Senior Year: Reflections of the Past

As I approach my last semester of college, I am just beginning to think about my journey.

It has been a great four years of my life that has provided tribulation and learning experiences. I took a huge leap of faith and risk when I decided to come to Missouri for school. I was from Denver and had never visited the area. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But little did I know I would enjoy it.

I can't believe three years have past. Mizzou started out as a daunting far away place but I have grown on my experience here. Moving away from home and what I knew has made me self-confident and self-aware. I had no idea I possessed the ability to go to the top journalism school and graduate from the journalism school. And I had no idea that I was as social as my shy personality deemed. 

I loved that fear of giving up a past life and almost starting over. My past life isn't gone as I still have those old friends but I got to dictate a whole new direction. Remake friends, rebuild bridges, use what I have learned to go far.

I decided to reflect on my experience to help students decide between schools. I had searched for an in-state school but was not satisfied with what I found. I visited campuses and did not feel like I belonged. So I began to search for the unaffordable route of going to school out-of-state. I applied to several colleges across the country and I got into Mizzou, the top for my degree, and I just knew I had to go. 

Here are some tips for searching for colleges: 

- Do not narrow out-of-state because of price. Mizzou is the easiest school to get in-state tuition. Stay a year and you are granted in-state tuition. Look for schools and states with easy programs like this if you really want to go out-of-state. Sometimes out-of-state is comparable to in-state pricing.

- Out-of-state can be emotionally draining for you if you need parental support. When you go out-of-state, you are alone until you start making friends. You often have to make some big decisions without parental guidance. But you also grow from these decisions. Can you do it?

- Go to schools known for your academic field of study. I did not know how important this was until I got to Mizzou. No where else can I gain the quality of education and the experience than by going to the top school for my degree. Not to mention, employers love to see the degree from the top school to make you even more employable in a tough economy. 

- Get a job and save for college now. If you are in college, work to start paying off college debt. It is quite amazing when you review finances and see that you took $10,000 out each year to pay for school and realize you are $40,000 in debt when you graduate. You begin wonder where that money went. Even if you pay off a little, it will help. 

- Make new friends and grow. Expand your network and allow yourself to be around people.

- Don't be afraid of failure. College is harder than high school. Use resources but know that things may take awhile to adjust.

-Apply to scholarships. Search sites for weird ones. Think of something you do that may narrow down the poll. Do you play a sport, instrument, volunteer, have good grades, work, or do any military service? 

Truth is, I am scared to graduate. The world is bigger than Mizzou. I have already done one big risk by leaving Colorado but moving again after I just got settled is a bit unnerving. Especially when I love the life I built.

I am most likely to San Diego after college when I graduate in December 2012. My husband and I are stationed in the Navy there which while I think will be fun, it will be hard to begin my career as a journalist out there. Number 11 broadcast market is not where I pictured myself going but with hard work again, I can do it. 

With beginning of my last semester at the Zou, I prepare to leave with my memories and heart. And let them take me where I have never imagined.

Here are some helpful links to determine how to decide a college: 

- Fox Business: How to Choose a School

- College Board: Compare Schools

- How to Figure out a Good School Checklist

Multimedia Landscape

Technology is revolutionizing how we report and gather journalism. High definition cameras catch details that were left unnoticed before and computers revolutionize the information gathering process. But with so many new technology advancements comes a multimedia landscape. Any type of journalist needs to embrace the new landscape if they want to succeed.

If you major in newspaper journalism, that does not mean you do not have to learn broadcast journalism. Sure your specialty and desire is in newspaper reporting. But the Internet allows you to take your story to the next level using different mediums. Multimedia journalism is the combination of using two or more types of media to tell a story: photos, video, graphics, interactive feeds, and print.  I can post the same story I distributed in the mornings paper on the website or I can take it to the next level. I can post the story and create a video or a photo voice presentation to go along with the piece.

Below is an example of a piece a photojournalist made about Maycie, a young blind girl who plays a musical instrument in an orchestra. Erik Castro used his talent to tell an amazing story. He published a photo with an article in a newspaper but created this piece online to accompany the work. And it was a huge addition to the story. He did not copy his print article word for word either. He searched for new details to add to the piece in this presentation.


MUSICAL MAYCIE - A Blind Girl's Life in a Children's Orchestra from erik castro | photojournalist on Vimeo.


After reading the article in the newspaper, you have information but you lack the visuals. But posting this online for readers allows you to let them hear Maycie and let her tell the story. It enhances the piece and makes it memorable to the audience.  When a reporter says something, it is another word. But when that central compelling character tells their story, that word has meaning as it is their life. You begin to hear what they sound like, see what they look like, and even begin to experience how they feel.

If you are broadcast journalist, create video slideshows. Create graphics that help people decipher information. You can write a compelling print story and even edit a longer video piece to show online if details were left out because of time restrictions of the news broadcast. However, remember the rules of journalism when deciding how to tell the story however and make sure it is still accurate and true with whatever method you use to approach the information.

Here is another example of what one Mizzou student put together. She actually won the multimedia division at POYi (Picture of the Year) a few years ago for this piece. Rachel Mummey spent a day following the couple to create a profile about a husband caring for his wife who has Alzheimer's Disease.


For better or for worse from Rachel Mummey on Vimeo.


Being a journalist is one thing. But to be great, you must learn how to use every tool around you. Take classes about being a photographer if you are a video or writer. Because being a good videographer and capturing still imagery are two different skills. If you open video editing software and do not know how to use it, learn it and put your story telling technique to the test. Because if you tell your story in more than one way, you will reach different people and learn how to tell the story in incredible ways. I am trying to learn all the mediums in the stories I have been producing. It isn't easy and is quite time consuming but I am more satisfied with my story in the end. 

Mediastorm is an excellent resource to look at for examples and find classes to help you learn to tell stories in different ways. They have several examples of how people use video and photography photos in hard news. Also look for workshops in your local community to help you learn valuable skills.

This is an example for the Mediastorm website of what could be a hard news feature.
 
A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan is the work of photojournalist Seamus Murphy. His work chronicles a people caught time and again in political turmoil, struggling to find their way. See the project at http://mediastorm.com/publication/a-darkness-visible-afghanistan