As my profile says, I am going into my senior year as a Broadcast and Digital Journalism major at Syracuse University. This past Spring semester was the first time I put together actual packages. The following video is my first attempt of putting everything together... shooting the video... interviewing... writing the story... voicing the sound tracks...editing the piece together...
Our professor paired us with a random person in class, and we had to find an interesting story to tell. My story is on a Senior Broadcast and Digital Journalism major who makes money doing people's hair in her own apartment.
Everyone really does have an interesting story to tell!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Traveling the Galaxy
So I have already been to Moon and Mars!!! Ironically, I live in Moon Township, which is about 20 minutes outside of the city of Pittsburgh. And Mars Township is another area of Pittsburgh that I have passed through a few times. Is it possible to visit all the planets?!
The idea of attempting to travel the galaxy came from a very good friend and mentor. We were talking about my love for travel and he was telling me that he was extremely happy with my decision to not go to Africa. And to lighten the mood, he said something along the lines of..."Well you have already been to Moon and Mars." ha ha ha ha...very funny. So with that comment I ventured on the Internet to see if it was possible. And as it turns out...it is!
So according to Google there is a Mercury, Alabama and a Mercury Street in San Diego.
There is a Venus, Texas, a Venus, Pennsylvania and a Venus, Florida. Also a Venus Street in San Fransico.
Jupiter, Florida and Jupiter Island Florida. Either one I would be happy to visit! There is also a Jupiter, Minnesota.
There is a Saturn in Indiana and Texas.
Uranus, New Mexico here I come!
Neptune, New Jersey or Neptune Beach, Florida...hmmmm
And I am just going to include the so-called dwarf of a planet Pluto. Pluto, Mississippi!!!
I did not list all the towns, cities and streets with the names of planets. Just picked out a few.
So it is possible to figuratively say you have traveled to all the planets in our solar system, including our MOON!
The idea of attempting to travel the galaxy came from a very good friend and mentor. We were talking about my love for travel and he was telling me that he was extremely happy with my decision to not go to Africa. And to lighten the mood, he said something along the lines of..."Well you have already been to Moon and Mars." ha ha ha ha...very funny. So with that comment I ventured on the Internet to see if it was possible. And as it turns out...it is!
So according to Google there is a Mercury, Alabama and a Mercury Street in San Diego.
There is a Venus, Texas, a Venus, Pennsylvania and a Venus, Florida. Also a Venus Street in San Fransico.
Jupiter, Florida and Jupiter Island Florida. Either one I would be happy to visit! There is also a Jupiter, Minnesota.
There is a Saturn in Indiana and Texas.
Uranus, New Mexico here I come!
Neptune, New Jersey or Neptune Beach, Florida...hmmmm
And I am just going to include the so-called dwarf of a planet Pluto. Pluto, Mississippi!!!
I did not list all the towns, cities and streets with the names of planets. Just picked out a few.
So it is possible to figuratively say you have traveled to all the planets in our solar system, including our MOON!
Bucket List of Destinations
This past Tuesday at my internship at WTAE I went out on two stories with Michelle Wright. To my excitement, she was doing a promotional piece on a travel agency: Holiday Travel International. The focus of the piece was on how people can save money on their vacations. I was not interested in hearing what the travel agents had to say about money savers. I was completely interested in their travel stories!
The couple who owned the agency had so many travel stories. I could have listened to them all day. The one lady just got back from Egypt. She went on a Nile River cruise and rode a camel for only $15. She said that if you paid anymore for a camel ride that you were being ripped off. That was shocking news to me. You would think that riding a camel is such a must do thing in Egypt that they would charge an obscene amount of money.
Egypt is definitely on my "Bucket List of Destinations."
The next travel story they told was about a Ritz Carlton Tour through China. How incredible does that sound?! Go from city to city, Ritz to Ritz. Yet another adventure added to the list.
Other destinations that have made my list so far: Dubai, Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef, Madrid, Barcelona, as many places as I can get to in Greece, Hawaii, Russia, China, African Safari, and Brazil (rainforest safari). I am positive the list will continue to expand.
I also want to go to Mokai Gravity Canyon in Taihape, New Zealand. The reason...When I was in Interlaken, Switzerland I went canyon jumping. I jumped off a cliff that was almost 300 ft high...attached to a cord of course! It was an incredible experience that generated an unexplainable feeling. I was told that there are only three places in the world where you can do this type of canyon jumping. I would like to tackle all three, but I don't remember where they said the other spot was...
Until I get the next opportunity to travel outside the United States, I think I am going to take some time to explore my own city a little more...Pittsburgh!
The couple who owned the agency had so many travel stories. I could have listened to them all day. The one lady just got back from Egypt. She went on a Nile River cruise and rode a camel for only $15. She said that if you paid anymore for a camel ride that you were being ripped off. That was shocking news to me. You would think that riding a camel is such a must do thing in Egypt that they would charge an obscene amount of money.
Egypt is definitely on my "Bucket List of Destinations."
The next travel story they told was about a Ritz Carlton Tour through China. How incredible does that sound?! Go from city to city, Ritz to Ritz. Yet another adventure added to the list.
Other destinations that have made my list so far: Dubai, Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef, Madrid, Barcelona, as many places as I can get to in Greece, Hawaii, Russia, China, African Safari, and Brazil (rainforest safari). I am positive the list will continue to expand.
I also want to go to Mokai Gravity Canyon in Taihape, New Zealand. The reason...When I was in Interlaken, Switzerland I went canyon jumping. I jumped off a cliff that was almost 300 ft high...attached to a cord of course! It was an incredible experience that generated an unexplainable feeling. I was told that there are only three places in the world where you can do this type of canyon jumping. I would like to tackle all three, but I don't remember where they said the other spot was...
Until I get the next opportunity to travel outside the United States, I think I am going to take some time to explore my own city a little more...Pittsburgh!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The Special #22
Twenty-two things I want to do this summer...
1. Do a stand up at WTAE and be proud of it.
2. Take a sushi making class.
3. Go to the Turks and Caicos with my mother.
4. Be happy working six days a week.
5. Come up with an interesting blog.
6. Formulate a business plan for "the idea."
7. Attend an important fundraising event in Pittsburgh.
8. Get all three of my roommates to like each other.
9. Improve self-confidence.
10. Go to the gym at least five days a week.
11. Go to a Pirates game.
12. Lose weight! I am in pretty good shape already, but it never hurts to exercise more!
13. Go to the top of the Cathedral of Learning at U. Pitt.
14. Get better at golfing.
15. Read five life improvement books.
16. Go to a concert.
17. Go to Ohiopyle State Park and go white water rafting again.
18. Play paintball.
19. Play tennis.
20. Go to a shooting range.
21. Go camping.
22. Positively affect as many people as I can.
1. Do a stand up at WTAE and be proud of it.
2. Take a sushi making class.
3. Go to the Turks and Caicos with my mother.
4. Be happy working six days a week.
5. Come up with an interesting blog.
6. Formulate a business plan for "the idea."
7. Attend an important fundraising event in Pittsburgh.
8. Get all three of my roommates to like each other.
9. Improve self-confidence.
10. Go to the gym at least five days a week.
11. Go to a Pirates game.
12. Lose weight! I am in pretty good shape already, but it never hurts to exercise more!
13. Go to the top of the Cathedral of Learning at U. Pitt.
14. Get better at golfing.
15. Read five life improvement books.
16. Go to a concert.
17. Go to Ohiopyle State Park and go white water rafting again.
18. Play paintball.
19. Play tennis.
20. Go to a shooting range.
21. Go camping.
22. Positively affect as many people as I can.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Firenze
When I was in middle school, I told my mom I wanted to do a foreign exchange program. We requested information on multiple programs when I got to high school, and I thought that I was actually going to go through with it my junior year. But as we all already know...time flies by, and before I knew it I was graduating from high school and beginning my freshman year in college.
Not only did Syracuse offer my dream major, but it also has an incredible study abroad program. When I found out about studying abroad, I knew that is was definitely an experience that would be in my future. Beijing, Hong Kong, Florence, London, Madrid, Santiago, Strasbourg...so many options! I did not even second guess myself...My choice was Florence, Italy. Even though, I was conversational in French and had no working knowledge of the Italian language besides "Ciao Bella" I knew that I wanted to spend four months in one of the most gorgeous cities in Italy.
On the flight from New York to Rome, I sat by this little Italian boy that was traveling alone. I tried to talk to him, but an apparent language barrier existed. He knew more English than I knew Italian so I resorted to using hand gestures. He probably thought I was ridiculous. I even took out my pocket size Italian/English dictionary to try to interact with this little boy, but I didn't even know how to sound out Italian words at this point. The "Drive Time Italian" CD collection that I bought obviously did not prepare me. I should have tried to learn Italian the way the boy sitting next to me learned English: Video Games!
I arrived in Florence on September 1st. After a few hours of waiting around in the airport, we loaded our luggage on tour buses that drove us to Hotel Mediterraneo. The hotel was 100 steps from The Arno River. There was a small outdoor cafe situated near the water. I could not wait to sit by the water and look up and down the river. The first time I went to the cafe I was by myself and I was content and mesmerized by the sights I was taking in. This was a favorite spot of mine and I later returned with a few of the people I met on the plan. This was the place where we committed our first Italian faux pas. Wine and Italy are thought to go hand in hand. So with this knowledge in mind, the girls and I each ordered a glass of wine. We began sipping on our wine, talking quickly in English, and then slowly began to look around at the people around us. To our surprise, no one was drinking a glass of wine! Apparently, wine is not the drink of choice before dinner. There was a large group of young Italians and everyone of them had a beer infront of them. Wow was that a shock for me!
This was just the beginning of an unbelievable adventure...
I arrived in Florence on September 1st. After a few hours of waiting around in the airport, we loaded our luggage on tour buses that drove us to Hotel Mediterraneo. The hotel was 100 steps from The Arno River. There was a small outdoor cafe situated near the water. I could not wait to sit by the water and look up and down the river. The first time I went to the cafe I was by myself and I was content and mesmerized by the sights I was taking in. This was a favorite spot of mine and I later returned with a few of the people I met on the plan. This was the place where we committed our first Italian faux pas. Wine and Italy are thought to go hand in hand. So with this knowledge in mind, the girls and I each ordered a glass of wine. We began sipping on our wine, talking quickly in English, and then slowly began to look around at the people around us. To our surprise, no one was drinking a glass of wine! Apparently, wine is not the drink of choice before dinner. There was a large group of young Italians and everyone of them had a beer infront of them. Wow was that a shock for me!
This was just the beginning of an unbelievable adventure...
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Travel Obsession
An entire semester has gone by since I spent four months living in the beautiful city of Florence, Italy, which is so hard for me to believe. Those four months were the most incredible months thus far in my life, and I am not sure why I did not decide to start keeping a blog while I was living in Florence. Better late than never I guess!
Traveling is not new to me. My mother has owned a travel agency for 19 years and I was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to travel before I went abroad. Together, my mom and I went to Vienna, Prague, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Heidelberg (where my mom was born!), Oberammergau (to see an 8 hour Passion Play in 2000), Rudesheim, Rothenburg, Lake Como, Lucerne, and Lugano. We have also been to many islands together: Jamaica, Punta Cana, St. John, St. Thomas, Turks and Caicos, San Juan, Grand Cayman. Since Cancun is a tropical destination, I will mention that I have been there more than once. I have also been to the Bahamas 20 times. The reason why my mom and I traveled to the Bahamas so many times is because she had to renew her gambling license every year. So we HAD to go to the Bahamas quite frequently! Not a bad deal! But nothing can really compare to my travels during the months of September, October, November and December of 2009.
In four months, I visited Munich, Brussels, Amsterdam, Interlaken, Rome (4 times), the Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Capri, Positano, Pompeii, Venice, Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Corniglia), Monteriggioni, Assisi, Ravenna, Pietrasanta, Carrara, Sienna, Pienza, Lucca, San Gimignano, Milan, Lake Como, and Pisa.
I changed a lot during that semester I spent abroad. Obviously, I became much more independent. I felt more comfortable with the English language. This statement might seem a bit odd, but it is in fact a truthful observation. Not being able to communicate with ease was at times frustrating. I became much more confident in communicating my thoughts when I came back to the United States. I was not thinking about what I wanted to say. I was just speaking without having to think. Living abroad also intensified my desire to travel even more.
Traveling is a huge part of my life. This summer I even had the opportunity to go to Uganda and Cameroon for three weeks all expenses paid. At Syracuse University, I have a work study with the Africa Business Program in the Whitman School of Management. Most of my time was spent organizing a conference on Entrepreneurship in Africa that was held this past semester on Good Friday. Many representatives from Africa were flown into Syracuse. On the first day of the conference, I met a research team whom I exchanged contact information. Two weeks later they e-mailed me asking me if I'd like to apply for a summer research opportunity to carry out case studies on journalism, technology and business. What an incredible opportunity that would have been?! Unfortunately, my mom and grandparents persistently objected to it until I agreed to not go.
I know another opportunity like this one will come my way. I am head over heels in love with traveling and I will make sure I will have the opportunity to see the world. After being abroad and having the opportunity to travel to Africa, I came up with a new dream job. My new ultimate career goal is to work for the travel channel! And preparation for that starts now...
Traveling is not new to me. My mother has owned a travel agency for 19 years and I was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to travel before I went abroad. Together, my mom and I went to Vienna, Prague, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Heidelberg (where my mom was born!), Oberammergau (to see an 8 hour Passion Play in 2000), Rudesheim, Rothenburg, Lake Como, Lucerne, and Lugano. We have also been to many islands together: Jamaica, Punta Cana, St. John, St. Thomas, Turks and Caicos, San Juan, Grand Cayman. Since Cancun is a tropical destination, I will mention that I have been there more than once. I have also been to the Bahamas 20 times. The reason why my mom and I traveled to the Bahamas so many times is because she had to renew her gambling license every year. So we HAD to go to the Bahamas quite frequently! Not a bad deal! But nothing can really compare to my travels during the months of September, October, November and December of 2009.
In four months, I visited Munich, Brussels, Amsterdam, Interlaken, Rome (4 times), the Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Capri, Positano, Pompeii, Venice, Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Corniglia), Monteriggioni, Assisi, Ravenna, Pietrasanta, Carrara, Sienna, Pienza, Lucca, San Gimignano, Milan, Lake Como, and Pisa.
I changed a lot during that semester I spent abroad. Obviously, I became much more independent. I felt more comfortable with the English language. This statement might seem a bit odd, but it is in fact a truthful observation. Not being able to communicate with ease was at times frustrating. I became much more confident in communicating my thoughts when I came back to the United States. I was not thinking about what I wanted to say. I was just speaking without having to think. Living abroad also intensified my desire to travel even more.
Traveling is a huge part of my life. This summer I even had the opportunity to go to Uganda and Cameroon for three weeks all expenses paid. At Syracuse University, I have a work study with the Africa Business Program in the Whitman School of Management. Most of my time was spent organizing a conference on Entrepreneurship in Africa that was held this past semester on Good Friday. Many representatives from Africa were flown into Syracuse. On the first day of the conference, I met a research team whom I exchanged contact information. Two weeks later they e-mailed me asking me if I'd like to apply for a summer research opportunity to carry out case studies on journalism, technology and business. What an incredible opportunity that would have been?! Unfortunately, my mom and grandparents persistently objected to it until I agreed to not go.
I know another opportunity like this one will come my way. I am head over heels in love with traveling and I will make sure I will have the opportunity to see the world. After being abroad and having the opportunity to travel to Africa, I came up with a new dream job. My new ultimate career goal is to work for the travel channel! And preparation for that starts now...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
