Yours Truely

Hello! I’m Sarah Schipelliti. I lived in Bradford, Massachusetts until I was about seven and then I moved to North Reading, Massachusetts. I have lived in Massachusetts my whole life until I came to lovely UVM.
The fun media experience I had, would have to be a movie that I saw and a book that I started to and am still in the progress of reading. The movie I watched, which I highly recommend, is called The Cove. It is an exciting and intense documentary type film that exposes the dolphin slaughter occurring in Taiji, Japan. It delves into not only the obvious animal cruelty of the whole situation but also other more under cover issues which include, but are definitely not limited to, the major health problems that surround the topic (such as mercury poisoning) as well the political issues. It was quite the eye-opener for me. The book I’m reading is called “The Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness: An Anthology Of Writings By And About The Dalai Lama”. I’ve really just started reading it, but of what I’ve read so far it’s quite good.
Twenty-first century media culture is an interesting concept. One thing that this media system is good for is allowing people to have quick access to information, practically everywhere they go. Nowadays all one has to do is “google it” to find any random obscure fact and they have an answer. Although I suppose there is a downside to this aspect as well. In a way, it decreases the need for libraries. Books will soon become obsolete if all information can be accessed via the web. Which, in a way, is sad. There is something special about going to the library picking the book off the shelf, turning page after page full of words written in ink on the otherwise blank paper, versus staring at a screen and scrolling down. One thing I absolutely dislike about today’s media culture is this concept that the text message is a conversation substitute. People will send a text and immediately expect one back. It’s as if not immediately responding to a text is like you saying something to someone in conversation and the person just stares back at you without speaking. As far as I’m concerned, text messages are phone emails, not a method of conversation. I’ve noticed differences even with my younger siblings in how we both utilize the text message. With them, whole conversations can be had via text messaging. The communication aspect of the human connection is being altered. Conversation is becoming more and more impersonal and distant, where “☺” replaces an actual face to face smile or inflection in the voice over the phone, where “lol” is supposed to replace that infectious sound we so fondly call laughter. It scares me to think of what the future media culture and media technology will do to the art of conversation.
The vision I have for my own future involves me gradating from UVM with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing. I hope to get a job at a hospital somewhere in the Boston area that is very involved with research (that I hopefully could be involved with as well). I also hope to get a Masters in Public Health and a Masters in Nursing. In addition, in the summer of 2012 (the summer after I graduate) I will be biking across the country with my friend!! (Who is also in this class and who also mentioned this in her post as well.)