Friday, June 10, 2011

Will You Pass Me a Tissue??

Today is Friday and my week-long stay at USM is drawing to a close. The week started off with me scared  out of my wits and has ended with me dreading the goodbyes.

Over the past week, all 16 members of the MCJ workshop have come together to make friendships and work together in our shared passion--journalism.  I've had the opportunity to talk with each and every one of them and can safely say I have made some terrific friends.

Not only am I taking away amazing friendships, I'm taking away valuable information and skills I can use at my high school newspaper and yearbook and into the future.  I  had no idea there were so many terms and special tricks in the world of media until this week.  From this blog to my taste of acting in the Fab Five's video PSA, I've stretched my limitations, come out of my comfort zone and feel accomplished in the fact that I've got more to offer now because of this workshop.

The Fab Five ( Helen, John, DeeJay, Zoe and me) have worked so well as a team.  Our teamwork and great chemistry have made this week so much more enjoyable for me, and I know I've taken more away from each session because of my teammates.

Thank you so much to MCJ for hosting this workshop and giving aspiring journalists, like myself, the opportunity to learn more about the realities of the world of journalism.

This week has been amazing and I know I will never forget my experiences here!

Learning through Experience!

Old Media! New Media!  It's all been everywhere we turned this week at the USM MCJ Journalism Workshop!

The Fab Five (my group of lovely teammates and myself) started out the week at broadcasting, spent the next day at the radio station, wrote articles in the Student Printz office Wednesday and spent Thursday around campus taking photos.  Each medium offered something new that I have never heard of before.  A new idea or a new term and I've noticed myself grow more and more comfortable in all the different worlds of journalism.

Picking a favorite type of media from the week was a difficult task because I enjoyed each so much.  After thinking it over, I would say that the top of my list would be the broadcast session because so much of it was foreign to me that I really feel like I learned the most in that session! I learned about packages and scripting, and I took everything I learned in that session and applied it as I wrote the rest of the week in radio and newspaper.

Now, I'm just ready to see our final products!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Staying on a College Campus? Check!



Starting as early as freshman year of high school, brochures and flyers slowly start to fill the mailboxes of students across America.  “Come Visit Us Today!” they repeat over and over again in various ways, trying to convince you they are the best college that ever existed.

As a high school student myself, I’ve been lucky enough to see several college campuses in my lifetime; however, the big difference between seeing and staying may just be three letters but in reality, the experiences are two totally different things.  

When I made my plans to attend the USM Journalism Summer Workshop, it took two different maps and a GPS navigation system on my phone to get me to Century Park Building One for registration.  The weather was hot and humid like any other fine Mississippi day and I was scared out of my mind.  I didn’t know a soul when I walked in and I was three and a half hours away from home on top of that!  I knew I just had to walk in and make the most out of my experience. After all, plenty of teenagers coming would feel exactly like myself.

The first day alone showed me I was not in Kansas anymore; this was not a hotel and the maids would definitely not be making their rounds to change all my towels and bed sheets!  At USM, people are friendly but always seem to be on a mission!  They go about campus with their earphones in, coffees in hand, and walking with a gait that would make any Kentucky Derby winner proud.  It’s not full of stereotypes like Hollywood tries to put off and no one tries to bother you or laugh at you when you have a "freshman" moment!  

The USM faculty, be it in the classroom or cafeteria, have shown me smiles and made my experience at the University of Southern Mississippi one to remember! Southern Miss was never a place I would have considered going, but after staying here and getting the full experience, I may just re-consider!!