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.