When first trying to decide which story to tell for my audio biography I found myself struggling. I do not like talking about myself, and I felt that any story I chose to share would not be interesting enough. When making my “I am from” poem earlier in the semester, it really hit me how involved my home and family life has been in shaping who I am. The more I tried to contemplate telling another side of my life, the more I found myself going back to factors I talked about in my poem. That is what lead me to decide to expand on my I am from poem and give background as to why it was so important to me. I chose to fill each line of the poem with moments of my life that I appreciate the most. The little things were the ones that ended up making the biggest difference in my life, such as advice I was given or family dinners. Listening to music as I wrote my poem also helped to bring back different memories. 

 

When thinking about others hearing this poem it made me both nervous and happy. I was happy because it was something that meant a lot to me and I was also excited to share it with my family. I was nervous though because it is personal and it scary to share personal aspects of your life with others. 

 

The challenges I faced during this was picking and choosing which memories to include. I also had a hard time being able to pick which memories other people would be able to appreciate as much as I do. I wanted to make my poem interesting for others too. Another challenge was picking which audio effects to include. I decided to include the ocean sounds because I am from Rhode Island so the beach has always been a large piece of my upbringing and memories. I also chose a piano instrumental because my mom is a pianist and I mention a piano in my poem so I thought it would flow well. 

 

The process of working on this audio biography was rocky. I first completed my poem for our assigned date, but had a hard time editing it afterwards. I was not able to easily get back into the moment where I originally wrote the poem, so I had a hard time adding to it. I contemplating starting over with a new story from scratch but always thought back to my poem. During my writing process I would go back and read my favorite lines of the poem, such as the lines about my parents, and then it made it easier for me to add. I also started listening to music while I would edit my poem which helped to get my ideas rolling. If I was to go back and do this differently, I would have listened to music the whole time I looked for inspiration to get ideas flowing. 

 

When reflecting on my poem, I think I was able to express how important it was that I come from a close knit family. I feel as though I could have been stronger with explaining why certain lines of the poem were important to me. I thought about possibly stopping throughout the poem to explain certain things but decided not to when I tried it out and did not like the sound of it. 

 

After completing this assignment, I can now see the importance and how effective sound elements are. The different pauses and sound elements can add emphasis and emotion. I think  that when writing my audio bio I now have a better understanding on where/when to add sound elements.