life...or something like it

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

I'm just that good

YES!! I finally have a picture!!! :)

Monday, September 25, 2006

aaaaand it's monday again...


Well, it's time for another week to start again. Our capstone assignment this week requires us to blog about a few things.
First, a class outside of broadcasting (what? those exist?) that had an important impact on us. Mine would definitely be American National Government with Dr. Rhoads my junior year. That is the class that inspired me to add my political science minor. I was instantly intrigued with court cases, government policies, and the history of elections and politics. I remember Dr. Rhoads knowing just about every detail of both monumental and obscure political events...and talking about them with a big smile on his face. He opened my eyes to a lot of different perspectives and helped me find a passion for political science.
Now...on to a class within broadcasting that made an impact. I know this is going to sound completely dorky (that's ok, I'm secure) but audio production had a big influence on me. It was my first broadcasting class ever, and I was so nervous. Dr. B. can be a little intimidating at first :) and I so wanted to do well in the class. I remember being one of the first to shoot my hand up when he asked who wanted to try going on the radio right away. I'm not gonna lie, I was probably more nervous than I had ever been, and I needed to keep some bayer close by every time I had to back time and air ABC news. But, I ended up doing pretty well and I still surprise myself with my somewhat coherent technical ability :) Thanks, Dr. B.
Finally, a professor that has impacted my time here. It was sophomore year, and I was filling my religion requirement with "gender and religion". I never expected it to be a class that I would never forget. The professor was Dr. Cushman, and she really had a way of sparking interest and discussion. She probably got sick of me asking questions all the time :) but I found myself wanting to know as much as a could about different religious traditions, a woman's role, and how different beliefs still influence our lives today. It was definitely one of those classes where I was still sitting and listening to her finish a thought while everyone else was putting away their notebooks and waiting to leave class. Like Dr. B., Dr. Cushman is one of those professors that make me want to do well. She challenged me at every turn, and made me genuinely think about things. I went into the class just trying to fill a requirement, and came out with a different and unique perspective of the world and why people do the things they do. I never expected that. These are the kind of professors that are so worth going to school for, and I am so thankful for them.

Things I want to accomplish this week:
-e-mail Alumni for my interview and set up a time and place
-prep for county close-up
-senior project plans
-better radio newscasts

Have a sweet week!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Jump Back!!


Yes...I'm actually posting for the second day in a row. What can I say? Broadcasting doesn't leave me with a lot of free time...not that I'm complaining :) Today, Pem and I went to Apple Castle to shoot a quick package for TCL. I have never been the talent for a package, and it was a lot of fun. The people were so nice, too. The owner, Lyle Johnston, was very cooperative and provided a great interview. His dad was possibly the cutest man ever...he was hand washing baby pumpkins when we were there and grinned when we asked what his favorite part of owning an orchard was. That is something I absolutely love about broadcasting...meeting and talking to people just to hear their stories. I just have the greatest job ever.

Tomorrow I report for the 4 and 5 news and it is my goal to make it a SWEET newscast. I'm gonna be all about the sound and local stories...hopefully :)

So....June Pierce (she works in the registrar's office and basically knows everything) visited our capstone class today to answer any questions we had about graduation...and find out who still needs to take swimming :) That's when it hit me...I'm graduating. Given, it's not for another semester and a half, but it's going to happen. Well, at least that's the plan. Anyway, I need to come up with a senior project idea and I'm totally struggling. I do so many different things, it's hard to narrow it down and focus on one last big project. Well, in other news, I did figure out who to interview for the Alumni assignment. Her name is Jennifer Moreau and she works in media relations for FSN Pittsburgh. Leanne actually interns there and suggested that I talk to her. Her job sounds sweet, so I'm excited to get in touch with her.

Don't get used to these back to back posts or anything...I just thought I'd keep everyone on their toes :) Later!

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

one project down, 20 million to go...

I finished and submitted my first article (actually one article and one "blurb" on night life...) to WC Magazine. It was a cool experience actually...I realized how much I miss just writing as myself instead of being in a "news" mindset. Don't get me wrong, I love writing for the news, but sometimes it's nice to go back to another style. I was really nervous about turning it in because I didn't have a lot to go on format-wise...and I didn't want to be too much for the alumni :) But...the editor was very happy with it and complimented my professionalism. Overall, I really loved the experience. It would have been a little less stressful if it was the only project I had to worry about, but I got it done in the end, so we're all good.

Now, I can go back to concentrating on broadcasting. I really want to be team serious about newscasts (producing and reporting) because I feel like I'm slacking. It seems like a lot of the people doing news shifts this semester are just not into it...no one seems very motivated to get sound or write good stories. Maybe news isn't your thing, and that's okay, but we still have a professional image to uphold and it makes everyone look bad when you don't try. I think everyone would benefit from some script-critique and feedback on what stories should or should not be run. Hopefully things will get better from here on out.

Finally, for capstone, I have to get cracking on my senior project and alumni interview proposals. Leanne actually suggested Jennifer Moreau, head of media relations at FSN Pittsburgh, for a possible interview. I plan on e-mailing her this week to set up a time. I don't know exactly what I want to do in the broadcasting field yet, but her job seems pretty sweet so I'm excited to meet her. As for the senior project thing, I'm still not really sure. I'd like to somehow turn the interview segment on TCL into a project because it's something I've never done before. We'll see how that goes.

Pem and I have been doing our morning show for a few weeks now, and I really have a good time. I'm mad I didn't hit up doing one sooner!! I don't know about anyone else...but we manage to crack ourselves up pretty well :)

Dr. B really made my day today when he called the station during my radio shift. He told me he had been listening to me on his way home and I sounded really good on air...good energy and excitement. It really made me feel good because I have such a good time doing DJ shifts. They put me in a good mood.

That's pretty much all I've got for this week...keep checking, though!

Sunday, September 10, 2006

check on it!

http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/bio.html

"In the summer of 2000, Sullivan became one of the first mainstream journalists to experiment with blogging, and soon developed a large online readership with andrewsullivan.com's Daily Dish. In January 2006, Sullivan took his blog to Time.com's home-page where he now writes daily"

This is a link to a blog I found by a daily writer for Time Magazine. His name is Andrew Sullivan, and he calls his blog "The Daily Dish". After reading a little bit about him, I found that he has a very impressive educational background, attending Harvard and getting his Ph.D. in political science. He became head editor at the New Republic when he was only 27. He has a really interesting story.

According to his bio, Andrew actually started as just a contributing editor to Time Magazine after working for a few different publications, but now he has his own column and still acts as editor of the New Republic. There were a couple things I liked about his blog. It was organized very well, and easy to navigate. It was professional, but funny at the same time. He includes quotes, which he comments on, and also has pictures and cartoons. I just really liked the set-up and thought he seemed like an interesting person. Plus, I think it's totally cool that he has his own column at Time!! :)

wait...you mean there's life after Westminster??

I really got a lot out of Capstone on Thursday. Not only was it interesting to hear about other people's goals for the future, it forced me to recognize and re-evaluate my own. I was both surprised and relieved how much I related to Kirstan and Stevi with the whole law school thing. I think it's awesome if it's something you really want to pursue...like Kirstan with the entertainment law, but sometimes I think I like the idea of law school better than the actual applying and going part. When Stevi said she actually stopped and asked herself "What do I like about law and what do I want to do with it?", It really made me think. Sometimes I feel like the more education I pursue, the less worried I will be about my future. I'm not going to rule out further education out all together, but class on Thursday definitely helped me put it into perspective and really ask myself what I want to do.

I was also glad to hear that I'm not the only one that wants to gravitate away from Pittsburgh. Steve mentioned New York City, and Kirstan is all set up in California. I don't have anything against Pennsylvania, but I didn't grow up around here and I want to see what else is out there.

I've already gotten to work on one of my short term goals: writing for a campus publication. At the end of class, DJ and I went over to talk to Patrick Goldwater (in charge of WC Magazine) to talk about the possibility of me writing for them. DJ seriously hooked me up and I am starting research on a piece about what day to day life at Westminster is really like (dating, new technology, etc.) It will be a lot of last minute work to get interviews and then finally write the article, but it is something I think I'll really get into. Thanks DJ!

Now I need to put some serious thought into my senior project and prepare for my debuts on County Comments for TCL.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, September 03, 2006

The week that seemed like a year

As the first week of "back to school" comes to an end, I can't help but wonder if I'm going to make it through the rest of the year in one piece. My preconceptions that senior year would be the best yet are being tested already.

It didn't take long to fall back into the broadcasting routine. I am taking broadcast journalism which requires a newsroom producing and reporting shift. I will be producing Monday afternoons and reporting on Fridays. My Friday shift went pretty well...I report for Nate Dodd, who has never produced a newscast before. Our stories were mostly based around the kick off of high school football and a looming flood watch. I anchored with him because he was a little nervous, but he did a great job and I think we'll work well in the future :)

There was no messing around with Titan Crew this week...I went to back to back games on Friday night and Saturday morning. The high school game was at Union, and the Titans played at home on Saturday. I am in charge of graphics, and this year Chuck (chief engineer and final authority over all things Titan Crew) bought a brand new computer for the truck. I still have a lot of learning and playing around to do, but I came up with some pretty neat graphics for the games. It was a lot of fun and I really like the new machine. Senior project potential?

This week was also my first broadcasting capstone class. Our assignment for this week is to come up with three short term and long term goals for ourselves. Here goes...

Short Term
1. work hard to get an awesome grade in biology (a.k.a. find a smart lab partner)
It's really important to me to do well in classes outside of my major/minor...especially those that I don't necessarily have much interest in. (cough, biology, cough)
2. try hosting county comments for The County Line for the first time
I'm pretty good with improvising and doing on the spot interviews and I'd like to see if I could actually handle doing something live on TCL.
3. write for a publication on campus.
I really love writing and in all of my 3 years here, I have never written anything for the Holcad, Scrawl, etc. Sometimes it's hard to say no to anything broadcasting and concentrate more specifically on what I might actually want to do someday.

Long Term
1. Possibly attend Graduate School
I've always kept Graduate School in the back of my mind and I'd like to start applying to places in different cities and looking into law or political science.
2. find a place of my own somewhere other than Pennsylvania (ex: San Fransisco, Atlanta, Colorado Springs, Seattle...just a few ideas)
3. travel as much as possible before I even think about settling down!!

Well, that's all for now. Week #2: Game on.