Student Speakers

Instead of having our usual class all the way in the geological science building, we were able to just go downstairs to the first floor lounge for our class 2 weeks ago. We sat on the comfortable couches and listened to four different students and one fig leader talk about the different classes they were taking in 4 different sequences in the journalism school. I learned new things about each sequence that I had not known before, which made me question which sequence I really wanted to be in. Although at first I set out to do broadcast, after listening to these students now I am between broadcast and convergence because you are able to do all things in convergence instead of concentrating on solely broadcast.
These students were more helpful than professors and TA's because they were only a year or two older than us and they were able to tell us truthfully, which classes they liked and disliked and if they had stuck with their major or if they had switched to another one and why. I really liked what the girl who is in convergence talked about because it made it seem like she was doing a little bit of everything, which got me very interested in this specific sequence. However, when the fig leader, who is in the broadcast sequence started talking about what she was doing and what she had done to get to where she is, I also got very excited and truly wanted to do broadcast. However, at the end when we had the opportunity to listen to the questions other kids had and these upper class men's answers, I was and am still confused on which sequence I believe is the best for me. However, I think this helped me open my eyes and allowed to realize there were other sequences than broadcasting that could grasp my attention and there are other sequences I can do besides broadcasting that still incorporate what I would like to do later on in my life.

Diversity Day

I had done this activity before but it was with new people and a different scenario, which made this activity more interesting. This activity for Diversity Day was fun and it got the entire class talking and involved, which does not happen very often. We had to choose 5 people out of the 10 that survived from a ship wreck to save and allow on the life raft to row to safety. We had to discuss with each other who we saved, why we saved them and what effect these people would have on the rest after they've survived this wreck. For example there was a female who was going to be politically involved in Arizona, a captain who was dying, a father who was a doctor who had been fired for malpractice, his son and 6 other people we had to figure out who to save and who not to save.
At the end after everyone chose personally who to save we had to discuss with the class each person we decided to save and the reason behind it. Many people chose to save the priest because we felt as if it would be "ungodly" to not save a priest who is known for the help he has provided with people in the third world country. We also saved the doctor and his son because we couldn't leave the son by himself and because the doctor would be able to save other people's lives, including the captain's who was bleeding to death at this point. Although our class did not really argue, we disagreed on a few people because of our beliefs and what we have experienced in our past that connected us with a certain character in this situation. After we were done Professor Steffans gave us a speech on diversity, which was very enlightening. He told us about how diverse MU was and how grateful we should be because we have the chance to get to know so many different cultures and ethnicity on campus and we should not take this for granted. This statement is correct and I also believe that our campus is very diverse, which gives us an opportunity to understand and learn about all the different cultures around the world by just simply talking to certain people on our campus.

Resume Writing

A few weeks ago a person from the Student Center came in during our FIG class to teach us how to write a  good resume. She first went through all the things people thought they needed to put into a resume and things that people put it that was really unnecessary. She told us what to put on the top and what type of information was appropriate to put onto our resume that we would distribute to places we wanted to apply for a job at. I took down a lot of notes because not only was this due in our class but this also helped me understand what I need to incorporate in my resume when I want to apply for a real job later on in my life. However, after this was done, we had to make our own resumes and have it revised by people in the Student Center before we handed it in and we also had to get it printed out on real resume paper to make it seem like it was a legitimate resume.
Although at first I thought this was going to be useless and boring I learned many new things in order to make a good resume. For example I learned that after freshman / sophomore year of college, information about what I did in high school and the activities I participated in high school is unnecessary and I should remove it before handing it into an employer. I also learned that it is important to make the resume eye popping and make it interesting because the employer first takes a glance at it and only reads it later on if he or she found in interesting from that single glance. Overall this class was helpful and interesting and I really appreciated this person coming in and teaching us how to write a good resume.

Schedules

2 weeks ago in class, we had a very helpful class because we all discussed the different classes we were enrolling in for next semester. It seemed chaotic at first because some kids didn't know who their advisors were while others did and some already had their meetings with their advisors while others had not even scheduled an appointment. However, we were given 2 sheets, which had the different classes we could take and a sheet that we had to fill out to hand into Vince. After people looked at these two sheets and started to figure out what they needed and what classes they wanted to take it made the process a lot smoother.
For the kids who already had their appointments, we told Vince what we had chosen and he put them on the board for the other kids to see. Because there is no fig class next year we were asked which classes we wanted to have other kids in our floor in because it would make the studying a lot easier. We named the classes that were a little difficult through personal experiences and which classes we hoped to have more kids on our floor in because then if we weren't able to go to class that day for whatever reason we could just walk down the hall and knock on their door. Although all of the classes can't be accommodated for some classes could be, which made us a lot happier and relieved to know we would have our friends in our classes. The class was really helpful because we got to learn which classes were harder than others and which classes we really wanted our floor mates on because of the workload and how difficult the studying could possibly be.

Buck's Ice Cream

Instead of going to the geological science building to have our normal class session with Vince and Professor Steffins, we went to Buck's Ice Cream Parlor, which is right next to Hatch to have fun with our other classmates. We had to stay there for the full hour but it didn't really matter because we were there to eat our ice cream and have fun. We all waited for each other to get to Buck's before going on line to order our ice creams, because of course that is the nice and polite thing to do. So when everyone came we all got online and everyone ordered their choice of ice cream flavors or their choice of shakes, which was basically ice cream mixed with extra milk in a blender. After we all got our ice creams we sat outside on the benches and the tables and just talked with each other asking how our day was going, how our week was going by so far and how our weekend had been. Instead of us having to be forced to talk, which is what sometimes happens in class, we all just freely talked about what we wanted to talk about with our friends. There were really no cliques in the class, which made it easy for everyone to talk and just have fun without the pressure of feeling uncomfortable or awkward. But sadly, the hour ended quickly and everyone went onto do the things they had to do, such as homework, study or simply take a nap. However, that one hour was fun and it was something our entire class had enjoyed because we were sitting outside, eating ice cream and just having fun instead of sitting in a classroom talking about important topics such as our schedules for next semester / year.

Ellis Library

With the help of Vince and his connections with the school we were given a tour of the huge library on campus, Ellis Library. At first we just went into a conference room and our two tour guides gave us a presentation on what the library had to offer. It was really cool to know that we could shoot a text asking a question to the people working at the question desk instead of having to come into the library all the time. Then they gave us a yellow sheet of paper that told us what each floor of the library had to offer such as different study rooms we could sign out when we need to study for tests as a class.
It was also really interesting on the tour when she brought us into a room that seemed like a "secret room" that had shelves and shelves of books with small cubicles on the outer edges of the room. These cubicles are only for graduate students that need to lock themselves into these rooms in order to study for a big exam or just have a lot of homework they need to get done. It did seem creepy at first because on one side there were no windows and it had doors just like they had in jail cells but it also was really interesting to see that the library had these rooms to offer in order to help students get their studying's done. I didn't realize how big the library was until we had the tour yesterday and I can say it was very helpful to me and very informative.

speakers

On Sept 14th, three different speakers from VOX, KOMU and a teacher from the convergence school came into our class and talked to us about the different possibilities these programs have to offer. I wasn't really interested in magazines but when he started talking to us about the different things we would be able to do in VOX it seemed like another interesting aspect of journalism to maybe consider. It was really cool when he talked about how the his students were working on an app to put on the i-pad, which made it seem like this was legit and it extended out into the real world. However when the speaker from KOMU started talking to us about what she did and what the students she works with do, I listened very intently because she was describing what I wanted to later in life.
It was really funny when she said to not say that "we would like to be on tv" when we go into KOMU because I'm sure that's what everybody is thinking when they walk in there but only some of them actually say it out loud. But when she was talking about how students were able to go out into St. Louis and go out into the different places to interview people and get the full story, I got really excited because this is what I want to do. She was also talking about how kids are able to get internships after they graduate from this school and after they work at KOMU because of how much they learn from the people at KOMU and how much experience we are able to have because of the different tasks we are put in charge of, which is obviously a very good opportunity for anybody's future. I for sure want to check this out next year when I know for sure broadcast journalism is the major I really want to involved in.