welcomed and encouraged to write more often than that. These posts don’t have a specific length requirement, as I understand that you may have less to say some weeks than others. In addition to writing your own blog posts, you will also be required to comment on other fellows’ blogs. This will be a way for you all to stay connected and further build your relationships with one another. There may be several students having similar experiences or struggles on their projects and this can be a forum for you to share ideas with one another. At a minimum, you need to comment on at least one other blog post per week, but feel free to comment more!
And, of course, remember that comments should always be respectful and appropriate!
