Topic 1 Week 1

My name is Rex Betterly and I’m a disabled veteran who goes to school full-time. I’m currently at LBCC because I like the small class setting, but sometime in the near future, I will transfer to WOU. I plan to earn my teaching certification in Oregon and hopefully teach physical education at the middle school level (6-8). Although, I realize that gym teaching jobs aren’t the easiest to come by, so I also want to teach other subjects and even at an alternative school. I think that secondary or as it was called in my day, middle school is where I would fit best for any subject I plan to teach. History or Social Studies, Writing, Health, Science are some of the subjects I’m interested in teaching.

The thing I’m most interested in learning about the media is why social media via internet, phone, or even online gaming taken over people’s lives. I rarely, if ever, use social media, so this class may help me understand why people are so submerged in it. I currently have four friends on Facebook and they’re all family, so it’s obvious that I don’t use it very often. However, for someone to have over a thousand friends seems very artificial to me, for I’m not sure I know a thousand people to be friends with. After watching an episode or two of MTV’s Catfish, I found that my profile on Facebook would be considered to be fake because I have very few pictures and a low friend count. Pair that with the fact that I’m not on any other social media platform and my name doesn’t show up on anything in a Google search, I would be a prime candidate for being a catfish. I’m not a catfish, but it is crazy to assume someone may be, if they have a small number of friends on some social media site. I’d like to understand why it’s so important for me to spend my day on a website to make virtual friends. I don’t hate social media, but I definitely don’t understand it and I hope this class will help me do just that.

Something I’m very passionate about is the sports teams I root for. I did not grow up in Oregon and only moved here 3 years ago from Wisconsin. Being in the military, I’ve lived in a few states but spent most of my life in Wisconsin. Personally I don’t believe that I chose to be a Green Bay Packer fan, I believe that I was born one. In Wisconsin, football is about all we have and we are very proud of what we have. I watch every game and my blood pressure is through the roof until they get a little bit of a lead, then I’m sure it regulates a little. Last year’s NFC Championship game left me with nightmares, but after last Sunday night, I feel a little better to know we got a little revenge on the local favorite Seattle Seahawks. I’m also a big Milwaukee Bucks fan and I hope they stay in Milwaukee. I love their new logo and colors and they got a good young team but it would hurt badly if they relocated to Las Vegas or Seattle like the media reports.