December 10 and December 11

December 10- Business Department, Today me and Sarah conducted interviews with some staff in the Business department. 1 hour
December 10- Music Department- Today we took the music department photograph with all the faculty in the music department. 1 hour
December 11- Interlachen- Today we worked on correcting mistakes and edits on all the pages of the yearbook that are completed on InDesign. 2 hours

Total-4 hours

Final

In my Midterm write-up, I spoke about how the most valuable thing I’ve learned thus far in news media practicum and my education in broadcast journalism was the importance of communication. Though that is completely true and necessary, communicating is not the key to my success as a journalist.

This second half of the semester I have stepped up, and have taken more of an initiative to learn new things, realizing that I will earn my own success by the amount I put in here.

By taking charge, and not being afraid of a new challenge, such as using the HD video camera and going to video tape something just to learn something new. By playing around with this video camera, I learned how comfortable I really am with it.

This half of the semester I decided to not volunteer for things just because my friend’s were volunteering as well, but because I needed to step up and learn new things independently. The beginning of the semester I took photos of soccer games, student portraits, and helped with any of the older students who are in Interlachen. Interlachen is where I have really gotten involved this semester.

Interlachen is where I have put my focus on, because they allow me to take photos, video footage, and write stories for anything student-based that I want. Their flexibility and trust has given me the nerve to check out the video camera, and just go film something. Photography is what my previous schooling was focused on, so that is my “safety net.” By volunteering with more video-based assignments, I realized by breaking away from my nitch, I found something else that I really enjoy.

This part of the semester I also volunteered for more events that aren’t necessarily “school events,” but rather events off-campus that could possibly involve Florida Southern students. Especially most recently around the holidays, I volunteered on nights to go off into Lakeland and film some of the annual holiday events. Some of the events include the Lakeland parade and the annual Snowfest on Lake Mirror.

By taking Broadcast Production at the same time as News Media Practicum I, I also feel like I have had a great advantage. By working with some of the older students in Broadcast, I have really had the hands-on experience of working with video, and editing in Final Cut Pro. These 2 classes hand in hand helped me feel more comfortable with the equipment, but also helped me realize what I want to do with my career.

Coming in to school here, I wasn’t 100% positive if I wanted to be on the print or broadcast side of the journalism world. By taking practicum and broadcast hand in hand, I’m now positive that I want to be in broadcast. I still am not sure what exactly I want to do in my career, but I do know that I am in the right field. I’m positive that I made the right decision of switching majors, and I’m sure I made the right choice in transferring to school here.

December 7 and December 8

December 7- Annual McKay Christmas Tree Lighting.
Tonight I worked on taking photos for Interlachen of the tree lighting. I had difficulty using the on-camera flash and getting good light in the pictures since it was dark out. All in all, it went well.
1 hour

December 8- Today I went into the Interlachen lab and volunteered to do some computer work. I sent out individual emails to each organization on campus, both to the student president of the organization, and to the faculty advisor. It took a while and a lot of the emails were returned, and we had to resolve the issues.
3 hours

December 5, and December 6

December 5- Tonight I shot footage of the annual Christmas tree lighting at the school for Interlachen. I worked with Sarah, and we practiced using the camera settings for night-time.
1 hour

December 6- Today I worked with Cynthia in the Interlachen lab. She taught me how to upload video using their HD cameras.
1 hour

December 2, 3, and 4th

December 2nd- Interlachen - Tonight I took photos for Interlachen at the Gingerbread house event in Spivey.
2 hours

December 3rd- Interlachen- Today I took video of the Communication open house in Room 102 in the Communication department.
1 hour

December 3rd- Interlachen- Tonight I also took photos at the Alpha Chi Omega formal which took place at the Hilton Garden Inn in Lakeland.
2 hours

December 4th- Interlachen- Today I took video footage of Snowfest, the event that took place on Lake Mirror. I'm really enjoying using the HD camera.
2 hours

December 1, 2010

Interlachen- Today we discussed more in-depth what kind of photos can be taken for the Science department candid photos. I signed up for a lot of events in the upcoming week as well.
1 hour

November 10, 2010 & November 17, 2010

Nov 10- Interlachen meeting - Today we went over the new assignments, and continued to talk about the contact information status of getting in touch with the Science department.
1 hour

Nov 10- Portraits- This week we also took portraits for Interlachen. We spent the hour going around campus asking around to try to get more people to come get their portraits taken.
1 hour

Nov 17- Interlachen- Today we went over the new projects for the upcoming week.
1 hour

November 1, 2010 & November 3, 2010

Interlachen meeting- We discussed upcoming events, and got assigned new photo assignments. I was assigned to take photos of the Science department.
1 hour

Interlachen Student Portraits- Today we worked in the President's dining hall and took photos for Interlachen. We spent the first hour walking around campus trying to get people to come get their photos taken.
2 hours

Wednesday, October 27

Today I went to Interlachen meeting. Like always, we discussed our projects and signed up for new ones. I signed up to take pictures at the ladies soccer game held tonight. 1 hour.

Tonight I went to the ladies soccer game, and took action photos. I went to the lab and edited these photos afterwards. 2 hours.

Total hours-  3 hours

Saturday, October 23

Today I took photos for Interlachen of the boys soccer game. I worked on perfecting skills with the interlachen camera, and took a good amount of action shots.

Total hours- 2 hours

Wednesday, October 20

Today I attended the Interlachen meeting at 12:00 pm for an hour. We discussed the chain of events over the next week and signed up for various events. I signed up to take photos and the boys soccer game the following Saturday.

Total hours- 1 hour

Thursday, October 7

Today I went with Sarah to take photos for Interlachen. We went to the Business and Economic Department ice cream social. There wasn't many people there, but we stayed for an hour and took pictures of the professors and some of the students who came to the event.

Total Hours- 1 hour

Midterm

Midterm

As soon as I began my semester here this fall at Florida Southern as a transfer student, I knew that this major would be very different than photography which I received my Associate Art degree in at an art school in New York. As a communications major, the obvious would be that “communication” would be the key factor. I didn’t realize how true that would really be until I started working on practicum hours, and working in groups with more than one person. Joining Interlachen, Wellness TV, and Moc Sports has given me the first-hand experiences of learning to work in groups. Timing and understanding have been absolutely crucial to working in a new group. Communication has been essential, and the lack of communication has showed me what can happen if communication is lacking or fails to get through to the other person.

From the get go of signing up for Interlachen, I knew I would be able to use my skills in Photography to add to the new Interlachen staff. Immediately, I signed up for a bunch of different photographic assignments such as taking staff photos for ROTC, photographing the Sigma Chi Car wash, and taking photos at the Business School’s Ice Cream Social. Every single one of my assignments was made clear to me, who I’d be working with, where and when I would pick up my necessary equipment, and exactly what needed to get done for each assignment. With an organized group of editors, we were organized at least a week ahead of each event and knew exactly what would be going on in the following weeks.

During every week I worked on a project, I saw the possibilities of what can get accomplished with tight organization, time-savvy scheduling, and great communication. I also brushed up on my Photography skills as I worked with Patrick on the Canon EOS Rebel camera.

On the other hand, I also learned how difficult working in groups can be. Working on a segment for Wellness TV can be a lot more challenging than it seems. When paired up with four individuals with different schedules, different ways of accomplishing goals, and different skills, it can be hard to pull a package together within a week.

In Wellness TV, this is the first time I had learned what it takes to create a segment in such a short amount of time. My second week at Wellness TV I had signed up for the segment based on healthy eating, specifically focusing on “Sweet Alternatives.” Knowing the 4 girls in my group, and knowing we had a little less than 2 weeks to pull it together, we began exchanging numbers, and figuring out what each one of us would be able to bring to the table to be successful in having a well-done package.

With more advanced knowledge of the programs and how the segments work, some chose to proceed in the process without the help or the aid of any of the “new” girls. This cross in communication led to me not being able to put in my full effort into the first opportunity I had at wellness TV. Learning from mistakes, we put these miscommunications behind us, and are now able to better communicate in order to have every single person’s effort for a better overall endeavor.

In Conclusion, these practicum hours truly taught me how vital communication is while not only being involved in these clubs, but what being in the working communication industry is all about: communication.

Fifth Week- September 27 and September 29

25 mins - Monday September 27- Today I worked with Jessica and Sarah taking ROTC pictures for the Interlachen. We met at 3 at the ROTC picture and gathered the staff. I learned how to arrange large groups to look good in photos and how to shoot groups.

60 mins- Wednesday September 29 - Interlachen Meeting - Today we discussed the events that were coming up, and I signed up to take photos of the Business open house ice cream social next week.

Total Mins- 85 mins

Fourth Week- September 20, and September 22

60 mins - Monday September 20- Instead of meeting with the entire Wellness Staff, I met with Sarah and Krissy for an hour. We worked together on our healthy eating segment. The topic is sweet alternatives.

45 mins- Wednesday September 22- We discussed the theme of this years yearbook. Its going to be Simplicity. We discussed color themes for this year and new events that are coming up.

Total Hours- 105 min

Third week - September 13 and September 15

15 mins- Monday September 13- We briefly spoke about the new episode that aired and we confirmed our groups for the next episode. We made plans to work with out group throughout the week, and I plan to come up with some ideas on my own during the week.

60 mins- Wednesday Septemeber 15- We discussed different projects and opportunities that were available to us to be a part of. We were given the chance to sign up for the photo or video assignments of our choosing. I signed up to photograph the Sigma Chi Car Wash. After the meeting we broke up into smaller groups. I stayed with the Photography group as they went over how to use the camera equipment.

10 mins- Wednesday September 15- We discussed progress thats already been made and different assignments for the week.

Total Hours- 85 minutes

Second Week - 30 minutes - 40 minutes - 10 minutes

Monday, September 6
Wellness TV Meeting
Today we went over ideas for the next episode. I will be a part of the Healthy Eating segment, and we are brainstorming ideas for "sweet alternatives."

Wednesday, September 8
Interlachen
Today we went over a list of events that are going on in the next week. I am signed up to photograph the ROTC staff photos.

Wednesday, September 8
Southern Sports Network
Today we watched last week's volleyball footage and interviews.


Total Hours- 80 Minutes

First Week - 30 minutes - 40 minutes - 20 minutes

Monday, August 30. (30 minutes)
Wellness TV - First Meeting
We filled out forms and watched the first episode of Wellness TV, and discussed the 3 segments for the next episode.

Wednesday, September 1 (40 minutes)
Interlachen- First Meeting
We got a brief overview from the 4 editors of ways we can all get involved. For me, I am mostly going to be involved by taking photographs.

Wednesday, September 1 (20 minutes)
Southern Sports Network - First Meeting
We watched last years footage and went over a brief overview of what we would be doing.

Total Hours - 90 minutes