What a difference blogging can make

I have never really known much about the world of blogging, but it seems to me to be a very helpful tool. According to professor Anne Bartlett-Bragg of the University of technology, Sydney, when used in a university setting, blogging can encourage students to think more critically and be involved in class, which is exactly what I'm doing by creating this post. With blogging you can share information, opinions, experiences, meet new people, dispute what others have to say, or ping, which, Bartlett-Bragg says, means admiring someone else's work so much that you mention it in your own. Who do I admire? Andrew Olmstead, a soilder to the United States army who was recently killed in Iraq. After reading his final blog entry, which appears to have been posted by a friend following his death, I was moved to see how much blogging can do for someone. Olmstead had a fresh outlook on life and death, the war in Iraq, and being a soilder for his country. He states that "I'm dead, but if you're reading this, you're not, so take a moment to enjoy that happy fact." I began reading this blog feeling sorry for this fallen soilder and his loved ones, but after I finished I realized that he didnt need my sympathy. This man reminded me that "we're all going to die of something. [He] died doing a job [he] loved." I'm not sure if this made him lucky or not, but I do know how blogging affected him. He states that "blogging put me in touch with an inordinate number of smart people, an exhilarating if humbling experience." I only hope that blogging can now do the same for me.