Internship

I met with my internship advisor. I’m possibly going to intern at the Akron Digital Media Center next spring. It's a grant funded organization designed to provide the tools and training for citizen journalists through a series of workshops.  This seems like a great opportunity. Although I’m still not sure about news writing, this is a little different and I’m interested in learning more about it.

Here is their Facebook page and an article about what they are doing.

Any suggestions?

So I have a meeting with my internship adviser tomorrow to figure out what kind of internship I want and where I will be doing it. Not sure if I should go for a news internship. I’m leaning more toward seeing what other options I have in mass media communication.  Any suggestions?

Newsflash- I'm a dork

Journalism is still a question mark, but I started thinking of what made me want to do it in the first place. It was my enjoyment of writing that prompted me to study journalism, and while I might not want to write news anymore, I still like writing. I haven’t had much time for it recently, but I’m trying to get back into it.  I want to get my creative juices flowing again.   So instead of working on homework I should have been doing, I just spent the entire morning reading fan fiction. For any one who doesn’t know, fan fiction are stories written by fans based on a TV show, movie, etc.  Fan fiction was one of my early influences in creative writing, and I just spent about four hours exploring websites I used to go to. While these writers are amateurs and often the grammar is bad, it is the fantasy that is attractive. People think up plots that you wished were played out in a TV show or movie. So now that I’ve just broadcast that I’m a major dork, if you are interested, FanFiction.net is a good site to visit. It includes fan fiction for TV shows, movies, plays, cartoons and more.  

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.” - Henry David Thoreau

I wasn’t sure where exactly I was going to take this blog because I wasn’t sure where I was going, and really I still don’t. I’ve been reading Walden by Thoreau this week. After reading it I have decided to take a new approach to my situation. I’m not going to stress everyday, its not doing me any good.  

I have scheduled my spring classes and I will graduate in May; I started down a path and I’m going to keep going down it, even if it leads me a different direction than I originally expected. I’m going to explore my options and figure out what I have to do when the time comes.

For more Thoreau quotes take a look at this website.

If you can't answer this question....

So still trying to figure things out. I know quitting was the right decision now. I feel really relived, but it’s just that next step that I’m still bothering me. This might have been easier if a reprehensive from the career center hadn’t come in to my literature class to discuss how to prepare for the job market. While he had good insight and tips, his approach left me squirming in my seat. He started off by writing Ohio’s current unemployment rate on the white board. Then to further depress me he talked about important questions prospective employers will ask you. The most important one being: why did you choose this career field? He said if you couldn’t answer that question you might as well go home. Needless to say this didn’t help me. While I know I originally chose to become a journalist because I enjoy writing and learning new things, I not sure if I can handle the stress of the occupation. So while   I have come to term about resigning the news editor position, I still don’t if news is what I want to do anymore.

Changes

Another Tuesday and another issue of the Buchtelite, the only difference is that I’m not the news editor. I resigned my position last week and I’m still trying to sort out how I feel.  

Did you ever start doing something you thought was going to be great, and then discovered it just wasn’t for you? Well that’s what happened to me, and to be completely honest I didn’t see it coming. For the last two years I’d been doing freelance and taking classes and internships in the pursuit of becoming a journalist. So being news editor was the perfect opportunity. It was the cherry on top of my resume sundae. That was until I actually started and the stress and responsibilities of it wore me down.  

I know resigning was the best decision I could make right now, but it left me with the question of whether journalism is what I want to do anymore or not. I’m a semester and a half away from graduation. I have been singularly focused on this as my career goal, if I decide this isn’t what I want to do, where do I go from there?

So this blog has changed directions. It is no longer about the Buchtelite and my position there. It has become a blog about where quitting that position is going to lead me.

Computer orphan and World Habitat Day

I managed to get done laying out my page by nine last night, despite the fact I was computer orphaned.  My computer that has crashed on me twice during production nights is getting fixed ( I’ll believe it when I see it) and I laid out my page on three different computers, The equipment there is just so old and uncooperative it drives me crazy. I felt like I was playing musical chairs (computers) last night. In spite of all that I liked this issue, I particularly liked the World Habitat Day article. So if you didn’t get a change to see it, here it is.

World Habitat Day spreads awareness on campus

By Ruth Walker

If you were walking past Bierce Library between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday, you may have noticed something other than the large faulty water fountain. The University Chapter of Habitat for Humanity built a home out of cardboard by the fountain to raise awareness for those in our community who do not have access to adequate housing.

In fact, a report by the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio in 2009 found that there were approximately 12,463 homeless people in Ohio on any given night, and only 86% of those found shelter to stay in.

Habitat for Humanity is committed “to providing simple, decent and affordable housing for low-income families in need.” Since the COHHIO reported that 37% of Ohio’s homeless are families, there is a definite need for Habitat’s services.

In addition to raising awareness that the need exists for housing in our community, the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity was also collecting donations and spreading the word about project MISSION.

Kelly Brown, campus Habitat for Humanity president, explained that the campus chapter is fully funding a Habitat home to be built in a neighborhood near the university. They are currently over halfway to their fund raising goal of $80,000.

The Campus Habitat for Humanity group has been busy procuring grant money and donated land, and collected donations at a recent football game as well as at their advocacy event Monday. They have more upcoming fundraisers planned and hope to have the money together by January in order to break ground on the house in the spring.

The campus chapter also assists the Summit County chapter of Habitat for Humanity with fund raising, volunteering at building sites and assisting with educational outreach programs.

The Campus Habitat for Humanity is always looking for new faces to help reach out to the community. Kyle Nehrenz, treasurer, explained that volunteering with Habitat for Humanity is a great way to acquire useful new skills such as dry walling, painting and laying down flooring.

Campus Habitat for Humanity meetings are every other Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Student Union. The next meeting is this Wednesday in Room 314.

I will sign off with my constant plea, please consider writing for the news section of the Buchtelite.

Writers!

I think the hardest part of being the news editor is finding people who want to write news. There are plenty of people that want to write about sports or express their thoughts on the opinion page, but there seem to be a lack of people who want to write about the events on campus.   It’s true that being a writer for the Buchtelite doesn’t pay money, but it is a great experience. It gives you a chance to improve your writing skills, and it is a great resume builder, whether you’re going into writing or not. If you would be interested in writing, or know anyone who is, please encourage them to contact me. While in the past the Buchtelite has cultivated a reputation for having horrible communication skills (disappointing from an organization in the School of Communication) that is not the case this year. We have an all new staff and we are working to rectify that reputation. So please consider writing for the Buchtelite!