To tell my story I want to do a podcast because just like stories that you read in a book you’re able imagine the things happening in the story but add your own touch to it since it’s your imagination. I want to have that same effect on my audience through my podcast, where they’ll be able to imagine my story. But my main goal for the podcast is so they could imagine my story but turn the character into themselves so they could be in the same position as I am still currently in. This is why I wanted to do a podWhen I first started, I wanted my audience to understand that the pandemic has been hard for everyone and that even through this pandemic we’ll still be able to make it out of this difficult time together. I wanted to use my own experiences as a way to connect with the audience and make them feel like they aren’t alone, and that everyone is going through the same things. But everyone’s lives are different so people might feel and experience something different from what other people might be experiencing. But because everyone’s lives have drastically changed I can tell for a fact that most people and I myself are feeling the same feelings towards the world right now. cast, so instead of having pictures create the image in their heads, they could adapt to my words and create their own world but leading with a certain story.

When I made the decision to do a podcast, my first worry was if the professor would actually allow me to do a podcast. But that problem was quickly resolved. But then the next problem I had was that I didn’t know what program or podcast site I should record my story on. I didn’t even know any podcast websites to begin with. I tried to search on Google but there was always something wrong with my question and I never got a specific and helpful website. Then I had a Ramadan party at my house and I was ranting about my project and my cousin told me to go to Achor.fm (It sounds like I’m advertising Anchor.fm. I would if they paid me though.). From that point on I already knew what to do since the main obstacle was already done.

While I was doing the project, I was able to take tips from my old works and past assignments to get a topic. The writing process was smooth but the beginning is always hard. I never know what I should start with. I sat in front of my computer for a whole hour trying to find a way to start but every sentence felt wrong. But then after a while it gets so annoying I just write a random introduction and hope it will be enough. I’m not proud of it but I have to get the work done so it is what it is. The rest of the writing process went smoothly with a few breaks here and there but the writing was done. Then came the editing of the podcast. This was a little difficult because I didn’t know what music and sounds fit the mood of the podcast so I went through multiple sounds and heard my voice hundreds of times over and over again trying to find the right sound. I worked at night so it took a while but a little past midnight I got a good sound that I actually liked and that was the end of my worries. 

I chose the sounds because I found that it went well with my voice and it gave a moment of calm to the audience. I find that music or soft beats can make people calm so I wanted to include it. I also read from script while doing the podcast which made me feel like I was being robotic but if I didn’t do it that way I wouldn’t have been able to finish the podcast at all. I suck at memorizing lines and sounding natural when it’s actually required for me to act natural so it wouldn’t have worked. But I learned to live with it since it’s within my range of my abilities.

At the end of the road where I finally finished everything, I think the best part of the project was the music and the beats because I think it went really well with my voice and it was a good starter for the podcast. One thing I would’ve changed, even though I’ve learned to live with it is that I read off a script. It made the podcast less natural and robotic like I thought it would be. If I could do the podcast again I would try to sound more natural and fake. 

If people listened to my podcast they would be able to understand it if they were religious and muslim. I wanted to make the story more specific to me but relatable at the same time. I have many muslim peers that were able to understand my message and also some of my friends that I shared the podcast with. But even if someone isn’t religious my podcast at least allows them to feel my emotions through this difficult time but with a different experience.