I’m not a writer being born a writer because let’s also be real: no one is born of their profession. Not a single human being has ever been born and then get stamped that they will be born a doctor, lawyer, accountant or whatever general occupation just like that – so I was not born a writer but I am glad to be born regardless and was able to grow up and learn to find what I wanted to do, to keep doing and to keep getting better at it.
I was constantly learning and to give you a bit of a backstory, honestly, I was not the best student with the best grades in high school either – the only subject I excelled in was English and to be frank again, the only reason I feel joyous and proud for getting an A+ in my English written exams in high school because I felt validated that at least my love for writing fiction got me a good grade.
When I was behind in my high school lessons and at the time, being the eldest child of a single mother, we could not afford to get a proper tutor and even the teachers back in high school lost faith in me ever catching up especially when I started becoming more absent due to my health.
However, my mother never really blamed me for missing school. She made me make up for all that lost time by spending a lot of time at home doing what I do best: Surfing the internet and learning from the internet.
So of course, at the time in the 2000s, Windows 7 only came way later to be the most advanced operating system in its time so there are so many resources as we have now but we still have plenty to work with still. I spent my 12 years learning Photoshop and video editing solely from the internet – which also means I was learning from others from the globe on the other side of the screen. I also spent my days writing all kinds of fiction, reading all kinds of fiction to be able to hone my skills.
Suffice to say, what I lack behind back in high school, I catch up with the internet.
I have a lot to thank the internet for when it comes to how I have built up my skills, my knowledge in the field and certain expertise and also understanding to occasionally be as humble as I can be knowing that I’m not the only one with the experience, knowledge and talent.
Just like how I learned graphic design, video editing and game development mostly through the internet, I thought of sharing some really useful links of Youtube tutorials that could help you to catch up with that goal in your 2022 To-Do list.
Science, Philosophy, Data Literacy, Etc: Crash Courses
I came across this channel two years ago when I needed a better understanding of philosophy, specifically about Kant’s ethics, and so when I decided that I needed to find a few video tutorials that explain Kant’s ethics and Categorical Imperatives (Yes, law and ethics class was very exciting for me) – that was when I found this channel and found this video about Kant’s ethics.
Through this channel as well I found their other videos of wide variety as the name implies ‘crash courses’, so curiosity got the better of me as I started binge-watching all their other videos on chemistry, myth creation, geography, physics and chemistry.
Believe it or not, I hate studying science in the past but as I got older and decided to learn more on my own, I realized it depends on who is the one educating for me to learn and to understand and not just to study and memorize, which was what high school was about.
I enjoyed their explainer videos not just because of the cute animations but because they are really simple to understand and makes the learning process fun.
Web, Image and Graphic Design On Canva: Design with Canva
Canva has been around for a while but it has started to pick up vast popularity pretty recently to the point that as Adobe Suite has become more pricey even for the more seasoned graphic designers, illustrators and digital content creators to keep up with their monthly subscriptions, Canva becomes one of the best alternatives even for free. Although its premium features are not one to scoff at since I could attest to that when I started using Canva premium, it’s worth giving it a try to explore so much of what Canva has to offer.
To get you started, looking up on Youtube videos and specific channels that teach and guide on various Canva tips and tricks will definitely (ahem) do the trick. I have a lot of channels to share but I can only really share at least one of them that I follow more for their weekly updates of something new to learn with Canva.
As the name goes ‘Design with Canva’, this channel is very generous in teaching new techniques and also refreshing on existing ones from really simple image resizing to making a whole new illustration. Imagine my surprise knowing you can design an entire magazine and a picture book all with this app alone.
Now you can get excited and try making your e-book in Canva with the help of this channel!
Self-Love, Mental Wellness, Goal Setting and Reflective Journaling: Lavendaire
It is perhaps not too much a surprise knowing that I have written a few pieces that mainly highlights mental wellness and I am quite a strong believer in the journey of self-awareness, self-love and the healing process when it comes to self-development and much more. However, I am also very careful with who I follow when it comes to learning from others the same.
It used to be that I generalized every motivational speaker as being very hypocritical and a lot of them only talk from a script that they believe would only earn them quick cash and that was it, I lost respect for most of them. But then I realize it was not so much of me resenting all motivational speakers and then putting them under that same perception, it depends on who I listen to and whom I choose to listen to.
So I came across a video from this creator last year when I was feeling lost during my final year in my Degree and I was also feeling at my lowest, I wanted to journal but I could not find the energy or the motivation for it until I watched that one video from her and refreshed my perspective.
Especially with her series such as ‘Reflect with Me’ where she focused on reflective journaling and it motivated me to work on the journal prompts and look forward to the new year.
So it is a tutorial by itself and self-development is still a constant learning process.
Lavendaire is very kind, gentle and warm in how she addresses the audience and talk about mental wellness it also felt like most of the time, we are sharing the journey of understanding our better selves together and not just to be told or influenced by the opinions of others on what mental wellness really should be.
And so that’s all for now!
Or else it would drag too long and then you’ll have to take your time learning and search for what works best for you, which means to check out for more tutorials that you follow best!
But remember, always support your favourite creators and as we are constantly learning from each other, it’s never too late to start somewhere!
Happy Learning!
Jasmine RCK is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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