The room quieted as Daisy clapped her hands.
“ Alright everyone, welcome to Digital Marketing Basics! This course is about learning how to tell your story, or your business’ s story, online. We’ ll start with personal branding and move into tools like websites, blogs, and social media. Sounds good?” Daisy said as she examined the room.
The class murmured their agreement. Lenora stayed silent, tapping her pen nervously on the notebook.
“ Now,” Daisy continued,“ as a warm up, I want you to write down three things you’ re passionate about. It could be anything, baking, travel, art. These will help us brainstorm ideas for your first digital project.”
Lenora hesitated, glancing around. The others seemed to have already started to tacklein, their pens or keyboards moving quickly. She looked down at her notebook. What was she passionate about? After a moment, she scribbled.
Daisy walked around the room checking on each student. When she reached Lenora, she leaned down.
“ How’ s it going?” She asked.
Lenora pushed her notebook slightly towards her.“ I’ m not sure if these are... useful.”
Daisy’ s eyes lit up as she read the list.“ These are perfect. Libraries and storytelling? You could create an incredible blog about historical stories or even hidden gems in literature!” Daisy said excitedly.
Lenora blinked.“ You think so?”
“ Absolutely! People love unique, thoughtful content. You’ ve got a great starting point here.” Daisy exclaimed.
As the lesson continued, Daisy guided them through setting up a simple website template. Lenora’ s fingers hovered futilely as she tried to follow along.
“ Need help?” A voice came from a young man in a dark grey hoodie sitting next to her. He looked barely out of college.
“ Oh, I... I think I’ m just slow.” Lenora admitted, feeling her cheeks flush.
“ No worries. It takes a bit to get the hang of it,” he said, leaning over to show her how to adjust the font size.“ I’ m Cody, by the way.”
“ Lenora,” she said, giving him a small smile.
As the day went on, Lenora found herself relaxing. With Daisy’ s encouragement and Cody’ s patient tips, she immersed herself in creating a basic homepage. It wasn’ t perfect, but it was hers. A single page with the title, Forgotten Voices: Stories That Time Overlooked.
When class ended, Lenora lingered for a moment, staring at the screen. Daisy approached again.
“ You did great today.” Daisy said. Lenora chuckled,“ It doesn’ t feel that way.”
“ You’ d be surprised how many people give up before they even start. You’ ve already taken the first step.” Daisy encouraged her.
As Lenora walked out into the crisp air, her tan bag hanging over her shoulder, she felt something that she hadn’ t in years, a spark.
For the first time, Lenora felt a fortitude flicker of excitement.
For the first time in a long time, Lenora wondered what was next, and for the first time, that question didn’ t feel so futile.
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