Taking a trip down Memory Lane...

I have had so many classes at WC that have influenced me and what I want to do with my life. It's very, very hard to pick just two.

I would have to say that the broadcast-related class that influenced me the most was Sports Broadcasting with Joe Onderko. Naturally, the class was dominated by males, but I realized during that time that women can work in the sports field, too. Taking the class made me realize where my heart really is. Plus, I always showed up the guys by getting the best grades on the quizzes (haha). Seriously, though, Joe was a great instructor, and he was just as supportive of me and Sky as he was the guys in the class. I know that he was a great help to Todd, Jennifer, and Burt when they were in college, and he is a big reason that they are where they are today. I just loved going to class each day and discussing all kinds of sports, and we did a lot of writing, which I also loved.

All of the BC classes had a positive influence on me, really. Radio and TV Announcing, for instance, was a great experience, and I learned so much in that class. I had the opportunity to do several interviews and packages, and I got really involved with radio news as well - which led me to my job at WKST. I also learned that anchoring on TV was not my thing. Plus, cutting my hair...I can't do it. Ever.

Outside of broadcasting, the class that influenced me the most was Non-Fiction Writing with Mrs. Garrison. I've always loved creative writing, and I thought this class would be a piece of cake. Boy, was I wrong. I struggled at the beginning, and it was especially hard because I was the only broadcasting major in a room full of English majors. But in the second half of the semester, I really found my niche in that class and my creative writing skills improved immensely. I was so used to writing research papers and news articles throughout college, and this class gave me the chance to express myself creatively. I grew to love the class and gain even more appreciation for writing.

My Journalism I class with Mrs. Natale was great, too. I just decided to pick up a writing minor last year, and I was eager to begin writing for newspapers again. I was the editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper in my senior year, and I missed print journalism. Taking that class helped me to realize that I still have a passion for it.

As far as the professors go, there have been many who have influenced me throughout my 3 years of college. I would probably say the most influential, outside of the two I'm not allowed to mention, was Mrs. Natale. I had her last year for both Journalism I and my film studies course, Journalists in Film and Literature. She always gave me great feedback (positive and negative) on my articles and my papers, and she encouraged me to continue writing. Her classes were fun, but challenging, and they further cemented my stance on declaring a writing minor.

Wow. Now that I just wrote a short novel, I think I'll stop. I'm so glad that I've had the opportunity to take all of these classes (plus more) at WC. I really don't think that I would have had these chances anywhere else.

Oops...

So, I forgot to do what we were actually supposed to do for this week's blog. I wrote it down and everything...that's what I get for trying to function on 4 hours of sleep.

I read everyone else's reviews of another weblog, and they were all interesting. The blog that caught my eye the most was probably PixelWrangler. This is a news photographer who blogs about his experiences in the broadcasting world.

The first entry that I read was entitled "My First Time," and it's about covering tragic deaths. I'm an overly sensitive person, so I really don't think that I'd be able to handle that, but many news photographers are subject to that on a daily basis. I guess that's just another reason why I don't think I could be a news photographer.

I could imagine how difficult that would be to cover, but those who are 100 % dedicated to their jobs must make those kinds of sacrifices once in a while. How terrible it must have been for this guy to have witnessed a friend's death on the job! But he knew that it was his duty to cover the accident, and he did just that. To me, that shows a lot of guts.

I like the pics and sense of humor in the blog, too. It's an interesting read. Thanks to Liz and Stevi for introducing it!

Blog Savvy!

In class on Thursday, we learned lots of cool things about putting blogs together. We can embed video, post links and pictures, and customize it to our liking. Fortunately, I grasped the part of pictures and links early on. I would like to customize my template a little more, but I don't really have the time/patience to do that. I'm cool with how it looks right now.

I can't really remember what we were supposed to blog about this week, so I'll cover a few areas, I guess. I'm actually sitting at work right now waiting for the Italian lady to come in so I can board op her show. That could lead into the topic of something I'm kind of nervous about - my senior project. I'm still not EXACTLY sure what I want to do, but I need to figure something out by Friday.

As the news director at Titan Radio and one of the two newsies at WKST, I think it would be best for me to center the project around radio news. I'm thinking about doing an analysis of my newscasts at both stations and exploring the similarities and differences. It could be anything from the types of stories I choose to my tone of voice to my method of newsgathering.

I definitely want to add something in there about moving from a "privileged" environment such as Titan Radio to the real world, which isn't always pretty! I could use pictures to convey that.

On the other hand, I would also love to do something that pertains to my internship and what I do there. I'm not sure how I would be able to connect it with a senior project. If anyone has any ideas, flag me!

The other big topic in Thursday's capstone class was our Alumni research project. As soon as Mr. Weaver brought this up, I knew exactly what I wanted to pursue. Todd Lepovsky is the director of Media Relations for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he's a WC Alum. Considering that I'm really leaning toward a career in media relations/PR, and I want to work with Pittsburgh sports, he'd be the perfect person to interview. I would also love to get in touch with Burt Lauten, who holds the same position with the Steelers. The more contacts I make, the better!

Our director of media relations at FSN (and my supervisor) is also a WC grad. I think it's incredible that three people who graduated from my tiny college are doing what I dream of doing. I also have a friend from high school who is the media relations director for the Fresno Grizzlies (a minor league baseball team), so that's just one more connection I have in the business. We all know you can never have enough connections!

That'll do it for me this week!

TV Squad!

I found a blog that really interested me - TV Squad. I am big on current events, and this blog has got that covered - and more. The author/s talk a lot about network coverage and TV listings, and that is a big part of what my job is at FSN. Plus, I'm a reality TV junkie, and I love reading others' opinions about my favorite shows. The videos are great, and I'm a fan of the sarcastic sense of humor in a lot of the posts

I found one specific entry that I thought was interesting. It's about local sports, which is what I am interested in covering. FSN Pittsburgh does a good job of covering ALL of the local sports, not just the big teams, while covering some national stories as well. It's refreshing to see that people still appreciate local sports!

Capstone with Miss Cleo!

Capstone class was REALLY interesting on Thursday, because we all read each other's letters from the future, and I think it really helped us all to feel a little more secure about the respective directions we are going to take in the future. I can honestly see each member of the class achieving the goals they created for themselves in their letters.

As far as who I identified with the most, it's hard to say. There were bits and pieces of each letter that I could identify with, but mine seemed to differ from the others. I'm the only member of the class who wants to stay in Western PA, first of all. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. I know I may have to move away to start things out, but I most definitely want to work in Pittsburgh. And, just to confirm...if I am able to achieve my goals, I don't care who I marry! :)

DJ and Steve are both pursuing careers in the sports field, so I can identify with them there. Stevi's interested in PR, which is something I would love to pursue as well. The letter I probably identified with the most was Amy's, simply because we are both interested in writing in the future, and we both chose a specific area we want to cover (Me: Pittsburgh sports, Amy: politics). Although Kirstan and I are interested in completely different fields, we are both using our internships to craft plans for our futures.

Speaking of the internship, Friday was probably the most fun day I've had so far. I did have to turn down two third-row seats for Monday's Pirate game (boo, night class), but I got to sit at Jacqui's desk (she was gone for the day) and answer all of the phone calls and be a "big shot!" I also created three new ads for the Tribune-Review. If you look at the Sports section Thursday, Friday, and next Tuesday, you'll see them! Check out the FSN regional page, which I also updated Friday.

Anyway, I just want to wish my fellow capstoners the best of luck in pursuing their GOALS in this last year of college. It's going to be a wild ride!

My goals!

First of all, my internship is going very well. I already have a ton of stuff for the portfolio I'm putting together! I'm having such a blast. I can't complain about mingling with Stan Savran, either. :)

Also, I've been Forever Broadcasting's board-op queen lately. I board-opped a Steeler game on Froggy 95 last Friday. Then I had to do the New Castle football game this Friday night, along with the MSA Sports Scoreboard Show. Saturday night, I had to do the Shenango game. Then, Sunday night, I had to board-op a Nascar race on WJST. Holy cow, five hours of that was pretty hard to get through. But, hey, you gotta start somewhere!

Onto the serious stuff...

This year is going to be a very important one in my life. Right now, I feel very unsure of myself and what I ultimately want to do with my life. I feel like there are a lot of paths I can take - the question is, which one should I choose?

Short-term goals:
-To network as much as possible during my internship. Who knows, maybe an opportunity could open up for me! I need to get to know as many people as I possibly can in the Pittsburgh sports industry, because that will only help me in the future. You definitely need to have connections in this business.

-To figure out what I REALLY want to do after I graduate. Do I want a job in radio news? One in media relations or PR? One in production? One in print journalism? Or do I want to choose grad school? I need to really think about what I want to be when I "grow up," because as of right now, I don't have a clue.

-To get organized and put together resume tapes for broadcast journalism, and portfolios for print journalism. Then, send them out to everyone!

Long-term goals:
-Travel! Before I settle down, I want to see the world. :)

-Grad school, possibly. I'm leaning toward a degree in marketing, business, or public relations.

-And ultimately, to get a job in Pittsburgh, preferably with a sports team, sports radio or television, or sports section of a newspaper. When I got my internship, I ultimately realized that I want to work with sports. I don't want to be a sports anchor, which is why I haven't gravitated toward that in college. But Pittsburgh sports have been my passion since I was very young. To work with them would be an absolute dream come true for me.