Why College Student Should Blog.
As a recent college graduate, I have learned so much since graduating. It’s definitely been a big transition to go from heady book knowledge to actual hands-on experience. Looking back, I wish I would have had more practical experience, and I strongly believe that starting a blog in college would have helped me tremendously to bridge the gap of knowledge to practical experience.
Here are just a few reasons that I think blogging in college helps students gain great experience to help with future career aspirations and life in general. I also must put in a disclaimer that blogging is not for everyone, and it takes a lot of hard work and perseverance to really become a “successful” blogger.
Develop your Voice – One of the hardest parts of blogging in my opinion is finding your voice as a writer. It’s easy to write formal term papers, but it takes another skill to become an engaging, creative writer for your audience. Becoming a good storyteller with your writing is also very difficult, and it’s something I am still trying to learn. Finding your voice and implementing storytelling into your writing can be difficult and definitely takes some practice to perfect, so why not start developing these skills in college?
Build your Audience – Networking and building your audience is also a major challenge for beginning bloggers. You may have great things to say, but if no one is listening, you are not making nearly as big of an impact as you could be. It takes a lot of time and hard work to build your audience / tribe, so do not become discouraged if you don’t have 1,000 subscribers right away. You won’t have an audience like Bloggodown over night, but do not let that discourage you. Persist diligently in your writing and continue to engage in conversations on other blogs, and your hard work will pay off in the long run.
Contribute Information – When you are in college, you are constantly being fed a deluge of information. Many times, you may not necessarily agree with your professors, but don’t let that stop you from sharing those thoughts and ideas with others. Controversial ideas make for great discussions online, and using a blog to host these discussions is highly beneficial.
Online Resume – Having a well-developed blog can be a great asset for you as you look for jobs post-college. Engaging writers who are also great at social media are in high demand for companies these days. Companies are turning more and more to online networks to make important decisions and engage with customers, making writing and social engagement a great skill to have. Having a well-developed blog shows that you are not only a good writer, but also have the necessary skills to manage online resources and are motivated to succeed. Upon graduation this will help you differentiate yourself among your colleagues.
Personal Reflection – It is my belief that personal reflection is not discussed nearly enough in conversation surrounding the benefits of blogging. Confucius once said,
By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
Most people talk about either the experience or the benefits surrounding blogging, but rarely do you hear that anyone discuss the benefit of reflection. Our lives are very fast-pace and we have so many interruptions and conflicting messages sent to us all of the time, and rarely, do we actually think about a topic for longer than 20 minutes, let alone write about it. Therefore, writing a blog about something you are passionate or life in general can be of great personal value to learning wisdom. You may not always make a dime on it, but sometimes wisdom in and of itself is priceless.
If you are not a college student, starting a blog can also be of great value. After all, the above points aren’t exclusively for college students. If you are a college student, consider writing a blog. Also, if you are interested in looking for guest blogging opportunities to further enhance your skills and gain exposure.
Thanks for reading and feel free to add other benefits in the comments section for why college students should blog. The above list is by no means exhaustive, and I look forward to hearing what you all have to say.
