It was THE WEEK of Final Presentation Night! I can not possibly put into words how incredible my ISM journey has been. From last year, studying criminal justice, to studying investigative journalism this year, I have learned so much about the professional world and myself as a person.
Cold calls, driving to interviews, and conversing with professionals were at first terrifying ordeals that I would never consider myself capable of. Now, I have spent hours in the Channel 8 Headquarters and have learned how to present myself professionally and confidently.
More than that, however, this journey has opened my eyes to who I am and what I will pursue in the future. I know for a fact that I will continue pursuing a life of service abroad. I do not know yet exactly what I am going to do with my future, but I know that I want to live my life verse John 15:13, "Greater love has none than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." I would love to pursue journalism or diplomacy focusing in on the Middle East, and later enter the FBI, CIA or some other government agency.
Final Presentation Night was a huge success! My presentation was perfect, lots of people came, and my mentors loved it. Byron was so blown away by the program that Channel 8 is now going to be covering a story over the ISM Program! The night was a perfect conclusion to a year of hard work and incredible learning experiences.
My mentors were truly amazing. I will never be able to thank them enough for opening my eyes to the world of investigative journalism and for helping me learn so much about myself. Jason was always enthusiastic and ready for an adventure, and Byron always had pieces of wisdom that never stopped blowing my mind. They made this year the experience of a lifetime.
I am beyond ecstatic for what the future holds and to see where God will lead me in the future. With everything, I plan to live my life verse and my ISM quote from the year:
""Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world... would do this, it would change the earth."
-William Faulkner
Friday, May 22, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
Week 36
This week I finally finished my Final Product! My mentors from Channel 8 News, Investigative Reporter Byron Harris and Investigative Producer Jason Trahan, made it possible.
At the beginning of the week, our story was planned out, we had audio, and all we needed to do was put everything together and film the intro and tag. The intro and tag are the parts of the story filmed in the news headquarters as an intro and conclusion to the story. The package is the story itself.
We ran into a small hiccup however. Somehow, my audio file was deleted from the file at Channel 8 News database, and I had to go down to the news station on Tuesday night to record it again. Everything worked out, however, and the package, the body of the story, was ready by my mentor visit on Thursday.
On Thursday we filmed the into and tag of my story, and left it with the editor to put everything together. He was a great help in the completion of our project because he put everything together for us.
The story run about six minutes and reveals several months of work. I am extremely proud of all that we accomplished this year.
Click here to view the story
At the beginning of the week, our story was planned out, we had audio, and all we needed to do was put everything together and film the intro and tag. The intro and tag are the parts of the story filmed in the news headquarters as an intro and conclusion to the story. The package is the story itself.
We ran into a small hiccup however. Somehow, my audio file was deleted from the file at Channel 8 News database, and I had to go down to the news station on Tuesday night to record it again. Everything worked out, however, and the package, the body of the story, was ready by my mentor visit on Thursday.
On Thursday we filmed the into and tag of my story, and left it with the editor to put everything together. He was a great help in the completion of our project because he put everything together for us.
The story run about six minutes and reveals several months of work. I am extremely proud of all that we accomplished this year.
Click here to view the story
Monday, May 11, 2015
Week 35
This was probably one of the most exciting weeks yet in the Independent and Final Mentorship Program. We are getting down to the very end of planning and execution, since Final Presentation Night is on May 19th. This week I handed out invitations and made great progress on our story. We had an extra long mentor visit and the WFAA-TV (Channel 8) Headquarters, in which we wrote the entire script of the story based off of the two skeletons that Jason and I created. It took a long time to make everything sound just right and to find the perfect sound bites to fit each part of the story. Our final result is fantastic, however. The story is engaging and exciting, and all we need to do now is piece everything together and film the anchor intro and the tag.
After we finished writing the story, Byron Harris looked over it and gave us some tips on how to make it even more engaging. He also gave me tips on how to mark up the script to help me know which words to emphasize and where to leave dramatic pauses. I then recorded the voice over in the WFAA-TV recording studio. It was exciting to use the equipment from the station and feel like an actual reporter.
All we have to do now is film the opening and closing comments, edit the clips and piece everything together. I am so excited to see how the story turns out!
After we finished writing the story, Byron Harris looked over it and gave us some tips on how to make it even more engaging. He also gave me tips on how to mark up the script to help me know which words to emphasize and where to leave dramatic pauses. I then recorded the voice over in the WFAA-TV recording studio. It was exciting to use the equipment from the station and feel like an actual reporter.
All we have to do now is film the opening and closing comments, edit the clips and piece everything together. I am so excited to see how the story turns out!
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Week 34
It was another incredible week of exciting accomplishments in the Independent Study and Mentorship Program! The main accomplishments of the week were printing the invitations and beginning the delivery process, and continuing the planning of the story.
As far as the planning of the story goes, we now have the basic skeleton of what we will be writing about. We have a flow to the story and a plan of transitions from one main point to the next. My mentor, Investigative Reporter Jason Trahan, looked over the intro I wrote and said that he loved it. His one problem with it was the opening sentence, which is a cliche phrase. He explained that while cliches are catchy, they do not sound intelligent and often annoy the viewer. We looked at other videos of coyotes loose in New York, and have decided to pull in some of this footage in an attempt to show the universal nature of the problem.
By the time I have my next mentor visit next Friday, I will have finished writing the story. He will then look over it and we will decide on what changes need to be made. We will then film the intro to the story in the WFAA-Channel 8 studio and will begin recording the voice overs.
As far as the planning of the story goes, we now have the basic skeleton of what we will be writing about. We have a flow to the story and a plan of transitions from one main point to the next. My mentor, Investigative Reporter Jason Trahan, looked over the intro I wrote and said that he loved it. His one problem with it was the opening sentence, which is a cliche phrase. He explained that while cliches are catchy, they do not sound intelligent and often annoy the viewer. We looked at other videos of coyotes loose in New York, and have decided to pull in some of this footage in an attempt to show the universal nature of the problem.
By the time I have my next mentor visit next Friday, I will have finished writing the story. He will then look over it and we will decide on what changes need to be made. We will then film the intro to the story in the WFAA-Channel 8 studio and will begin recording the voice overs.
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