For my adventure, I plan to spend time at  “Queen Alexandra”, as my roommates and I call it. Formally, it’s known as Queen Alexandra Cove Beach and is located at the Queen Alexandra Centre for Children’s Health. The equipment I plan to bring includes my phone (for notes, Spotify, and photos), headphones, a jacket in case it’s chilly, a snack, and a towel. In middle school, my class discovered this beach on a field trip and since then, it has always been tied with nostalgia and positivity. After the field trip, I didn’t know its name or how to find it again, and then years later, I rediscovered it while walking my best friend’s dog near the area. My main goal for this adventure is to reconnect with my creative side through exploring and it is also an attempt to bring whimsy back into my life! To visualize my final story, I created a storyboard as a rough guide for my adventure and to help me organize my ideas and expectations. This is usually my go-to method in my Health Information Science program because it helps visualize the final system and identify possible user interface issues. I also want to stress that I want to leave room for spontaneity and hope this adventure makes life feel a little less grey and mundane.

Using Kurt Vonnegut’s story shape chart, I drew how I hope and expect my journey to go. I drew three different lines because realistically I have no idea how the story will actually unfold. However, I expect it to start from me being in an unmotivated place and staying there for a little while, until I get the idea to go on a walk. From there, I expect things to slowly improve as I continue walking and exploring. No matter what happens, I think the story will (hopefully!) end on a high note because, even if I don’t come away feeling inspired, I still get to enjoy a beautiful walk through Queen Alexandra. The only thing that really changes between the three lines is whether or not I experience any low points during the walk.

To incorporate class materials into my final story, I plan to include text to narrate my experience, as well as images and videos to help show the journey visually. I may also include music or audio from the beach to capture the mood of the walk. Additionally, in alignment with Mayer’s 12 Principles of Multimedia Learning, I want to focus on multimedia, personalization, imagery, and modality. My goal is to make the story feel immersive rather than just describing what happened. I’ve done this walk a million times and honestly there is so much inspiration if you look. There are lots of animals and people, so the possibilities for creativity are endless there.

So far, the only challenge I can identify is if it is not sunny when I go for my walk because my emotions are very connected to the weather. Although, this is highly unlikely because I can plan my adventure around my walk. 

For my final story, I want to use descriptive language to make the audience feel involved in my experience. I also want to incorporate some storytelling techniques such as telling a personal story, showing instead of telling, building toward a “S.T.A.R.” moment, and ending with a positive takeaway. It might be useful to use music to help set the tone/mood. As for designing my blog, I want to pay attention to alignment, white space, and visual balance so the final blog is easy to follow.