Wrap-Up Post

Coming into this class, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I had heard that this was not going to be easy (but then again, journalism classes usually aren’t), and I had heard that it wasn’t going to be fun, which frightened me a little bit, because while journalism isn’t easy, I’ve never not had fun while doing it. I think I can say honestly as I leave the class now that no, it isn’t easy, and no it’s not always fun, but it is definitely one hell of a learning experience-and a good one.

I started this semester at what I feel might have been a few disadvantages. For starters, I took 320 a year ago, so I was slightly rusty on some of my online skills I felt I had acquired in that class. I topped that off with not having Wasim for 320, and then not taking any reporting classes at all last semester. Needless to say, I was rusty on my reporting and story-telling skills, and I had no idea what to expect from a professor I never had before, let alone one I had heard was difficult to get good grades with. And then we were introduced to a different camera, one that I had never really used before (I was allowed to use my digital point-and-shoot Nikon Coolpix in both 211 and 320). I honestly sat there thinking there was no way I was going to be able to produce A or B quality work with all these disadvantages stacked against me, and I highly doubted I was going to produce even C quality work. However, despite all this, I think I honestly learned a great deal this semester, not only about online journalism, but about myself as a journalist.

I think one of the most important things I learned in this class specifically (aside from better techniques with shooting and editing), was how to better utilize the help the instructors give us. I’ve never been one who is afraid to ask for help from a professor when I really just don’t get something, but I’m also incredibly stubborn and like to think I know what I’m doing after one lesson, which in the past has not necessarily failed me. I’ve generally been that pretty stubborn person who goes out there and does her work, and still been able to produce at least semi-decent results that garnered me A’s and B’s. But that stubbornness that had me refusing to ask for help in the past was also for courses that are meant more for developing skills originally-as long as I gave it my all in effort, I was doing just fine. This course is different though-we’re expected to take the skills we’ve already accumulated, build on them, improve them, and then produce work that garners even better A’s and B’s. From the beginning, Wasim encouraged us to utilize the help he was willing to give us, but I was too stubborn in the beginning to ask for it, or even think I needed to. After completing the first assignment though, I realized how wrong I was, and made sure to seek him out for some one-on-one time the next time around. I didn’t want to produce another project that wasn’t exactly something I’d be proud to include in my portfolio. This was perhaps the most important thing I learned this semester, and probably the one thing I would really change. I would have asked for help much sooner, and more often. It’s something I definitely plan on doing in future classes.

Overall this experience was one that was nerve-wracking and intense, but also enriching and rewarding. I feel I have truly walked away now with at least a better understanding of how to use the skills I’ve acquired to produce great work, but I can also walk away knowing that I still have a little way to go before I can say I have truly honed my skills. I can walk away saying that I have no idea what Sundays are anymore, because I spent probably eleven of the fifteen that passed this semester all in the newsroom working on my stories, but I can also say that I truly appreciate effort in a way I never did before. I used to think I was always putting 115 percent into everything I did, but in reality, after the amounts of effort I put into just this class this semester, I realized I was probably only putting in 80 percent before. I can walk away saying that in-class critiques of drafts of our work still scare the shit out of me, but I can also say that they are insanely helpful, because constructive criticism and feedback are what really help us improve and truly become better journalists. And finally, I can walk away knowing that I truly gave it my all, and at the end of the day, that’s the best I can ask of myself.