Social Media in the times of Coronavirus

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With the unprecedented propagation of Novel Coronavirus-19 or COVID-19, the last few weeks has been exceptionally unpredictable, worrisome and restraining for everyone on the face of earth. Be it rich or poor or from any nationality, lives have been severely impacted due to this outbreak which has spread so rapidly that it caught many so-called developed nations by total surprise. We all have learnt many new terms which were unheard of a few weeks ago like “Social Distancing”. Even those who had never worked from home are now forced to do so. Many established norms and role models have got challenged in such a short span of time.

 

India and its leaders have responded fast and responded well to contain this emergency. Only time will tell whether we come out of this serious issue unscathed or it will leave us with marks difficult to erase. However, one thing is sure that our thoughts and paradigms will certainly change for the future.

 

What has been the best friend for all the citizens during these testing times is Social Media. Whether it is any platform being used, dissemination of information through Whatsapp and other medium has been really fast. Compared to a century ago when Spanish Flu arrived in India in 1918 and spread like wild fire over the next many months, information about COVID-19 has spread more rapidly and has been more widespread. Without advancements of last decade or so in realms of Social Media, the information flow about this disease, steps to prevent it and efforts to contain it might not have been as fast as they are currently. Information and mis-information has flown freely in the last two months since it first became noticed in Wuhan. It has helped spread caution amongst a large segment of India’s population including those from Rural areas or from poor segments of the society. At the same time, it has forced Governments to take note and initiate actions to contain the disease.

 

We have all seen alarming as well as funny forwards that we have received over last several weeks. Be it videos of movie stars like Katrina Kaif washing their own dishes or Police forces trying to contain violators of Lockdown across many states or Kartik Aryan warning us about the seriousness of this disease, Social Media has kept us entertained and well informed about the actions needed from the citizens to help contain this disease. One of the many forward’s received read “To all the Country Heads, Marketing Heads, Vice Presidents……. Bartan Dho Liye?”.

 

We are fortunate that our Government has been working to contain this disease and used Social Media to help stop this disease in India. Unlike the Mayor of a city in Europe who wished to celebrate February 1st 2020 as “Hug a Chinese Day”, our Government has issued strict warnings and given the do’s and don’ts clearly enough. We might have been bombarded with too much information in too short a span of time with same message received in several groups, Social Media definitely has aided in helping create awareness about this disease. Hoping that we all come out of this stronger and better and take lessons to celebrate life and humanity. Please join me in the chant “Corona go….. 😊”

 

LEARN, APPLY AND MOVE CLOSER TO YOUR CAREER GOAL!

Career Development (Placement), IILM University,

Traditionally, after completing the undergraduate program, students have three options – to join their family business, go for higher studies or take employment. Whether it is for getting a job or admission in a higher education institution, the students have to go through a selection process. After clearing the initial elimination rounds of written tests and group discussions a student moves into space wherein the individual has to sell themselves.

It is also a well-acknowledged fact selection panels of education institutions or reputed corporates traditionally recruit incumbents who have great communication skills, technical skills and a good attitude (meaning qualities like being proactive, having a positive attitude,  solution providers rather than problem creator, people management skills and similar skills ). While the students’ qualification, classroom-based or MOOC Certifications shows what technical learnings they have acquired, it is the application of the same and demonstration of life skills that interests and are normally being evaluated by the selection panels.

I am detailing a few activities which can be used to add depth to the students’ resumes as well as help them learn skills that selectors are normally seeking and move them closer to achieving their career goals.

Organizing a community activity/event – Most of us live in residential communities. Organizing a social/ cultural event for the benefit of the other members of our community helps us showcase our initiative, our organizing ability and our ability to influence people and get their support. The community activities that can be chosen by students could include

o    Organizing a free health checkup for residents of a locality by connecting with a reputed hospital and your local resident welfare organization / Blood Donation Camp ( Red Cross),

o    Organizing Diwali Mela  / Christmas Gala / An Entertainment night / Children’s Day Activity / Children Painting competition to encourage art and

o   Coordinating with Municipality or local governing bodies ( residential welfare association)for providing better facilities at your residential area  – installing Garden Gyms / Better club facilities / Water Harvesting Initiatives/creating a volunteering group to provide support to the elderly population in the vicinity

Volunteering for a cause – For a student, it is critical to identify a social cause one is passionate about. Whether it is saving the environment, or educating the children or caring for animals, it is important to have the conviction to improve the plight of another.  Connecting with an NGO related to the cause and participating in their multiple activities, allows the incumbent to highlight her willingness to contribute towards society’s wellbeing. Showcasing the same in one’s resume and interview exhibits empathy, ability to work for a team/cause, enthusiasm for one’s belief, which is qualities well appreciated by any selection panel. Additionally, the content ( photographs and videos) from these add value to the digital footprint for a lifetime. For example, if a student chooses to become a member of IILM University NGO-Club – Yuva Goonj , and helps in teaching the children in the nearby slums, it demonstrates that the student is a responsible member of the society, believes in contributing towards the development of others and is willing to take extra responsibility.  These are laudable qualities that are appreciated in any institution.

Internships on a part-time and full-time basis – Internships and other experiential learning opportunities are the final keys to maximizing the value of students’ college degrees. It is a well-accepted fact that securing employment after one’s degree is dependent on how well one has built experience during the period of education. Employers expect students to have experience before applying to minimize training needs.   On another hand, to get admissions into good educations institutions for further studies, it is critical the student has a good understanding of the concepts taught, which is again dependent on application.

In view of the above, in addition to doing mandatory internships to earn credits, it is always advisable for students to take on short projects on a part-time basis through the terms of their courses. These projects need not be with big brands, but with be start-ups who are hungry for hardworking and enthusiastic manpower and are willing to teach. Some of these projects could be in space of

–          Content creation

–          Market research

–          Sales promotion

–          Book Keep

–          Updating records

–          Lead generation

–          And many more

Each of these activities teaches generic skillset as well as function-specific skillsets that always impress the interviewer.

Needless to add, all the above avenues are in addition to the certifications the student has earned, and the extra-curriculum activities a student has participated in. So adding such new experiences can help the student fulfill their career aspirations!

IILM University’s students teach underprivileged children.

Do share your feedback on :

What are the other relevant initiatives one can undertake to make one’s resume more impactful?

Do such initiatives add to your life skills and also help you understand your interests better?

 

Corona and Its Impact on Global Stock Markets

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Pandemic are diseases that manifest in the worst possible forms and spread across the world. Last time, when homo sapiens faced this challenge and mayhem was in the year 1918, when almost 1 percent (50 million) of the world’s population was wiped out due to Spanish flu caused by a similar strain of virus.

The origin of the Covid-19 is still not clear, while some blame it on the seafood market of China whereas others blame it to some other unknown reasons. Globalized World gives rise to diseases which are also global in nature and has currently impacted more than 190 countries of the world with China, Italy, Iran and Spain worst effected. Countries like US are also caught unaware and can become epicenter of epidemic. New York, the city which doesn’t sleep is facing  complete shut down.

Stock Markets are secondary markets for already existing securities. Stock prices are impacted by global factors, country specific factors and firm specific factor. Virus which by definition is a protein wall and some genetic material has created such a havoc and disruption in the Global Stock Market and also our Indian financial markets. Global stock markets around the world are coupled and hence witnessed contagion effect or spillover effect.  Pandemic has impacted businesses causing shutdowns of assembly lines and manufacturing units, airlines routes restricted, fleets grounded, electronics and mobile industries dependent on Chinese raw materials are impacted. Similarly, hotel industry, entertainment industry have slowed down and so is the mobility industry such as Ola and Uber. Consumers are ignoring those purchases which can be postponed from consumer durable to automobiles. The silver lining is some of the industries such a e-pharma, food and delivery portals are seeing improvement in sales. Dow Jones witnessed its greatest fall by 2000 points-with companies like Boeing, Apple, Goldman Sachs and Caterpillar falling by 100 points. Indian benchmark indices BSE Sensex and Nifty also lost nearly 37 percent which experts suggest is 40 percent of India’s GDP. Also, US businesses both manufacturing and services are adversely impacted. It has been predicted that world may witness a severe recession since 2008 financial crisis. In this globalized scenario the spillover effect is difficult to avoid, any development taking place at global and country level creates ripples which reverberates across the stock markets of the world. Also, the fear and uncertainty has resulted in Foreign Institutional Investors leaving the stock market which has caused the downfall of markets further.

Things may improve either through breaking the chain of virus spread through complete lock-down or huge number of testing done on suspected cases (as South Korea has done) or a vaccine which can be a preventive  can be developed on a fast track mode to further cease the spread at a bullet speed.

Some of the points to mull over-Will the world economy be able to recover and thrive again? Will the markets see corrections again after such a huge downfall and erosion of wealth?

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/market-crash-is-valuation-play-coronavirus-just-the-scapegoat/articleshow/74411701.cms

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/why-the-stock-market-is-falling/articleshow/74608475.cms

Social Media: An important part of our life!

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Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn…. imagine waking up one day without these Apps on our phone! For some, this would be a scary thought, for others it may be a sigh of relief!! One thing is certain….. it is a big part of our lives since it helps us to communicate, interact, keeps us updated or even helps us express ourselves better. Let us honestly ask ourselves a question, how many times we pick up our phones to check these apps, to see what others have posted, to check the number of likes we have received on our posts, to read the comments….. I am sure we all know at least one person who is addicted to social media!

Social Media came into existence in 1990s but over these years has gained popularity across the globe and across all segments of the society. Every individual wants to communicate, irrespective of the era they belong to. Communication too underwent drastic changes from pigeons, light signals, postal systems, telegraph, telephone, letters and emails to social media. Social media has in true sense changed the landscape of communication. Nowadays, gestures and body language have got replaced with acronyms and emoticons! Social media has evolved from just being a medium of entertainment and communication to a platform being used by businesses, entrepreneurs and organization that aim to gain recognition and identification at economical prices.

In today’s dynamic environment, people are all the time hard pressed for time. In such a scenario, the advantages of social media cannot be denied. Marketers too are making full use of the power of social media. Videos, blogs, articles provide innovative ideas that capture the attention of the viewers and also keep the customers engaged. Five to seven minutes of reading an article or blog and the customer is all set to clink on the link and make a purchase…. That is the power of Social Media!! From big giants like Apple, Microsoft to your local grocery store around the corner, are all on social media in order to reach out to their customers in the most convenient way. In a nutshell, whether we like it or not, we cannot ignore the power of Social Media and its importance in our day to day life!!

 

Critical Thinking: tool for a concrete judgment.

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Critical thinking could simply be defined as – evaluation of a problem to find the solutions
rationally but with novelty. It is what is applied to all forums despite of its nature of tasks and
execution, educational fields and employment settings. Preparing our students for future
employment, World Economic Forum has identified “Critical Thinking” as world’s important
dimension to promote futuristic learning and innovation. Hence it is mandatory to necessitate
the inclusion of this component.
The most challenging and debatable question in the present world is whether or not our
students are tuned to give logical judgments and critical solutions that are developed through
reasoned course of action. Quite contrary to what is expected the easiest way chosen by
students nowadays is to provide and subside for readily available solutions to problem
without scratching their creative minds. This could be either because of their inability or lack
of positive engagement to enable them to tap on their critical mind thus deterring them to
think of multiple solutions to arrive to a problem which is otherwise answered by them in a
singular pre existing manner.
All this makes the importance of brushing critical thinking component in the young mind
most vital. Fostering creativity, innovation, exploration can further lead to the nurturance of
critical thinking which can help them arrive at multiple solutions to the problem and then
evaluating while arriving at the best solution.
Many education institutions are constantly ensuring to brush upon this component by actively
engaging and encouraging students to think out of box, promoting and recognizing creativity
via projects and assignments tapping novelty. Recognizing the importance of the component
in employment world, higher education bodies are tuning the students and preparing them
well for futuristic job which involves the component of critical thinking along with leadership
skills, interpersonal skills with sound technical knowledge all making up to desirable
“Employability skills” looked by the employers during recruitment and promotion time
periods.
Why critical thinking is important?
APA defines critical thinking as- “ purposeful, self-regulatory judgment that uses cognitive
tools such as interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, and explanation of the evidential,
conceptual, methodological, or contextual considerations on which judgment is based.”

While we all agree that change is the only constant element of the world, it is not wrong to
say that with every minute change in the existing element new complexity arises and when
new complexity arises it is important to attend to it differently. If we were to attend to it in
the same manner then newness, creativity, exploration and innovation will be hindered. Thus
it is very important that we constantly switch directions, rethink and adopt creative problem
solving strategies to ensure that we enable divergent thinking to reach to convergent way of
reaching to solutions.
It is increasingly essential for Young minds who are also the future nation builders to explore
their creative minds and develop diverse strategies to apply new knowledge to current
complex situations of the world with the prerogative of coming to the finest of solutions.
Where knowledge institutions promotes critical thinking and suggests students to engage in
problem solving technology has massively created a constant stoppage by readily providing
the pre existing knowledge and solutions resisting students to think beyond the limits and
come up with novel ideas. While this seems to be challengeable issue, teachers in present
century are devising curriculums that promote critical thinking and are taking immeasurable
steps to prepare the futuristic nation builders to act purposefully. Not critical thinking is being
included in all courses where students are encouraged to use their problem solving ability to
identify, analyze, evaluate and derive solutions using their competencies. Teaching pedagogy
is now essentially incorporating it in the study plan through projects to ensure it gets
manifested in students while preparing them for professional world.
Following teaching strategies have been adopted to help promote critical thinking amongst
students:
1) Assessing the students on the basis of the learning outcome after every class either in
written or oral form so as to understand the extent of their learning and
comprehending the same in their own words.
2) Promoting group learning by presenting problems and helping them to argue ,
brainstorm and come out with multiple ways of arriving at solutions to the presented
problems.
3) Using the discussion oriented method students are encouraged to discuss and reach to
a potential viable solution of the case presented which is led by the student.
4) Utilizing peer group interaction to come up with innovative project inducing novelty,
team work and collaboration

Hence critical thinking is important in today’s world as it helps us in the process of reaching
conclusion. While it is important for all to harvest this trait to logically arrive at solutions
involving low to high risk matters.

Questions to reflect upon:
 Can students really benefit from strategies listed above to imbibe critical thinking?
 What are different unidentified errors that can bring inconsistencies in reasoning?

ADOPTION OF A NEW – AGE TRANSFER OF LEARNINGS

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As India becomes the country with the world’s largest workforce in 2020, there is a need to implement a robust, well-developed and modern education system.  We know that the thinking and temperament of our current generation is rather different from what stems through a traditional system of education. Teaching through textbooks and knowledge that is classroom-confined are not acceptable by the current generation. In the next 20 years, an educational institution will be a very different place. The decision-makers and those who think about reforming education have already worked on new learning techniques and a pedagogy that focuses on liberal education and a multi-disciplinary approach to move away from traditional teaching that encourages only remaining confined within stifling boundaries.

Higher education in India has been regarded and appraised for its multi-disciplinary approach. The objective is to foster learning and growth amongst the student population so as to nurture its roots well. With a mission of adopting, adjusting and adapting, the education system is expected to move forward with an inclusive approach thus providing flexible boundaries, so as to ensure that the young minds be equipped with the sort of immunization that can help them deal easily with the world’s changing and progressive demands.

Teaching patterns have now become more structured than they were earlier. Rather than train students massively with a collective approach that negates individual needs, the education system today is expected to moderate and modify teaching methods to make it students-centric that will obviously aid all competency levels of students. Advanced teaching methods have enabled students to not only procure a degree in the respective area of choice but have also enabled them to earn credits in other areas of interest. Facilitators or teachers have now become far more compassionate and professionally trained to anticipate student-specific demands and concerns early enough to bring into existence changes in teaching patterns. Thus, adopting asymmetric teaching patterns makes learning more interactive and experientially relevant. Students have a chance to engage experientially and practice what they have learned.They are able to observe the application of the theoretical concepts in practice, process that application and make learning relevant.  Experiential learning provides a deeper understanding of subject matters, an ability to engage in a life-long learning and makes handling ambiguous situation critically and electively so much easier and effective.

Even breaking through the conventional means of evaluation and teaching methods, the unconventional system of grading, recurrent assessment through practical & internship, frequent professional visits and training session by experts has facilitated the practical shift of education system. The idea is to prepare them to become a professional right from the beginning and be intuitively close to the society they will be serving.

The base of the education system lies in the idea of providing sound and good quality education to the entire student population so as to produce excellence in professional and research fields and to ensure that the future nation-builders are enabled to contribute efficiently in sustainable growth of the world. Adding on to this is the report on Gross Enrolment Ratio which has seen steep increase from 20% to 24.5% in 2016.

The vision of Indian higher education system is to decrease disengagement and produces commitment and dedication toward careers so as to provide reciprocity in learning. Professionals who can help in nation building are what the new trends in education aim to create. Regardless of the challenges afore-mentioned, it is vital to look for solutions that can analyse the threads of disconnect by connecting threads by praising and communicating the efforts and methods of all institutes and colleges that have students claiming to benefit from these new forms of learning and engaged teaching. Institutes contributing to provide sound higher education need to join hands with all other institutes that think on similar dynamic lines and have a shared vision and mission to take education to new heights.

The challenge for liberal educators is to design learning environments and instruction so that students will be able to use what they learn in appropriate new contexts, that is, to enable a relevant and new-age transfer of learning.

 

Our behavior shapes our economy – Stay calm amidst dire situations – COVID19

Blog Catgeory, Faculty, General Blog, IILM University

COVID19 has been termed as an unparalleled dire situation; though the world has experienced pandemic earlier, the one actual and big difference between this pandemic and the others in the past is the volume of information at the click of a button. We are being poured 24/7 by broadcast news around the globe and social media. Mass media is serving our qualms and inhibiting us to think rationally creating shared panic and forcing people to take emotional irrational decisions. In a historic period of excessive loss and distress, today is the necessity of more than ever discipline, civic sense, and calm attitude.

Stocking the mind with overpowering questions drains our energy leading to wastage of time as well. We ought to silence the mind, not letting it go on with opinions of criticism, feeling like a quarry, condemning or denying the situation.

  • Situation Proofing Yourself

Life without critical situations is similar to living a life in an imaginary unreal world, detached from reality. There are two kinds of people. One will see the situation as trivial by having positive insights or optimistic way of looking at it. The other will see the situation as severe by having negative perceptions. How much control do we have on our thought process, to what degree is this human mechanism and state of mind in our hands? A calm mind, according to some, working a full day at the office, with demanding deadlines and different people with their different ways of working and opinions and simultaneously looking after the household responsibilities is next to impossible. But then, a calm mind with a robust intellect can certainly face all these dire situations. Moreover, practices like meditation will assist us in doing that.

  • Constructive Use

We are constantly learning a lesson at each step of our survival. The real-life circumstances are our hidden learnings which in a way impart us something or the other during a short span of time. All of us ought to be wary but then there is no need to fear or get panic. Instead, let’s not have complacency either. Receive this challenging situation and comprehend how you can make use of it in a constructive manner.

  • List down and evaluate the pros and cons

 It is easier to let our emotive side form our choices however as an alternative, create an unbiased list of pros and cons once confronted with a demanding situation. Contemplate critically and stick with unprejudiced principles concerning the situation.

At any time a difficult state is trying to affect you or you feel that you are fairly distressed due to a negative occurrence, look for positivity within in order to upkeep yourself emotionally and mentally. Likewise, hunt for signs of goodness outer in everyone and the entire thing, which will help in keeping you calm, composed and powerful. Possibly, nature wants everyone to slow down a little from the haste and hurriedness they are in.

Stay stable, calm and gratified!

Dr. Rachna Madaan

 

Being Optimistic in times of Pandemic- Corona 2020

Blog Catgeory, IILM University,

Being Optimistic in times of Pandemic- Corona 2020

In the year 2000 Dr Toshihiko Maruta of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, USA, reported that optimists have a longer life span than pessimists. Maruta found that people with a positive outlook on life live on an average 19 percent longer than those who are miserable.

Twenty years back Dr Maruta did not anticipate what the world would be facing and with what intensity. Maybe a scenario where a potentially harmful virus affecting all countries alike and spreading like a pandemic was suited more for a thriller movie than one’s reality today.

People with their routine lives have been warned and coerced to stay at home and worse work from home. World over, barring some professions, everyone has to now get used to this transition in work while carefully balancing work-life balance which everyone knows is a delicate harmony often difficult to achieve.

Uncertainty of events and overload of  information is not letting peace within, so the question is can we be optimistic in time of Pandemic the one that we are going through- CORONA 2020?

I think while going through stream of messages and newspaper articles, we are actually living through a moment in history- something we grew up reading in books and always wondered how people back in those days did it. Their trials, tribulations and finally achieving a little more than success- they became die hard optimistic who later guided others of what life really means.

Optimism is something we are born with like a disposition and something we cultivate over the years with experience and endurance to life.

To be honest it can be very difficult but not impossible to keep your head focused on end goals when there is so much uncertainty and constant restless news that keeps shaking our faith that it will all be fine one day.

With the help of theory on Optimism by Snyder, I could technically help readers to stay aloft this crucial time of despair and keep it going.

  1. Goal– (What we want to happen?) To be safe from Corona Virus
  2. Pathways– (How are we going to get there?) To social distance, keep hygiene at all times, self-isolation for some days as directed by the government knowing it’s in our best interest
  3. Agency– (How much motivation do we have in going after that goal?)
  • Rigorous self-isolation and hygiene to be followed at home, with self and others
  • Thorough planning of keeping work and home life balance which could falter given kids and spouse being at home- look for quick fix solutions and plan your day in advance,
  • Allowing moments of letdown- nothing beats stress like exercise even at home,
  • There is a difference in snacking and mindless binging both in spreading news and eating. Avoid Junk from everywhere, munch on something healthy(apple and a book) once in a while
  • Genuinely look within on doing things you always wanted to do but couldn’t because of lack of time; to start with spending least five minutes in silence (sit in one place and focus on your heartbeat),

It is possible that we won’t get everything right step by step as explained in theory, but even if we reach halfway in that attempt, we bring back some satisfaction of making that honest effort to hold self and significant others steady at times when we needed our selves the most.

Optimism is not only a theoretical construct, it is something we need right now, we need to be more hopeful to return back to that normal life’s madness because we have lost ourselves somewhere there. This Pandemic will change us (hopefully) for better, pause and think how we can transform ourselves when we got to spend the maximum time alone with self.

“Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out“

John Wooden

Globalization at Peril?

Faculty, General Blog, IILM University

With buzz like ‘Just-in-Time’, ‘Comparative Advantage’, ‘Outsourcing’ disrupted the supply chain in the name of profits and efficiency. No doubt the effort taken paid back well for the last few decades. But in the wake the outbreak of the virus, the entire supply chain has crippled and all major industries and economies are facing the brunt of over-dependence. China a manufacturing hub of the world and it gets most of its machinery from Germany. As China is unable to set in the manufacturing cycle, demand for new machinery from Germany has reduced. Germany is the major player in the EU, the impact of slumber in trade is felt in all EU countries. Such a phenomenon is called a domino effect wherein the fragility of supply chains is exposed, a major concern of globalism. The worst-hit industries are automobiles, electronics and more importantly drugs and medical supplies a crucial element for fighting the pandemic.

Scholars cite that the current situation of over-dependence and interconnectedness has reached an inflection point. They predict that from now the process of globalization may change its course and multilateral organizations may have to restructure their bargain. Certainly, nations like India and its neighborhoods will be the worst hit as they have always accrued the benefit of globalization in terms of employment, investments, etc. Countries may have to revamp their strategies to adapt to new realities keeping in mind the stakes on the economy at large.

Though globalization is inevitable, going back to its business as usual form post-pandemic recovery is highly unlikely. However, a sudden exodus from multilateral cooperation will certainly have greater ramifications that need thoughtful consideration. On the contrary, instead of fallback, it will be pragmatic for economies to restructure and prioritize. Targeted restructuring can reduce over-dependence and push for better control in stabilizing economies. Globalization is no doubt a necessary evil however the question is are we playing the right cards with it? Our focus was only to channelize factors of production across borders which is proving very dangerous.

The Power of Poetry

General Blog, IILM Institute for Higher Education, IILM University, , , , ,

Poetry has survived and survived really well…It is one of the finest and powerful forms of writing. In short, poetry is creativity in disguise. It teaches us to communicate in a compelling way, thereby enhance learning. Poetry is about expressing those thoughts and emotions we keep the most suppressed. An integral part of writing poetry is to be honest with ourselves about what we feel in order to write anything worth reading. It’s about connecting our hearts and our minds to ourselves and our environs. It’s about finding peace.

Poetry is one of those skills that will remain in use for your entire life no matter what you end up doing professionally. It gives us a salubrious outlet for pouring our emotions. Reading original poetry aloud can foster trust and empathy in a community, while also accentuating speaking and listening skills. There are many of us  who don’t like writing essays but may like poetry, with its dearth of fixed rules and its kinship with rap. For such people, poetry can become a doorway to other forms of writing. All forms of writing benefits from the powerful and succinct phrases found in poems.

Additionally, poetry can help us to learn how to utilize grammar in our own writing by studying how poets do—and do not—abide by conventional writing rules in their work. Poetry can teach writing and grammar rules by showing what happens when poets strip them away or distort them for effect for example; Dickinson often capitalizes common nouns and uses dashes instead of commas to show sudden shifts in focus in his poetry, similarly, Agee uses colons to create dramatic, speech-like pauses. The more we read different poets, the more we can carve out our own style. The point of reading a poem is not to try to decipher it. Still, that quantifiable process of elucidation is precisely what needs to be encouraged often in lieu of curating a powerful experience through literature.

So, don’t wait…reach for the pen, and let go of those things that have been encumbering your freedom. Read poetry with your heart and let it affect you in one of the most defining ways.