Wrap Up

This course has been one of the most frustrating, yet one of the most rewarding journalism courses I have taken thus far. Wasim's attention to detail is a skill that I had not developed strongly enough in myself. For me, a structured teaching environment that forces me to do things a certain way helps me the best, and this class was very structured indeed. In JRN 320 the professor (who shall not be named) did not give feedback nor did he give many guidelines, so I felt as though I came into JRN 380 without much of a foundation. Frustrated at first, I realized this was exactly what I needed. The power points and the energetic lectures helped me get on track.

One criticism I have of the class is that if you do not know what questions to ask then they will not always get answered. Having a disadvantage by not taking JRN 320 with Wasim, I did not know what I did not know...if that makes any sense. Setting up mandatory one-on-one conferences would have opened my eyes to the things I should have focused on and would have helped me develop skills I may not have known I lacked. I relied a lot, perhaps too much, on tips and opinions of my classmates who frequented the newsroom in the late night/early morning hours.

My final criticism is that I feel as though Wasim is capable of teaching more than he did. I mean this is the most complementary way possible. It is obvious that he is extremely talented and informed on all things web, yet I feel as though he held back a bit.