College Student Melissa explains why she loves social media and how the online world is supporting her education.
My love for Social Media and how the internet is supporting my future – Melissa’s Story
Growing up in Cardiff and seeing all her friends online motivated Melissa Denga to learn more about what the online world had to offer. She initially fell in love with social media apps like Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat which allowed her to connect with her family and friends around the World.
She says: “I enjoy using Instagram the most because I can be creative and it lets me see what my friends are up to. I also like Twitter because I can see the latest gossip and what’s popular online.” She also uses her phone for online shopping.
More than ever the pandemic highlighted how everyone, especially young people, can benefit from being online. Since COVID-19 put a hold on face-to-face teaching, being online has given students like Melissa a chance to continue their education.
The transition to digital learning hasn’t been easy for Melissa, with no in-person support and having to adjust to learning from home disrupting her A-Levels. But she highlights that virtual learning has provided her a chance to experience things she’d otherwise have missed in class. By using applications like Teams to support her online learning she has continued to build towards her future ambitions as well as developing new digital skills which will be useful for her career.
She emphasises: “I’d say during the pandemic being online and using devices has been a very important aspect of my life. I’m planning on going to university to study Marketing and PR so being able to use computer programmes like Word and PowerPoint will help me create ideas. I’m also going to need experience using online marketing tools, so this is good practice.”
Melissa says those reluctant to get online should realise the array of opportunities it can provide. She explains, “There’s plenty to do, you can interact and connect with other people, as well as do some online shopping or look at the news to see what’s going on around the world online as well.”
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