Storm on the Beach

It’s over. I am done. Well capstone is done at least The process was tasking and long, however; I walked away with more then just a classroom lesson. During my presentation, an audience member asked what the biggest thing I walked away with was. Comments flew through my mind, but one stuck out more then the rest. It was a lesson about life. Not broadcasting, or technical work…. no it was about life. I learned that living in the moment, living for today is what is important.

Let us start by looking at me. To understand why this lesson affects me, we must do a before and after. Ask any one of my friends and they will tell you the same thing: She’s a good girl, she works hard, and she is nice… however she learns to need to say no. Now, they are not talking about drugs or alcohol. They are talking about doing jobs, favors, etc. I love to help people and I love to be right in the middle of everything so naturally I love to be busy. I never just sit. For me, its odd, unnatural. So, I am busy person but it gets to the point that I can’t enjoy the moment. I am so far ahead in my mind I tend to forget the day. It may be Monday but I am worried about the event, meeting or test I have in three days. I tend have to slow myself down when talking and taking action on a plan because I am usually ten steps ahead of myself.

This is how I went into my capstone, but not how I came out. During my capstone, I did interviews with ladies who had overcome breast cancer. The ladies were positive and happy but the interviews were full of sadness, strength and courage. They touched me in a way that I will always remember. The realization that life is the greatest gift of all and being happy is living for the moment did not come right away. One of the women, Sherry, said in her interview, “You never know what is going to happen tomorrow, it could be your last day so you have to live for today.” It finally hit me like a summer storm on the beach. I spend so much time worrying about what is going to happen tomorrow I forget to enjoy the moment. I forget to enjoy the small things in life. Work is important, school is important friends are important but if you are not happy and enjoying life then nothing matters does it? I have always enjoyed life but now I can enjoy it more. I have learned that today is more then just minutes turning into hours it living life to the best of your ability. So you ask what I learned… I learned to live for today.

Nice computers… Niiiiice computers

I had a dream. It was a dream a documentary, a good documentary. It had emotion, caught everyone’s attention. It was interesting and it made a person think. But then the computer came to life and ate the documentary and there were only crumbs left. Everyone ran away and I stood in aw of the technological monster. I stood appalled at the time it took to completely disappear. Then I woke up. I sat there in my bed and realized that I absolutely despise technology and was working on my capstone way too much. For those who do not know capstone is what Westminster College calls your “senior project”. Depending on your major depends on the project. Overall, it is a class in which you exhibit the skills you have accumulated over three years of study. Well for my capstone project I settled on a set of three women who have all battled breast cancer and come together with an amazing story. The challenge to choose my project was easy to my several technology blunders and bumps along the way.

Starting this I was nervous. I am still nervous. my biggest fear was technology and my absolute horrible luck with it. Everything started when I filmed four interviews and captured background shots. I checked my equipment before I went to interview; however, when I got there the audio decided not to work. Now I am not a complete camera wiz but I know my stuff. The lovelier microphone (mic) decided not to work so I went with the stick mic. Then camera started beeping like I’ve never heard it before … in all 2 1/2 years of being a BC major. Figured out it was the battery so I changed it. Finally I finished.

The hard part came when I started to edit. I have the software on my laptop, so I decided to reap the benefits of working from home. Well in the middle of editing my computer crashed and took 2 of my interviews with it. Luckily I did a better re-shoot. So that put me here at today when I tried to capture but the computer will not work (I’m not the only one who had that problem) and then I had a “lost-all of my documents scare” but they were just hidden for some reason. Through it all I have learned something. Patience and living in the moment. Being patient and taking your time will cut down on stress and usually produce better outcomes. The second living in the moment ….. meaning you can only do so much at one time things will get done just take it one step at a time and live the best you can and do the most you can right now. Through the bumps and blunders I have managed to gather and produce a nice beginning start... more then once... with a very good prospective end. So basically I am pretty happy with it.

Manners Please

Keys and secrets to life what are they? Respect, Kindness, compassion, leadership, fairness, loyalty, happiness. In my eyes these intangible items mold life into something worth living. However there is one common element that link them all. … Know yet? ethics morals are both good answers but its something more tangible. Manners. Simple, but so true. Manners play a major part in all of areas listed above. Think about it … you are in a store and arguing loudly start blurting obscenities causing a scene. After a scenario such as this you cause disruption to people around you and have more then likely hurt someone’s feelings (if no one in the crowd then certainly the person you were arguing with). Now if Momma had taught this person to use and inside voice when in public, not to cause a scene, talk things out and use the old rule “if you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all” the situation would have been much neater. The point is by using manners you are respecting not only the person you are with but also the person you are talking to.

As a child grows they are taught to be (or hopefully taught to be) proper and polite. Manners are taught over time. Usually by the time you are a senior in college you understand most manners. There are some manners however that a person in college is not familiar with. Specific manners or just very proper manners used during dinner interview are, at least in our generation, not normally used in everyday dining. Our career center hosts a Dine n’ Shine event in which we eat a nice meal and a speaker explains how to dress for interviews and also how to give a good dining interview. Now I have always considered myself pretty well mannered I put my napkin in my lap always pass the bread before taking it and never talk with my mouth full. But there are a few things that I learned that I did not know. For instance, name tags are always worn on the right. A great misconception is to place it on the left. This happens especially with right handed people. Also the napkin goes on your lap the very first thing folded on the diagonal with the widest part on the upper portion of your lap closest to your body. Luckily I have always done that but I never knew that it was an actual “rule”. The biggest thing I learned was to take small bites. I have an awful pride in how fast I can finish a meal. I have just learned to eat fast-on the go. taking small bites though allow for you to talk more and also at a moments notice of a question is asked. It also helps to make you not look gluttonous and eat everything. There is also a trick to introducing someone. You say the most important persons name first. For example if you and your boss were meeting a client the most important person is the client. So you say client so and so this is my boss blah blah and … obviously you would use names and not client and boss.

So you see just knowing what is the proper way of introducing someone keeps you respectful, and everyone happy. Understanding how to properly pass the bread and the salt keeps you kind. Eating slow and small bites keeps everyone happy so they don’t see your food all over you and it is just respectful. In the end manners are an important factors of making life happy.

This is just a class TEST

Well technically it is not a test. It is just a class assignment. So please, whoever maybe reading this…. fair warning I am not publicly advertising and/or applying for this position.


November 5, 2008


As I search for a part time job, I came across your opportunity to get a foot in the door with as Promotions Assistant. My attention was directly drawn to the position because it is in the Promotions field which is my main area of interest.

From my enclosed resume you can easily see my skills needed for a promotional field. My Broadcasting classes have sharpened my skills for video editing, filming, photography as well as writing. Westminster College prides itself in preparing its students for the real life and my extensive experience with radio has more then qualified me for a position within a radio station. Combined with the extensive extra-curricular leadership positions in event planning I have a very detailed perspective from two different perspectives. My leadership positions in extra-curriculars have not only taught me to pay attention to detail and double check everything but also time management. Along with extra-curriculars and classes I have worked in a very professional setting a sales and marketing intern. My research methods and skills were polished during this time along with my understanding of the professional world from a sales and marketing position. I easily adapt to different situations so changing my duties from time to time is not a problem. I have no doubt the Promotions Assistant position would allow me to grow in the professional world and help me understand the promotional field a great deal better.

Thank you for your time in reviewing my résumé. Your consideration of me for this part time position is taken with utmost appreciation. Please if you have any questions at all, contact me at 7**-***-**** or email me at aegerber@gmail.com.


Best Regards,



Aimee Gerber



Enclosure

When God Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

Write your homework down. Be prompt. Pay attention. Do not procrastinate. Have good attendance. Ask questions. Never settle for less. All of these will lead to good grades and a great education. However, there are certain points in life that some people will never grasp. For instance a mathematical mind may not be able to grasp the details of the color wheel. Or possibly a music major understanding the laws of physics. People are not made to be good in all matters. I had one occurrence with this when I took and economics class. I never studied so hard and did so bad in a class as I did in that class. My mind is creative. It likes color schemes and logical flows of pictures and hands on learning. This occurred in high school and when I came to college I swore I would never take an econ class. I have yet to take one as a senior. Out of all my classes I manage to come across the hardest class for me my senior year. Radio News. Radio news has challenged me more then any other class, but also taught more then all my others as well.

What is radio news? We write, produce, along with the reporting and anchoring for a two minute news minute each week. Seems simple right? Well, at the beginning of the semester I was not even close to knowing what I was doing. For whatever reason, I could not sync my thoughts with my actions. For the first time in my life I felt like I was cooking in my own kitchen for the first time. Meaning I had all the skills and tools but I did not know how to put it all together. I was frustrated. I did not like the class. I did not care to do radio news. I thought it all stupid, pointless and played only to my weaknesses. Unfortunately I needed this class to graduate. I was stuck. It was either suck it up and work until I was blue and crazy or not get a degree. Easily guessed I choose to suck it up. I started being proactive about my life and my grade. I went to the professor shared my concern about not passing because of my “mental block”. I re-arranged my schedule to dedicate more time to the classes demands. I even went so far as to taking a pre-test for ADD. I became so adamant about doing well in radio news that it was almost sickening. Although I was in a dead belief that nothing would work and I was destined to fail radio news, things changed. My thoughts changed.

My perseverance for doing well started to pay off. I changed my schedule to dedicate Sundays to news. I found new ways to focus in class. I and believe it or not it helped. I was not a lost and helpless puppy. I knew my stuff. Slowly I started grasping the concepts in action. My writing was improving. my sound clips were getting better. I anchor better and my reporting is better. I feel proud that I have turned myself around so much. I also feel more confident in myself that I can do it. I have the abilities I just need to apply them fully. As much as I hate to admit it the class has actually taught me a lot not only about myself but also about life real world. Learning how to talk to people for a beat has been one of the things I learned. Asking people to help you and learning to ask the right questions is par t of what I have learned as well. A big part of what I learned is learning to listen and take my time. Because I lie to be involved and do a lot I feel that I should be speedy with everything. After much ado I have come to realize what I have learned transcends just the news room. My efforts have bared fruit (lemons) and I am proud of what I have made with them (lemonade).

“Scary Judge of Talent”

I maybe a senior but I will be the first to admit I do not know everything. I do however consider my self to be a “scary judge of talent” (Quote From The Recruit). Well a decent judge at the least. Of my many successors in the broadcasting major I would have to say there are few who interest me. One of these successors Andy Bortz sparks my interest. He may not be on air talent but he is amazing at music. Now what do I mean Music? Well there are some people who can sing or play music but there are others who listen to music. Listening is Andy specialty.

OK go ahead call me crazy. But there is a definite difference in listening to music for fun, listening with a critical ear and listen to capture the moments. Andy captures the beat the moment the personality of the music. When he listens to music he listens to the details. The drum, the flute, the piano, the down beat, and the upbeat. He has an uncanny ability to take music and mix it to fit the ear. Andy knows what people want. He can take a group of people define the audience and choose music accordingly. The transition is smooth and there is just enough old and new in the mix to make everyone happy. So what exactly would I say Andy is good … no, no, great at? DJing. Yes he knows the ins and outs of a radio station. Fro working the board or on air talent, it just comes naturally. He sounds great too. He understands how to move his voice with the music. Understanding when are appropriate times to be excited or calm is key. Working the Audience is another thing, he is good at. Lets use the “who cares?” rule. Taking a group of Caucasian 42 year olds and playing 50 cent, is not going to do much good for anyone. But take a group of male 18 to 21 year olds and that is much more reasonable. Andy grasps this concept. What is even more impressive is what he does with the music. He can mix songs that most people would never know can go together. I have heard some music and he honestly just has talent.

There is no rhyme or reason why people have certain talents. But to be able to find what your talent is at a relatively young age is quite and amazing. I believe that if you thoroughly enjoy something then it makes it your efforts twice as good. And I think in Andy’s case this happens. He does genuinely enjoy music working it and molding it. And maybe that above all else is what makes him shine.

My Mentor

There are a few things in college that will surmount anything you learn or do in any class. Mentors, best friends, and Just dealing with life through college will teach you leaps and bounds beyond what you would imagine. For many, including myself, you will find a person, a friend, who look up to and admire. I have found that person. Carsen Nesbitt… a very professional person, fair, a good student, a good sister and a great friend. I can honestly say that I look up to her more then anyone I know. Beyond my family, beyond my best friend, beyond any mentor or teacher that could pass my way… Carsen proves to be a person I can admire. There are so many reasons I look up to Carsen on a personal and professional level but I only want to give you a few instances.

I meet her through Sigma Kappa, Student Government Association, and Theta Chi. After I got to know her I started to watch what she did in SGA, in the sorority, how she handled herself in tough situations. She was professional and fair in every position she held. I started asking her opinion on different decisions I was making in my personal life as well as leadership positions. There is one specific instance that I remember made me think she knows what she is talking about.
My first semester Junior year I had my heart set on one thing, being president of Sigma Kappa. Now what you have to understand is I like to be involved, so I tend to be in everything… or at least as much as possible. I like to be busy. But I was so dedicated to being president, I was willing to give it all up. I did my homework too. I talked to the current president and Carsen. I need her opinion. She told me what people thought and how it could hinder me. She told me people thought I was too busy. Her honesty allowed me to try and to position myself so people would my dedication. Things happened and I didn’t end up running, but it was her who was able to walk me through my decision.
Carsen graduated May in 2008. I miss her dearly but I found that I have so much to learn from her still. She is in Law school and loves every minute of it. She knows what she wants and knows how to get it. She is also amazing at what she does. I love taking to her about what I should do when I graduate because I want what she has. She is happy with that she is doing in Law School and surrounded by good friends. I want to love what I do and she has given me such good advice as to what to do personally and professionally. Thankfully, I know that no matter what I do she will be there to help me and listen.

Appreciation

How much do you appreciate life? An interesting question but a very hard to answer. How do you measure appreciation for life? What kind of quantity can you make? You can’t. It is as simple as that You cannot define something intangible. However, you can tell when you personally appreciate life more then you did before. Different instances in your life such as death or births or disease will help you appreciate what you have. One reason I am doing my capstone on JoAnn Esposito is because it give hope to those who don’t have any and helps those who do appreciate what they have.
“Living Strong” is a documentary on JoAnn Esposito. It takes you on a journey through her stage 4-breast cancer, from beginning to end. All the way through her treatments to whom and what kept her motivated. More impressive still she manages a Breast Cancer Research Foundation called Par For the Cure. She is cancer free now and spends her time raising money for Par for the Cure. Par for the Cure takes place in Las Vegas, where they have a celebrity Golf tournament. While her son raising money and coordinates efforts on the West side JoAnn Focuses her energy here. In New Castle, she raises thousands of dollars for breast cancer research. All of the money goes straight to the breast cancer research, specifically to Dr. Slamon. A new castle native, who along with his team came up with a new drug that fights HER-2 cancer. As you go on the journey looking at the strength and courage, she had during this time you will find yourself amazed that one person could go through so much. In the end, I want my video to be an inspiration to others. I want people to appreciate life because it could be gone in an instant. I will produce direct run crew all on a budget of nothing to produce a 10-minute film. I will premiere it on Tuesday December 2nd in Mueller Theater at 5:00pm. Designed in accordance with the documentary is a poster and a trailer.

One Charitable Woman

Some might say cliché. Others might say brilliant. Still others might shrug and say of course. On the whole, none of the other opinions matter… it is my decision and after much thought I decided on Oprah. I spent a good hour and half of my life deciding whom I admire in the professional world and I finally came up with Oprah. Not only does she encompass the epitome of a strong independent woman, but she is compassionate and charitable in her life as I wish to be.
Growing up in Mississippi, she suffered abuse from various male figures during her adolescence. After moving to Tennessee to live with her father, she attended Tennessee State University. She studied broadcasting and ever since then her life has been in the history books.
Her Career sped her toward fame and money. Oprah, at 54 years of age, still shows women young and old to be strong and strive for their goals. Oprah has a talk show, book club, magazine, production group, and myriad other business functions. However, the business woman in her does not stop there. Her accomplishments in business are surpassed only by her charitable heart. She is almost as famous for her weight loss as she is for her charities. Over $51,000,000 raised by her Angel Network is just one of the many charities that she encourages and oversees. (Thanks to http://www.biography.com for Oprah Winfrey’s biography information)
The future may be unsure, but when I look at what I want to be in life, I look at Oprah. I am and want to be that strong independent woman, ready to step up to the plate and play hard. The biggest reason for my admiration of Oprah is her charitable heart and compassion. Almost all of her philanthropies focus on the welfare and well being of children. And I believe I am in her line of thinking when I say that one of the most important things to protect on this Earth is our children. If I am meant for one thing I hope it is for charities, especially focusing on children. No matter what I do with my professional life, i know that I will work charities throughout my life. I have already started down that path through my sorority work and my documentary on a person who has made a difference in the community. Famous professionals have admirers all the time. I find most admirations of them silly. However, I believe that Oprah is a genuinely kind and charitable person who I would love to meet in person.

A Moment of Truth

There is a moment, an epiphany if you will, when your mind is clear and all you can see id what is important. Honestly it is pretty uncommon, so if you do happen to come across this moment then you are pretty lucky. Now I am not a lucky person but I will be honest and tell you I have had one of these moments. However I did not come to this conclusion on my own. A Westminster faculty member trying to help me with a problem triggered my “moment of truth.”
My first year in college I was slightly nervous and one of my very first classes was Speech. Diesler was my professor and she was so nice. Now I have never considered myself a bad speaker or a good speaker but being as it was a new environment I was still trying to get to know everything. So keeping on track, she gave us our big speech topic. It was research speech and I for the life of me couldn’t find something. I think I went through 5 different topics. Every time I went to her and was I was unenthusiastic and not very happy with it. So usually other people kept giving me ideas and I would try them but they just would really fit me so I would end up being not so happy. So finally she sat me down and said what do you like and I told her a lot of things. Her advice to me was this …. do something that makes you happy , something that interests you that you genuinely want to learn about and something that is what you come up with that you want. I looked t her not really understanding how that was supposed to help me because I thought that I was already doing that. Well I told her ok I would try, not really knowing how else to respond. Her last statement to me was … sometimes if you stop looking so hard topics will pop out of no where for you. So I went back to my dorm thinking what I could do differently and kind of what she meant.
Finally it hit me like lightening on a rod. My moment of truth had come to me not only had I found a topic but realized that what she said could span across life in general. So since then I have lived for what I love to do what makes me happy and doing what I want to do and not what others tell me I want to do. I still keep I contact with Professor Diesler and she always has something interesting to say… food for my thoughts.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T…

There are many reasons I have made it this far in my college career. Some of it is from my drive to excel, another is because it is something I need to do. Either way, I have been blessed with wonderful opportunities and come in contact with many motivational people. Most have one professional person who helps them decide what they are doing with life, shows them the ropes, and supports them in general. And like most I have that as well …but slightly different. There is one person who has taught me more then she will ever know on more then one level. She has prevented bad life decisions but, let me learn from some as well. My first year in college, I was a bio major. I am certain that 2 weeks in I would have given up if she had not studied with me every night. When I realized that I really didn’t know how to study she said she didn’t know either. But I watched her process and saw the dedication and focus that she had and tried to replicate it. It worked for awhile but I finally realized it just wasn’t for me. Now I know I could never be her and honestly I don’t want to but I do take lessons from her. She is the only person only who showed me how to organize my life, telling me how to say “NO”, and reminding me on numerous accounts that “you can only do ONE thing at a time”. I would have never have pushed so hard or been as confident with myself if it wasn’t for her encouraging me and pointing me in the right direction.
Professionalism is a point of perception one could say. Why do I say this? Because you can call a teacher “professional” but that doesn’t mean they are. I have seen and heard more “professional” people do so many unprofessional acts it is sick. So, I look to other sources for my professional cues. If you would tell me I had to choose a person who has influence me in my professional career, personal life, and educationally I would tell you it is Ashley Carnahan. Some may argue that she could not be a role model if she is my age but I beg to differ. Through her I have learned how to properly conduct myself in meetings, in classes and in life in general. I must say that watching her speak, excelling in every aspect of her life has affected me greatly. When I am unhappy in my personal life it is libel to seep to my educational world and professional world. Therefore a big part of being professional is controlling my personal issues. Ashley has taught me to do what makes me happy, be confident and classy. She may not be a “professional” but give her a year to get her MBA and she will be more then qualified.

Take One...Take Two ...Thrid Time's the Charm!

There are so many different paths which lead to me to where I am now. Through my time at Westminster I have been more then a few majors and been in a little over a few organizations. Trying to pin point on specific class or moment that lead me to discovering what my capstone would be is not easy. Maybe others can say this event cause this event which set this light bulb off and now look at me. But as far as I go … its take one or two pushes and pulls to figure out not only my capstone but also my career. Since I cannot pick just one to talk about I will talk about a few events. In college, my experiences outside of the classroom have far outweighed my experiences in the classroom. However I am thankful for both because without either I would have never realized what I want to do for capstone and a career.
I came into college intent upon being the best at most things, getting straight A’s and going on to graduate from med school someday. Now as a senior, I am getting ready to graduate and go into the Airforce with a completely different out look on life. Honestly, having been in the capstone 601 really made me think all about who I am and also what I want to do. Going into it I knew I wanted to so something creative because that is who I am. After being shot down time and time again for my capstone proposal I decided I needed something else. I was more focused on planning an event then broadcasting. I was at a crossroads because event planning is what I love and want to do with my life. But I needed to show my professors that my broadcasting lessons were not in vain. My decision stemmed from being forced to sit down and look at what I was interested in and finding something that would leave me with a feeling of accomplishment. So, I used one of my interests. Among other interests I love WWI. I am a big buff on it. Pretty much anything that deals with the military intrigues me. So I decided to take that interest and funnel into something I know I love doing in broadcasting. I love making movies. I did it in my video production class and it was wonderful and fun! So I thought why not do it again? This time it is a little harder and a bit more stressful, but because of my roles in broadcasting and other extra curricular I believe I am able to accomplish my documentary of a World War II Veteran paralleled with an Iraq Soldier.
There you have it! I was push and forced to think of something that was interesting rewarding and I have come up with a task to full fill. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. It’s a wonderful feeling.

A Documnetary .. Really?

After many grueling months of head slamming and brain crunching from more then just me my capstone theme has finally emerged. I have had 3 proposals. For me coming up with two proposals was hard enough not to mention the fact of getting discouraged. I was hung up on a few issues such as life long goals and things of that nature. while it is an important part of my college career I was honestly just thinking about it too hard and too much. There is a time to to make certain aspects o your life hard and this did not need to be one of them. So after much ado i have finally figured it out. I am blending several interests into one. I am a history fanatic when it come to wars and WWII.I just love to read about it and learn about it. I needed something to hold my enthusiasm if I was going to spend an entire semester on a project. I also need to be very passionate about it as well. So i sat back and though about it and realized that i was really passionate about supporting the Troops and honoring veterans. I also do not think enough people realize just what they do for our country. with our soldiers and our veterans there would not be the America that we know today. So I decided that supporting troops and World War two needed to somehow be apart of my capstone. What else need to be incorporated into my capstone was a event. If there is one thing that I absolutely love to do it is plan events. on campus I have been VP of special events or have planned one of the organization's biggest event of the season. I am also the Special events chair for the student government so if there is anything that needed to incorporated into my Broadcasting Capstone. My professor was nice enough to stick it out with indecisiveness until the end. finally he suggested a documentary. I though that is pretty interesting and We figured out that i should do one on troops and veterans. So my capstone for 2008 will be called "Colliding Times". It is a documentary which parallels the life of a World War Two veteran and a Iraq soldier of veteran. It will address the differences and similarities between the two lives including romance, war front experience and much more. I am so very excites about my capstone i feel that it is going to be something that I can look back and be proud of. Knowing the i can put a documentary together all by myself and sill work for the greater good always please me. That is another place where I got hung up on my search for capstone.. I wanted something with meaning. I have spent so many years going through motions learning but never really letting an of my projects have an impact on mys for the people around me. For my senior project though, this was something that would be looked at by many. While it may be something out of the ordinary it is something iw ill enjoy and truly be happy to get a message across. And with a plus note I can plan en event. On the date of my Premiere i can plan a small shindig for those that are coming. It will be a lovely thing.

The Best Show

I have seen many Thursday nights dedicated to "the County Line"(Westminster's News Program). Every Thursday at 7:30have pm many Broadcasting students gather to produce our news program. We have been doing the show for many years and we a pretty set pattern down. There is always room for improvement of course but this last show i think was absolutely perfect, or at least very close to it. It all started off with the packages. They were strong and clear and overall just well put together. The readers we used this week were interesting and relevant to the community I thought as well. Maybe it was a just a good week for the news world, I'm not sure but everything just kinda fell in our laps last week. One of the bigger parts of the show that worked outstandingly well was the producing. One of my friends was producing last week and it was his first time. He was a bit nervous but i was impressed with that work that he did. He utilized his AP's and made sure that everyone was on track with stories throughout the week. He put a nice rundown together for the crew to follow for the show. The crew was a nice conglomerate of people as well. I was one for the last ones to come in so I ended up as prompter girl but everyone seemed to do there job well. The floor director cued people on time. The cameras were smooth and did have any problem moving to there spots ans such. The audio went well. Even sports went smoothly! No stalls or graphic problems or anythign I was quite happy with it. The anchors looked and spoke wonderfully. Of all the shows to go very well i was glad that it was our last one for the year. Now only was it our last show but it was also the senior send off show which was nice. We have such great talent graduating from here. If I can do half as well as them next year then I will feel like I have accomplished something. There was one slight problem as I recall at the moment. There was a slide show of the seniors and for some reason the sound did get on air. We had it in the studio but the audience couldn't get hear it. I Would really like to know how that happened. But either way it was a wonderful show!

Understanding

There are many times in life when you think you have it all figured out. You sit and think I know how to do this, I know what they will say and I think everyone will think it’s a great idea. Unfortunately, no one knows everything. You can’t make everyone happy and in most cases nothing is done perfectly. Everyone has there own perception, and no matter what you do someone will think it is wonderful and someone else will think it is awful. But what does any of this have to do with broadcasting? Well, I can tell you… everything. FI you understand that people can find the good and the bad in everything then you can prepare yourself when you present your work. Now this applies for those who work hard and still end up getting torn apart when presenting a package or news story. Granted if you just aren’t prepared then that is your own fault. But if you have prepared and present your paper news story, package, new TV segment, or whatever then not everyone has to like it. Broadcasting is a hard industry, a cut-throat industry. Unfortunately there are so many different tastes out there that it is hard to please all of them. Understanding that you just need to please the majority or the boss is a big stepping stone. Whether they are right or not they do control what happens. I found this out a few days ago.

One of my classes had presentations for a very big project we had great ideas in our class for these different projects. For many weeks and weeks were spent deciding on topics for our projects. We wanted them to be perfect. The topic had to be something that interested us because we were going to be spending a lot of time on them. The day we presented I knew was going to be hard. I was confident and very adamant about my topic. It was everything I wanted caring, eventful and patriotic. I, like everyone else, had put way too much effort into trying to find something that worked for me. I knew going into it my presentation that my professors might not like my idea but I thought that it would still do the trick. I was wrong. They liked the patriotic factor but thought it too eventful for the project I was doing. While I disagreed and felt that they missed the whole point I succeeded and decided to go along with it. This is where the understanding that you can’t please everyone comes in handy. I knew they might not like the complete idea and I would have to alter it. I didn’t mind that they do not fully like it. By understanding that not everyone likes one concept, I had already prepared myself for it. I’ve decided in broadcasting you have to be able to adapt to anything. Whether it is as simple as the change in a news schedule or a completely new proposal… adapting and understanding is the key.

und

Tennis Tennis Tennis

So there is a saying that goes: “You learn something new everyday.” Well, I certainly felt that way this week. I did a new segment of “the County Line” this week and I absolutely loved it. My assignment was sports so I went to the producer, T.J., and asked him what he wanted from me. After much ado about nothing we settled on me getting interviews form the tennis team. I thought to myself oh this will be fun and not too difficult but not everything works out easy. I set out to the tennis courts to grab a few interviews. I was wrong in thinking it would be easy. When I loaded up my car I realized that it wouldn’t start and the practice courts were so far away. Well I solved my dilemma by calling my roommate who came on the shoot with because she drove the car. After my car didn’t start I thought that was the rough patch for the day, apparently I was wrong because we got lost trying to get to the courts and once we got there they were in deep in practice. Thankfully Scooter, the coach, let me take them one by one and get en I went to interviews.. I only expected to do like three but I ended up doing the whole team (a whopping 6 players) Well I started to do the interviews and when I went to white balance it kept giving me an SW error. Now I am pretty good at troubleshooting a camera and figuring out what is wrong but I just had no idea what this was. So I tried everything I know to make not so bright and easier to white balance Well I tried and tried but nothing came of it. I really needed to shoots I went ahead and filmed it anyway. Lucky me it gave me the bluest video I have ever seen. I felt so bad I tried so hard and nothing came of it. Considering what a tight schedule I run on I wasn’t about to go get more interviews all over again so I sat down with adobe and started fiddling with the video affects. By the end of it, my blue video looked like very good video. I found coloring adjustments and they made a world of difference. So over the course of this week I have learned something new everyday!

A View From above

This past Friday A professional came in to view our work. It was wonderful and so exciting! I was very sad because i had to go take a test and couldn't stay for the last 20 min. But for the time I was there i learned so much! I always love getting feedback from professionals.I personally think it id one of the best ways to learn . They are the ones out there doing it everyday. They know what type of work will be put on air and what won't. The best part is after criticizing you work you can make changes and be that much better.
Well we could only choose one package that we had done thus far. I chose my most recent one about student rovers (high school and college students who help out at the voting polls). I used it for a Deadline assignment in class and i shot it completely on my own. The shot went really well and i felt that package and that stand up in it all were pretty decent. When the lady looked at my package she said to use the diamond effect and interview and actually student and follow them around. I did actually interview three students but lets just say if you put a camera in front of high school students they don't always know what to do with themselves. So I did attempt something along those lines. What I really learned wasn't really from what she told me about my package specifically but she told us all that had an almost reoccurring theme. Use less officials and make them more personable with an almost one on one theme between the viewer and a person in your story that they can connect with. This will not only make it more interesting for the viewer but they will be able to understand the point of the story better. Another thing i learned is stay away form boring officials. The only thing they do is bog the story down and nobody wants to see a a meeting after they have been in one for work all day. The last thing i learned was how to ask interviewers questions. Although she did not give me examples of them she didn't even say anything about the questions that i asked the interviewees but i realized i need to ask them better questions. Asking more personal questions to get a more personal answer will enhance the package. Also I already have the boring information and the statistics why would i need it relayed to me again by another person. I also think i need to put a few more stats in my packages so the audience learns more. Overall for as busy as i have been I think I learned more this week then any other week thus far. I'm actually pretty pleased with how far i have come in reporting this semester.

A city of News ...

A city of experiences. That is what I would call Chicago. This weekend I was in charge of the Westminster College Student Government (SGA) spring trip. The senate chose Chicago since we have been too NYC for the last few years. The one thing that seemed to be a theme on this trip was packages and reporting. Everywhere we went i felt like i could make a package out of. I saw a man on the street getting interviewed when we first entered the city and from there on everything i saw became a package. It is funny how you sit and think of camera angles and what would be the best kind and what people would give the best interviews. I never knew that i could automatically think like that but if you do it enough i guess that is what happens. Here are all the random scenarios that i encountered while Chicago that could have become packages.. well a few of them.
A package could have been made on the awful train system. It was confusing and half of it wasn't running. More then a few of us got on the wrong train but made it to where we needed to be ok. The construction wasn't marked very well at all and most Chicago natives didn't even know where it was.
There was a "homeless" guy as he called him self who needed money to sleep in a male homeless house. But he was clean cut and he had a briefcase and he held a poster with his resume on one side and his wanted picture on another. The resume itself was enough to be intrigued as a reporter. There was the speech he was giving to one train car to the next about the money and a place to stay.
The best part pf the trip was hard news that reporters would have just melted at. After hopping on train to go to the movies, a flow of people started coming from the train car in front of us. There was a fight between a 10 year old and a 40 year old. Apparently this 10 year just jumped on the guy and started talking "smack to him" as one man said. And then the punches started flowing. If only there had been a reporter there to capture the scene. not only was there a little kid but a security guard got beat up as well.
Jeremiah and myself thought it would be a great idea to make a short film/ reality show on our wanderings one night. We didn't quite know where we were going and there was nothing to do but walk around so that is what we did. But while wandering we made some friends and met some real characters.
there are so many other stories that we could have done. not that Chicago has anything to do with our audience but it would have provided entertainment and anymore if you can entertain then that is half the battle

Would You Give Up Your Source?

This week I was Posed an interesting question. It all started when my Communications Law class started talking about Media and the Law/ Ethics. Well, being the only broadcasting major in the class I was singled out and as this question: Would you give up your source in a trial if they brought you into a court case? ....
Talk about being caught off guard. Up until now i never gave it much thought. It something you don't think about until you are put in that situation. Well i had to give and answer the professor was waiting on me. My first response was that it depended on the situation. Because I'm not one to rat someone out that has helped me I'm also not the type of person who would let a rapist or terrorist go free. Well, that answer did not go over to well. So I said No. I would not divulge my sources for a trial. The way I see it is this: these people trust me which is why they tell me information. If I loose that trust then I loose my Information. Not only do I suffer but the public will suffer because they will not have the information that i have to give them anymore. So I chose the "don't bite the hand that feeds you" route.
That seemed to please my professor for about a 30 seconds and then she throws at me this ... what if it was between that and going to jail? Well I'll be honest I'm no martyr. I will do the right thing as I see it but even though I still feel that every situation should be handled in its own way is still had to answer. Again this is a lot to decide in a matter of 30 seconds... at least i felt that it was. I was deciding whether to end my career as a reporter (essentially) and possibly get marked by the party which I handed to the police or go to jail. So either way its just not a good situation. Plus, I would say I have pretty god morals. I don't like innocent people going to jail and certainly disapprove of a criminal going free. But if there is one thing that I have learned in life is that sometimes you have to make decisions based on your own personal needs.
In the end of the massive debate in my head I came to one conclusion... I would not let myself go to jail for someone Else's mishap even if I was threatened my by source. After all at least I could have a job and a life.... even if witness protection gave me a new name and place to live.
I came to all of these conclusions but i can't really say if they are right or wrong. In the end who is to say they are or aren't anyways. I started really thinking about them after class and wondering if my answers were something I would stick by. I have decided that they are but again I'll never really know until I've been faced with it. I am also still in school and don't really know exactly what its like to get a story that would have such drama associated with it. So its interesting to see what people would do.... so i pose this question to you.... What would you do if the police came to you and asked you to hand over information regarding your source, would you do it or refrain?

From Place to Place

From Miami to Pittsburgh the news is constantly informing people. Even thought the basics all seems to be the same there are several Differences from region to region. I recently traveled to Miami for vacation. Now normally on vacation I don't spend my time pouring over the local news, but when there are flood watches and you are on the beach the best thing to keep you updated is the local news. I also grabbed a newspaper in the morning for leisurely reading so I would say I got a nice fill of news while I was on vacation.
Of all the things I read there was one thing that stuck out in my mind. This was the culture of the newspaper and TV. I understand that I live in a very small town with a very specific audience and a limited cultural span. However I have lived in a Atlanta and seen the differences between the two. There is much more of a cultural aspect to the news . Obviously there are more people in the city and therefore there are many more events to choose from. Also Atlanta is an international hub in the united States and so the audience is much wider then it is here. One thing that I notice when i watch the news or read the Atlanta Journal Constitution compared to the New Castle news a lot of the focus is on the community versus the schools. Here is western PA a lot of the news stems from what is going on at the schools ... plays, sports community service. For a small town like New Wilmington much of the news deals with the college campus. Even though New castle is down the road what is going on with the young adults and students in schools and out of schools is a big part of the newspaper... well that and obituaries. The audiences are older in PA compared to Atlanta. Atlanta is more hip and younger. The audiences are more interested in what events are going on compared to the going on of a school. There is also more crime and such in a city but that is mostly population based. Even when the audiences are different there is a big cultural difference. While her in New Wilmington we might mention Kwanzaa or the Hanukkah, in Atlanta they will have articles upon articles about it. The audience is more interested in those sorts of things whereas in PA they are not.

So you can tell the difference between a big city and a small town media but what really stuck me in when I went to Miami is the fact that they had essentially two different newspapers in one. What do I mean by this? Well, the newspaper was a full paper and then it had a duplicate of the same paper just in Spanish. Now there are a lot of Spanish, Mexicans, Koreans and Chinese in Atlanta but never have I seen the morning paper delivered with two different languages. And is is the audience of the media because they had various all Spanish channels as well as English. I must say I have never been in a place in America where I didn't understand the lady in the McDonald's .. they all spoke Spanish and I was so very confused. But the Newspaper was the part that surprised me the most.
After sitting back and taking a look at all of this I realized how beneficial it would be to have a background in another cultural and possibly be bilingual. I always thought that understanding other cultures were important but you really don't think about it until something like a bilingual newspaper swings your way. It makes you think about the benefits learning different cultures.

Story Ideas

The hardest things about reporting is coming up with a story. This past Friday class did an excercise that ended up giving us a ton of story ideas. This is great for me beause while i have a fair amount of ideas I am always afraid that it won't hit our target audience. As a college news station you would think that our target audience would be the students. While i do know a bunch of people who watch The County Line, there are just as many if not more more community people who watch the news show as well. For the stationx this is great because it means that we are reaching out to more then just the college. unfortunately for the reporter it is hard because then you have to try and find things that are more community related then college related. Granted the people who are watching The County Line outside of the Westminster are probably watching to keep up with new things going on at the college, we would still like to keep up with the event s of the community as well.
So back to our class discussion. I technically wasn't there because i was working on a package... surprise, surprise. But i talked to one of my classmates and asked her how class had went. She said it was one of the best classes yet. I just thought it figures i miss the best class because of a package. But wither way it got me thinking. I started thinking of all the different angles you can go about finding a package and filming a package. When you stop and think of doing a package most people think "oh i need a person or an event." They miss out on the fact that a news story can be about ANYTHING. For instance, one girl in my class told me she wanted to do a package on how to pronounce the word "VOLANT." As silly as it sounds when you think about it, it is very informative and entertaining at the same time. This story didn't call for an event for or even for a specific person it is based of of a community. I love it because it kind of brought things to a new perspective for me. Telling me i didn't have to do a profile or find an event was very invigorating for me . While i love to film events, it is hard for me because i am usually participating or running the event so its kind of hard to do both at the same time. This new way of thinking about reporting has given a new outlet.
Now as a broadcaster finding a story is apart of what we do. For those outside of our field, they love to ask questions about it. And my favorite question is "how do you come up with he stories?" It's not such an odd question but it is hard to answer. I like to think that we have to be "in the know" about most things in and around campus but what it oils down to most is communication. Communication between peers and faculty between the reporter and the rest of the world. WE talk to people and we ask questions and sooner or later we'll find something to spark our interest

Senior Project Thoughts

So I have been thinking a lot about capstone lately and my senior project. Our senior project is supposed to be related to what we want to do after we graduate and in what specialty. Frankly, I don't know what exactly I want to do. I have no idea whether I am going to graduate school and go get a masters or whether I will just go find a job at a news station. And lately I've been questioning if I will even be able to get a job at a news station or radio station. I think I've have come to the conclusion that I am kind of apathetic to what I do because I like doing just about everything. And the way I see, if I don't like it then I will just switch jobs. I personally don't think that you can judge if you are actually going to like something for a long period of time unless you do it. I can say that I love to do camera work but I also don't have to do it for 10 hours everyday. I can say that I like to put packages together but I don't just solely do that either. That is one reason I think internships are so very important, it helps you get an idea of if you really want to do something for the rest of your life or at least a long period of it.

But back to the topic at hand... my senior project. I have always loved to be creative and I am much better at putting colors together then taking and writing news story after news story. So I have come to the conclusion that I want to do some with appearances on air whether it be makeup, hair, body shape and clothes on camera or set design. Basically what color look best on people and on camera what shapes are most complimented by the camera and things of this nature. And as far as set design I would delve into how to design a set that is easiest to work around Such as wheels on a furniture set so as to maximize the different ways to arrange the set. This would also be helpful if you needed to move cameras around... just different things of that nature. I would personally find this enjoyable and fun. Plus, this more creative angle will let me do what I am good at ... making things look good, clean and neat (i mean that in the most humble way possible). I get to be creative is what it comes down to and for me that is the one thing that I HAVE to be able to do as an adult in my job.

blogging

Blogging is like keeping a journal. I have never been one to keep a journal except when i need to blow off steam so this is a new thing for me. When I first started out I honestly thought it was kind of silly. Then I realized that I could be doing a lot of more random things for class. I actually don't mind it and have been able to make a connection of why we do it. I think its actually a good way of just talking about broadcasting and things that happen and influence it. What really surprises me is that i have been able to find something to write about each week.... and I've actually remembered to do it each week. But this week I sat down and realized that I really don't have too much to say. Maybe because I have a lot on my mind or maybe its just that nothing that interesting has happened. Expect for one thing, the writer strike. This week the writers of TV decided that they will come back to work. I know everyone i talked are so excited that their TV shows will be back on. I can't say that i blame them... its hard to stop a routine .... especially when it involves a plot like Grey's. I love how people get so into certain shows that if you walk in and need to talk to them during the show you get shushed. Writers have a an uncanny way of writing and plotting shows to keep viewers hooked. Its amazing the power that the media has. If you think about the media is what people look to when they need to know something important. The news supplies people with events that are happening on an almost minute to minute basis. Thats why being the news channel with the story first is so important because we as an audience want to know whats going on right now. If you give us something that happened two days ago our interest is lost; its not the present. Grammy and Oscars let us in on who's the best at what. It lets us know what music is hip and which movies we should see. Instead of spending our time looking for a good movie or wondering what we should listen to... its handed to us though the media. Yes, we still make our own judgments and yes we all have different tastes but for the most part wheat we think is cool is all based off of what we watch see and hear on the media. I just think its fascinating that the media has such a power over their audience.

Superbowl ... all the angles

Superbowl. So many things come to mind. Some think football, some think commercials, or parties and others think oh that thing with the half time show... but very few would think work. Yes, for many it is work you just don't think about it all that often. For the players and coaches it is work. For the stadium employees its work but even more still for the anchors, camera men and producers at FOX its one of the biggest days of the year. And for me studying broadcasting i found The Superbowl in a whole new light.
After being a Broadcast major and learning all the ins and outs of the industry TV and Movies are pretty much ruined for you. At least that is the way it is for me. You start paying attention to how programs are sequenced, different camera shots, and anchor posture and things like that. There no need to even say sometimes its just hard to watch tv after understanding how it all works.
Well at any rate, the whole reason i am saying all this is because this year was very interesting to watch the Superbowl. I sat at my aunts and uncles party and watched as the camera gave these interesting shots. Most of them were quite good. There was a shot when the marines were playing the drums and it was take from down low and to the side and had just great composition to it! i was so excited.. yes i do excited about things like that. Then there was another great reaction shot of Jordan Sparks before she sang the National Anthem and you could tell she was incredibly nervous. (she did an amazing job but that is a side note) I felt like the sequencing was great and everything was just looking so good and then all of a sudden there was this awful shot it was similar to the one i liked so well earlier but much more drastic. It was straight up into the face of the marine. But it had no compositional value. Nothing was on the third and the angle was so steep you saw mostly ceiling... which the vectors there just didn't do anything for the shot. I was shocked .. i actually think i spoke the words "that is awful" out loud. I was just surprised but other then that i think that it was a good try .. just not quite on. There were two other problems that i had with the superbowl and it wasn't the commercials.
The first problem was with the anchors. They were just boring.. and no personality. The Half time people were fine but the actual hosts were just .. odd i guess. The only other thing that i had a problem with is that they cut off a few commercials before the guy in the commercial was done talking. The whole thing was just awkward but I can imagine that they have so many commercials that they have to play that they have to be on top of it. Overall i thought it was a very good game and show!

Media Ambitions

So I am in this Cluster Course that I am really enjoying. I personally like it because it combines my major and minor ( Broadcasting Major with a Marketing Minor). Plus, it is two very interesting classes. The Cluster consists of a Communications Law class and a Communications Ethics course. Now, you make stop and think how can those be so interesting? Well, from a broadcasting perspective it's hard to write or talk on air when there are so many boundaries that you have to be careful not cross. Granted, the media is all about pushing the limits, but when you have all kinda of information at your finger tips how are going to decide what is relavant to the audience and what is too much. You have to understand the law and ethics of communications to provide the best stories to the audience. For example, Heath Ledger's death blew up the radio waves and made the T.V.s Blaze. Everyone wants the big story and to be the one with the "story first" ... I am all for that, but make sure that the information you are putting out is correct without assumptions. I am a big advocate of not jumping to conclusions. Not to say that they were but if they were they presented it like it. There weere so many stories and i know that is the way it is for most celebrity deaths but still there still needs to be some class to the media. Am I wrong? For the most part I think the media does a decent job of keeping the information correct but in the case of Heath Ledger i think that everyone just jumped to conclusions. Was it suicide or just an accidental overdose... so many questions and not enough real answers. In the end it just confuses people. In my mind, the job of the media is to give correct, real, and entertaining information. Journalists dothis pretty well... sometimes thye just get ahwad of themselves I guess. I would like to think of myself as an ethical journalist. I would like to think also, that i don't give people information unless it is the truth. With the classes i am taking it is making me so much more aware of what the audience has to go through. When they hear all the jumble of information and its hard to decide what truth and what are lies or assumptions. Until college I had always just gone through the motions when it came to what the media had to say. I took the informationa and never questioned, but never actually took too much too heart either. Now with more awareness i feel like i am a better at broadcasting and much better at being an audience.

Everyday is a new Adventure

OK my first post illustrates the what happens when you ask questions. You see i was on Choir tour with the Concert Choir from Westminster College (obviously) and we had some free time in Memphis, TN. Well, a bunch of us were walking down Beale street towards late int he afternoon and this homeless man walks up to a us and asks if he can show my friend Chris a magic trick. Well we stopped and watched and let him show us. As I was watching this trick I was also looking around and checking out the atmosphere of Beale street and I found a camera man filming this interaction of the man and the magic trick. He was standing in front of a van marked FOX 31 NEWS. This sparked my interest further and I decided to investigate. After the man had got done showing us his trick he asked for money. We all didn't have cash on us so politely said sorry. Surprisingly, the man was kind about it and just said he hoped we had a good evening. As my friends walked away I walked toward the man with the camera who had since finished filming and turned to the van. I walked up to and inquired about the filming and explained my curiosity because i am a Broadcast major. He told me him and the reporter were doing a story on panhandlers and so he was getting clips. As it turns out, the reporter came over and i did Introductions and ended up interviewing my friends and the rest of us got on camera for cut away shots and such. I thought it was so interesting to watch them do their job. The reporter and I talked for a few minutes and she told me about her internship and how it was the best thing she ever did because it made her realized what she liked to do and what she didn't. Since I am Junior and haven't had an internship I was super excited to hear about her experience. We finished our conversation and I finished my time on Beale street thinking about how exciting it will be to have an internship and learn what i really want to do after college. And don't you know later on that night they played the story! So funny how life brings just what you need to know when you know it.