My experience taking this course has been truly eye-opening, especially as someone who consumes so much media in audio and video formats. It really places me in a new perspective that is worlds more appreciative of the production and post-production sides of the media I consume. I knew that there was a lot of intention and thought put into audio, but I now have a better sense of the true extent of details and processing that goes into the things that I listen to. While the course was almost exactly what I expected, it also is completely different in the way that we go about our lessons and interactions in the class. I initially thought that we would just be listening to some clips and calling it a day, but instead, we interact with each other's work so much more than I thought we would, and we also get to compare and contrast the different audio tracks in the context of our own work. I've learned about things that I was never really mindful of, such as the decibel levels of noise that I am constantly surrounded with and maybe should surround myself less with. It definitely felt like a wake-up call when I looked up the recommended levels of sound and realized how far off from what I am used to hearing, especially in live music shows.

Being able to compare and contrast the work of my classmates and my own work really showcased the talent of my classmates and how many of them have some pretty good audio setups. I honestly did not expect so many of them to have microphones and almost, if not streaming-quality setups for their home setup. So many of the e-portfolios I checked out had good quality audio and almost always had external or additional audio recording devices, which surprised me because I myself have a limited audio recording ability. My outlook definitely changed, and I was so motivated to work harder and look for my own microphone to fix and improve my setup to keep on par with my classmates. On the other hand, Assignment 2 got me extremely excited about my final project as I am very interested in the concept that I will be basing my project on. I had a lot of fun creating the project plan and fixing the logistics because I believe the recording experience will truly be an enjoyable experience for me and the people I will invite to record with me. I am having a fun time preparing for the recording day, prepping questions, and doing other things that will be used for the recording itself. I am also excited to work on the POS production, edit the fun and witty conversations, and input things like background noises and sound effects. My outlook, although already improved by our first assignment, was even more improved due to me being truly interested in my final project, with it being based on something I would have done just for fun. I always used to joke with my friends that we would make great podcast hosts, and my final project will definitely be a test of that theory. Finding all the available microphones in my household was definitely also challenging, but it was surprising to see how many I might be able to use for my project. I am also nervous about how the recording will go as I have to constantly think of the technical aspects and make sure everything is operating smoothly and that everything is able to be recorded in the best possible quality. 

I plan to make contingency plans and possibly have more than one recording day if schedules permit in order to ensure the quality of the final product and ensure that I have enough content to create the three-minute-long audio. I am currently in the pre-production stage of my planning and have scheduled myself days in order to test the possible microphones in the area which I will record in order to see what works best in that environment or which microphone can work in which position and distance the best. After that, I will start some scriptwriting as well as canvassing for possible questions based on what I personally learned around the grade 5 year level. After scanning some of my classmates' production plans, I think I am on the right track or at least a similar one in terms of timelines and ideas. I am excited but also nervous to be able to compete with the sample projects that were shared, but I am also up to the challenge and hope to exceed my own expectations. 

 Although I couldn't attend the recent face-to-face session due to scheduling and distance constraints, I'm eager to participate in future meetings. I value the opportunity to connect with my classmates and instructor in person, and I'll make every effort to attend upcoming sessions if they are scheduled.