Going back to first base.

Spring break is over and now it is time to start over with a new project. First I would like to talk about how my spring break was. It started off real slow with little to no relaxation. All I can think about was school work and me graduating real soon. Quite exciting I must say. Anyways I was thinking a lot about my project for class and I am excited and I'm anticipating on doing another good job. I spent most of my break working and trying to look for my own place. On the road back to school I decided to start working on my portfolio and resume tapes. I am so happy that I am graduating from this school because I am going to leave with so much knowledge. So far on my resume tape I have a package I done, a couple of shots of me reading on camera as an anchor, and me being active in a speech class. The field I am trying to go into has the urge for me to be able to do numerous of things. I am excited that this class has a sports magazine online which is another way for me to broadcast my work. I feel like I will be successful and I know that there is always room for improvement. Spring break is over and now I am running back to the first base so that I can begin right where I left off.

If I knew then what I know now.

It all started when I was a little girl. I was born and raised in Chicago IL. I am an only child. My mother is a single parent mom. I must say she done a good job raising me. One thing I love the most about my mom was her stories. She always had stories for me, and I listened to each and every one of them. My mother always tried to teach me right from wrong.

Let me tell you about a story my Mother used to tell me. Out of all her stories I liked this one, “IF I Knew Then What I Know Now.” She used to say, “If I Knew Then What I Know Now” My life would have been better. I said, “Mama what you mean by that?” She told me if she would have kept her head in the books instead of going over some boys’ house, she would not have ended up pregnant at such a young age. Meaning I would not have been here if she would have stayed focused on being in school.

I was brought into this world by a young single parent. Since my mom became pregnant at such a young age, it held her from doing a lot of things. She could not go to any parties, prom, out to eat with friends, or go to any sleep over’s. My mom used to tell me going to school to get your High School diploma, and then going to College to get a degree will land you a well-paid job. She said, “If I knew that I would not be working at McDonald’s making $7.00 an hour.”

She told me one day she was speeding on her way to work because she was late, and ended up getting her license taking away. The officer asked if she had a bond card. She said, “No.” Mama told me if she would have known she could use a bond card instead of getting her license taking away she would have done so. One thing I realized was to never try to grow up fast. There are so many things I am going to have to deal with. I do not know if I am ready for the task yet. My mother told me many things about “If She Knew Then
What She Know Now.” I learned from her many mistakes.

As of right now my mom is making over 90,000 a year has 10 properties of her own, and own her own business. I must say she doing very well. Not to mention she is my Idle. It takes a strong hard woman to be able to over come that struggle.

I have a little story of my own. It is called, “What I Know Now.” I know that getting pregnant at a young age is not the right thing to do. I made it threw High School, and most of College without getting pregnant. I know that going to school to get a High School diploma and a College degree is the right step to succeed in life. I feel I’m on the right track to success. I know that if I was speeding one day for what ever reason, I should have a bond card so my license would not get taken away. Most importantly, just do not ever give up hope. Now when I decide to have my kids in the future, I can tell them my story of “If I Knew Then What I Know Now.”

Half- way through the semester.

I am excited because I am half way through the semester. So far my sports reporting class is going really good. I really like the class because my instructor makes it really easy for the students. She cares about us doing good and expects a lot out of her students. When I have a really good instructor it makes me do very well in class. My instructor builds my confidence and makes me believe in myself. I know that all things are possible and the sky does not have to be the limit. I am looking forward to my next project. I think I did well on the first one. I did well because my instructor gave me the courage because she believes in me. I cannot stress enough how much that means to me. So far I've been brainstorming on my next project idea and taking constructive criticism on my first project I done so that I will not make the same mistakes. I like the whole idea that my instructor knows her students is not perfect and stress the fact that we all can learn from our mistakes.

Step two from the midterm project is trying to pick up the pieces. I had to shoot an interview to fill in some holes and also flip my script around a little bit, and edit a couple of more things. Also, the class will be working on the website where all of our work will be showcased. I cannot wait for the semester to be over because I am ready to graduate.

What I learned so far is being able to take risks, never under estimate my work, and just be confident, truthful, and on time always.

BLOWING OFF STEAM!!!!!!!!

When you think of a blog what is your definition? We all will have different answers, but one answer sticks out to me always; A well-written, in-depth story. This is true in most cases but there are other techniques to the writing such as narrative storytelling on the web.

The storytelling on the web is more fun and has video to go along with whatever topic they decide to talk about. I viewed the New York Times: Blowing off Steam and it was a multimedia slide show. I really enjoy this type of storytelling because it is easy to follow and understand. I never really followed blogs because I don’t have time to sit there and read those long entries. The slide show on the web provided personal stories of a few sports and had wonderful music and sound bites to go along with the story. To me without the music the story would not have been as effective. If the music is appropriate enough it just makes the story flow well. Another important thing in the slide show was the sound of the game action. That was outstanding. You need that sound to make you feel like you’re there.

The class can produce this type of storytelling easily. The project I worked on was the baseball team the Renegades. We got lots of video, sound bites, and great Nat sounds, so were almost on our way if we not there already. All we need is the music and the slide show. That’s why I went into broadcast I rather see and hear what I’m reading.

THE BIG DAY! PROJECT IS DUE

Today is the day my Sports Reporting project is due. There were several of obstacles I had to overcome for success completion of the project. Coming up with the story of informing students on campus that we have a Sports team was one. I say this because you have to figure out how you going to be able to get everyone attention and if your piece could actually make some type of difference. My goal was to try and get the word out so more students could support the Renegades. The second step was getting the video to support the words of the script that needed to be written. Like I said in my previous posts we got great interviews and good b-roll. I just didn't like the fact that they were practicing indoors at Roosevelt University gym. I understand the weather did not permit them to play out doors, but I think that getting video of them practicing outdoors would have been more relevant tome writing to video. Thirdly is my script, it turned out pretty good, but I know how important it is to write to video. When it comes to broadcast writing you have to be clear and precise, and conversational. When you have video to a package you should write to what the viewer see. If you mention playing baseball or throwing the ball that is the type of video the viewer should see. We have a great deal of video to go along with the good script we have. The project is a perfect example of what writing to video means.

Some of the stories on the web is more in depth then the ones we write. I say this because they have way more details, maps, and pictures to go along with what they are saying. Their blog to me is on a professional level whereas we just write what we can to get our point across in a timely manner. I think the ones online just some of them is organized and well prepared. The databases gives you really good information, and it tells you where they got their information from with links to follow it. I'm sure I will get on that level just as long as I keep practicing.