This semester has been a great one for broadcast students mainly because the studio is finished. I am very grateful for it to be how it is because I was able to learn the basics of all the equipment this semester that is in the studio. Most of the upper classmen do not give us freshmen a chance but in the Southern News Network, Anna, Luti, and Colleen were eager to help us learn the basics. They told us every week we were improving. Writing the stories for the Southern News Network was probably the most difficult thing to do just because it was a new style of writing. I didn’t have to make it fancy and eloquent, I needed to make it simple and straightforward like when somebody is talking to you. I got better at it I could tell because I noticed Colleen didn’t have to reword my stories as much. I learned how to run the teleprompter and wasn’t very good at the speed but I will get the hang of it with time. The audio was a bit tricky at first especially since Luti is so much louder than Colleen. But I didn’t do too horrible at that. My favorite thing to do was to run the camera. I love cameras so much! It amazed me how some people made it so difficult but it is so easy. I learned really quickly how to do a one shot and a two shot. Anna complimented me a bunch during the show about the speed and smoothness I worked it at. I can honestly say I am so grateful for this opportunity because it is really but my passions into perspective.
Interlachen is still my favorite thing to work on though. Something about getting to help document history just sets my heart on fire. I love cameras, still and video, and this semester I realized how important it is to capture a story in one picture. It was like an epiphany one night when Patrick took me out on a shoot to teach me. I am going to strive for that next year as the photo-editor. I learned how to layout the yearbook and the many little tweaks that have to be done. I know so much more than I did last semester. I am much more aware of typing and layout issues. I can’t even look at a book or magazine without thinking about it (same with movies and focus points and angles). Many late nights in the Interlachen office and my goal for the year was achieved: to have this year’s yearbook finished on time. I promise by the end of my career here at Florida Southern, Interlachen will have a good reputation again. I am ready to do whatever gets thrown my way because I know now what to do for copy writing, laying out of the pages, editing the pictures just right, and going back through and doing it all again multiple times. Patrick has taught me well and I will do that too with the new members of the team next year.
