Returning+Citizens+Use+Social+Media+to+Reconnect

My Story by BRENDA DOLPH-DORY

 My story begins in 2007 when I was sentenced to ninety one months in [|prison] for theft from my employer. I was an administrative accounting manager and my career was undeniably over. I had several decisions to make….what would my future hold? I spent many hours pondering what went wrong and what would go right if I made the choice to learn from my mistakes and take the wisdom and skills that I possess to start a new life including a new career. Five years passed. During my incarceration I served as a GED tutor and in doing so realized that I wanted a career that would encompass helping others achieve their goals, achieve my own goals and embrace all of the amazing technology out there today. I have a great love for computers and am in awe every day of the capabilities that we have using computers in today’s society. When preparing for my release and reentry into society, I made several goals including the basics of food and shelter. I decided that employment would be of the “survival” type and going back to college was the way to begin a new chapter in my life. I enrolled at [|LCC] in online courses and soon was released to a whole new world, one that started out overwhelming and just plain colorful……

Web 2.0 tools have given me the opportunity to reconnect with family members, to build a positive support system, to find housing and employment, to follow a healthy self-care plan and most importantly to return to college to pursue my dreams. I have used [|Facebook], [|Craigslist], [|Delicious], [|StumbleUpon], [|FlickR], [|Google], [|Wordpress], and the [|LCC Online Moodle] to accomplish each one of my goals and even to set new ones.

When I went to prison [|Facebook] did not exist. I left a [|MySpace] account behind and during the first year I was away I began to hear the buzz about [|Facebook]. I was excited to see it for myself. I watched the movie that portrayed Mr. Zuckerberg and how [|Facebook] came about. I read articles about Facebook and talked to family and friends about how they used it. I did not know just how big it was until the day I was released, the day I opened my own Facebook account. It was so fast and easy and I began that moment to connect with family, share pictures, reconnect with positive support peopleand I used the daily status post as a “grateful journal". Every day I wake up and I add a post that includes what I am grateful for today. It reminds me each morning what I have today and how important it is to remain humble and focused on the important things in life. My parents are getting older and they enjoy receiving almost daily pictures of their grandson and me. I create albums to depict the things we do on a daily basis as well as fun events. I use [|Facebook] to stay in contact with many of the people who I completed treatment with, all of whom give me additional support in positive daily living. I have reconnected with friends from the past that give me inspiration to live a healthy life.

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[|Craigslist] is a great way to find housing and employment leads. I checked the listings in my area each day and responded to appropriate ads by email and within 30 days obtained full-time employment cleaning campus housing during the busy season…a perfect fit with online classes to do. I also connected with a great person who has rented me a very charming two bedroom cottage to start over in. I also found some very good deals on things that I need to furnish my new home. I always protect myself when purchasing things from [|Craigslist] ads and take a friend when going to get the merchandise. Overall [|Craigslist] can be a beneficial tool in job searches, housing opportunities and finding low cost items that you may need and it is very easy to navigate.

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 While taking this class, I learned about online bookmarking, [|Delicious], to be exact. It has been a very important to for me when doing class homework because I am often doing computer work in different locations on different machines. [|Delicious] enables me to find my favorite sites from anywhere because they are all stored on the internet. This program was so easy to set up and add to my internet browser toolbar that I almost thought it was too good to be true. But, it is true and it is valuable when you are not always in the same place on the same computer. [|StumbleUpon] is another great hit for me. I can not only bookmark sites I need for educational purposes, I can surf the web in a customized way. [|StumbleUpon] ask you about your likes and dislikes and tailors your surfing experience based on your answers. Fun and useful!!!

= media type="youtube" key="tdsF6_DXlxQ" height="376" width="504" Delicious: Check it out CLICK HERE =



Photo sharing is one of my biggest interests as well as hobbies. [|FlickR]  helped me organize all my photos and enables me to share them with any contacts that I want. It is like a bonus to [|Facebook] . My parents especially enjoy the benefits of my [|FlickR]  experience. I have used this program to create the story of my new life and my new beginning with my nine-year old son. We were reunited after a long absence and I use photos to document and share all of our new growth and experiences.

[|Google], [|Wordpress], and LCC class Moodle have been the three tools I have used to accomplish my educational goals. I used Google Drive to create documents, spreadsheets and do presentations I need to for the classes I am taking as well as to help with a program I am volunteering for through transitional housing. It is a great tool and source for anyone who needs to have access to word processing over the net. The only downfall is privacy, but for school assignments it ROCKS! [|Wordpress] is an online blog that I have not done too much with, but is in my plans for the future. I have made a plan to blog about my new experiences and ways to live a positive, healthy life. I would like to share with the world how much I have learned inside and outside the gates of prison. And last, but definitely not least, the [|Moodle] has given me the only opportunity I would have to be a college student again. Being able to take classes online enables me to work and be a single mother while still getting the benefits of an education and opening new doors to my future.

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//<span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Check out my class BLOG!! //

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">In conclusion, I could go on and on about the amazing benefits of the technology available to me today, but instead I would like to spend my time using it and learning from it.

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Bibliography: // //<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">All sites,pictures and videos are contained and referenced inside this project //