Hello!

So this week was the first week of ds106, AKA “Boot Camp”, and I’ve gotta say…it was a lot.  You know that nervous feeling you have when you first enter a new class? You keep double checking it’s the right room, look around for anyone you know, etc.. Well, this was like that but all online! I couldn’t physically check to make sure I was in the right place, but after a while, I started getting the hang of things. The initial emails were frightening (thanks Prof!) but I’m glad I stuck with it. I can tell this semester’s going to be amazing!

I started off the week by doing my first Daily Create ever! So exciting but also nerve wracking! I’m really not good at improv and being creative so it was a struggle for me. If you missed it, here’s my daily create. Be gentle, it was my first time

I got some great advice during the google hangout sesh for making videos and doing daily creates..You can’t be a perfectionist..Which I am..great. That’s probably why it took me so long to do my first daily create. I kept redoing the video and fussing over small details. I didn’t create an elaborate story like I could have, but now I know to just relax and have fun with what I’m doing!

Tweeting with @cogdog really helped, but I had to learn to check my twitter more often. Hopefully I’m all on track now, because a majority of my tweets consisted of frantic messages like this:

@cogdog I need help! Earlier this week, I registered my blog w/the #ds106 site, not knowing it was faulty. Now I need to change the URL :/

— Lara Hampson (@l_hampson23) January 19, 2013

Aside from frantic google searches my first week in, I did a couple more daily creates! The 2nd daily create I did was a photo of one of my most favourite things in the world:

I’ve been playing rugby for nearly 7 years, and it’s not just a sport, it’s a way of life! You meet amazing people and you instantly bond with a complete stranger over this ridiculous and crazy sport.

The 3rd daily create I chose was to take a photograph of love. These are my roommates (Alicia and Catherine) cats. Pookie is the big white one and Luna is the small kitten. They luurve each other

Besides doing ds106 all week and weekend, I also started rugby practice, went to the bars with some friends (so sad Otter’s closed!), and nearly finished a book I’m reading now.

I never thought of myself as a blogger because it’s hard for me to get my emotions across when writing. I usually come off pretty cold As I’m finishing this first weekly summary, I found it easier and easier to just say what’s on my mind and not worry about my writing style or anything like that. I guess it’s true! Just practice practice practice!

See you all next week!