A Hole in my Pocket

First of all, I would just like to acknowledge how big of a slacker I have been lately with this blog. I am very sorry, but I promise to be more consistent and not to forget about my “7th class” as I prepare for these last grueling days before Christmas break…

After waiting… and waiting… and waiting, I finally have my camera… sort of. I guess the more appropriate term would be “bought” my camera. The money has been spent, but the camera is not in my possession.

Wednesday night, my boyfriend and I went to Circuit City to purchase the Canon Rebel XTi. Long story short, about an hour and a half or so later, I walked out of the store with my bank account significantly lighter, but only two small items to show for it: a battery and a memory card.

So here I sit in anticipation for that fateful day when I will finally have my camera and begin to learn how to become a good photojournalist and photographer.

As Jack Johnson would say: “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing…”

The Day Has Arrived.

Today is the day that I have been dreading for about the last week or so: The Communications Internship Fair.   Why?  Because today I have an interview with The University Press for a possible internship next semester.  So, why am I dreading it?  This is a great opportunity, I should be looking forward to it… not so much. 

I absolutely HATE interviews!!!  I get really nervous: My hands sweat, my body temperature heats up so I feel like it is 90 degrees in the room, and I have this problem where either I will have absolutely nothing to say when asked a question (My mind just completely fails me and I cannot think of a single intelligent thing to say) or I am in the middle of saying something and then completely forget what I’m talking about!  I will be in the middle of answering a question and then not remember what that question was to begin with!  Not good, not good.

But hey, it’s experience, right?  Everyone has to do them at some point in their lives.  So far, I have had one job/internship interview and two scholarship interviews.  The job interview was a success, the other two… not so much.  Disaster might be a good word to describe those interviews.  But like my friend, my boyfriend, and my dad all told me: The worst thing that can happen is that I don’t get it.  So, what I hope to get out of the interview is, first and foremost, the internship.  But I also want to get the experience of being interviewed so that when I graduate, I will be better prepared for “the real world.”

There are 72 hours in a day, right???

I wish.

Another busy week in the life of a college student.  Two tests, a project to work on, an article for the Kernel, and an interview for an internship…  INTERVIEW?!?!

Yes, as I have mentioned before, the interview for The University Press internship is coming up on Thursday.  And I don’t even have time to stress out about it!  Good thing?  Not so much.  Although it may seem like a good thing that I don’t have time to get as worked up about this interview as those in the past, it actually makes me worry even more.  Why?  Because it is the last major event of the week, and I am afraid that it will get pushed to the side; that I will not be prepared.

It’s late, and I’m sure I won’t get very much sleep tomorrow.  More to come on this topic…

Excitement + Worry/Nervousness = New Camera?

The current all-consuming “hot topic” in my life is cameras. How much do I want to spend? Where am I going to get it? What lenses do I need? And the ultimate concern: I can’t decide what kind to get!!! What if I make the wrong decision???

I have talked to a number of friends/ “pros,” trying to get advice, and I think that I have decided on the Canon Rebel XTI… I think. It is really frustrating because I am so excited about getting my camera and learning more about photojournalism through “doing.” I have talked to the photo adviser at The Kernel, and he has agreed to help me out by letting me shadow another photographer and take pictures with them and then critique my work. I love taking pictures, and my goal is to have them printed in The Kernel and in the yearbook. That may not happen until next YEAR, depending on what opportunities I receive and how quickly I learn and get semi-good at it, but I just want to get started! Hopefully in the next two weeks or so… it will happen, and I will finally have it. The anticipation is getting to me…

“Dream Job”

For Journalism 101, we are required to research and write about our “dream job.” Three interviews are required, and if we do not currently have a “dream job,” then we are to use these interviews as a way to explore different career options. This assignment was definitely for me!

For my three “dream jobs” I chose book publishing, college administrator, and magazine writing. Of all three assignments this semester for the class, this was definitely my favorite and most beneficial because it allowed me to do career research and get a grade for it! I seem to get in this rut where I work on school work all day, and then I come home and just don’t want to do ANYTHING! Certainly not MORE research and semi-work! So this assignment was great because it required me to take time out of my day and think about the future.

Book publishing is one of those careers that I had thought a little about before, but not seriously, simply because I did not know very much about it. For JOU 101, we have small group sessions occassionally on Fridays where different professionals will come to talk to our class. They range in category from print to sports to new media. Leila Salisbury from The University Press of Kentucky came to speak in one of these sessions, and afterward, I knew that I wanted to learn even more about this career. In addition to interviewing her, I also inquired about possible internships. They will be interviewing candidates for spring semester internships at the upcoming Communications Fair on campus next week, so right now, I am starting to prepare for that.

My second career option of college administrator came about as I was thinking of a position that would use my business skills, but not actually be working for a business. I will admit it, business is not exactly the most exciting area for me. I have not enjoyed very many of my business classes, and I currently do not want to pursue an MBA. Why? Just not very interesting… Well for one, I am not very interested in working for a big corporation and making loads of money for the company and for another, I hate Wal-Mart. Those two characteristics probably separate me from a lot of the other business students at Gatton… Maybe one day I will run a small business like Greg’s family does, but right now, I’m not so sure…

Back to the story… I interviewed Dr. Bill Swinford for this career area. He is my political science professor, but his main job at UK is Policy Analysis Director. Mostly, I asked him about career options in general and the requirements for them such as level of degree and whether or not you have to have some sort of education background.

The last interview was with Josh Moss of the Louisville Magazine. As a Louisville native, I am interested in trying to get an internship at the magazine over the summer, so this was an obvious choice. Moss is the staff writer and about my age, so it was a little easier talking to him because he was in my position a couple years ago. He also graduated from Ohio University, which is one of the schools I had started to look into for graduate school so that was pretty cool/interesting. As for summer internships, they have had four since he started working there about a year ago, and all four worked at another job as the internship is unpaid. He told me to send him some clips and he would pass them along. Great news!

Overall, I think that this was a very rewarding experience, even if neither one of these internships pan out. I learned a lot about three fields that I am interested in, and maybe more importantly, I have made three contacts in these fields who have all offered their assistance in the future.