Final Entry

Well, this is my twelfth entry.  It’s strange how fast this year and semester went by.  I feel like it was only a few weeks ago that we were getting the syllabi to our classes.  Only one more year until I graduate, which is very scary.  This year has definitely taught me a lot, about myself and in terms of academics.  I have taken some informative and helpful classes, and I have learned a few different things about myself.

Cultural Anthropology is a class I took because I heard it was interesting and that the Professor was a really good teacher.  I learned so much about different cultures and what it really means to be in an ethnocentric society.  For a part of our final we have to write a mini ethnography, and I got to write about my recent trip to Israel.  It is so interesting to discuss how cultures are similar and different.  I really enjoyed the class, and even enjoyed writing the 10-page paper.  Next semester I will be taking medical anthropology, which should definitely be intriguing.

This semester I was taking 18 credits, I have an internship that I work at at least 15 hours a week, and I am the co-president of a club on campus.  I have definitely learned more about time management and prioritizing.  I am excited for the semester to come to a close, because I look forward to working and having a good first summer in New York.  I am also terrified because it means I only have a short time left before senior year!

Car Accident :(

Yesterday I got into a really bad car accident.   I was driving down Anderson Hill Road when we came to a complete stop in a lot of traffic.  As I sat there, with my friend in the passenger seat, we were suddenly jolted forwards into the car in front of us, and then immediately thrown back again.  The car behind me had not seen, somehow, that we were stopped, and went full speed into the back of my car.  The car in front of me only had minor damage, luckily.  My car and the car behind me, however, were towed, and will most likely be totaled.

My car had been in my family for 11 years.  It’s a Rav4, and I loved driving Rosie the Rav.  It was my mom’s car originally, but when my older brother’s car broke down at one point, he had borrowed it for college.  And then, once I got my license, the car became mine.  I learned how to drive in that car, and I’ve had some fun road trips in that car.  I was hoping that she would get me through senior year, but unfortunately she didn’t quite make it through junior year.

I hope that I don’t have to pay any money, since it obviously wasn’t my fault.  I will find out at the end of the week for sure, but at the moment it’s killing me not to have my car.  I am very lucky that no one was hurt, and that we are all okay.  It was all Manhattanville students involved in the three cars, which I thought was kind of strange.  But I am very sad to see my car go, and I have no idea how I am going to get around or get home without a car.  Boston is a bit too far away unfortunately.

Quad Jam

Another successful quad jam has come and gone.  I can’t believe all the work that goes into it, and then one day later it’s all done and over with.  This year all of the clubs at Manhattanville were required to become involved somehow in the events.  As the co-president of Dance Ensemble, we decided to perform, seemed like the most common sense thing to do.  However, some groups thought of some pretty fun and interesting ways to become involved, that I definitely wouldn’t have thought of.

Tie dye, ACT shirts, kickball, and a catapult were only a few of the many interesting things going on during the day.  Around 2 p.m. the events began.  Alex, the M.C of the day announced everything that would be happening.  I thought that it made quad jam so much better.  There was never a point where I was bored or didn’t know what to do.  And before I knew it, it was 5:30 and time to perform!  It was a blast performing in front of everyone.  I had performed freshman year, but it was in a big group and wasn’t the best performance we had put on.  This year, however, the eight officers put hard work into the dance and we loved everyone’s reaction.

Even President Berman came out to support us!  He gave me a big hug after and said how much he enjoyed the performance.  His feedback made us feel pretty confident and excited about our upcoming showcase.  He said he looked forward to coming, and we are hoping for a good turnout that we always receive.  

Communications

Communications seems to run in my family.  My mom was a journalism major in college, my brother was a broadcast journalism major, and here I am, a communications major.  Although my mom didn’t follow her major her whole life, my brother is definitely on the right track.

My brother is 24, and a reporter in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  He studied hard at Syracuse University and followed his childhood dream to be on television.  Since he was young, he always wanted to be a sports broadcaster, and he followed the newscasters and studied their techniques.  He had many different jobs and internships around college that helped steer him in the right direction.  After deciding that he liked news broadcasting better, he applied to about 50 jobs all around the country.  His resume tape was full of his best broadcasts and his resume was top notch.  After many responses, he chose the job in Arkansas because it was the best market and somewhere he had never thought of going.  He has been there for two years now, and couldn’t have done better.  He learned about the new culture, often having to fake a southern accent for people to take him seriously.

Communications is an interesting field to work in, because it can literally take you around the country, and even the world.  He never expected to move far away from home, but he has loved the experience.  I hope that wherever I end up, it takes me somewhere new for a while.  I think that everyone should have the opportunity to live someone they’re not used to for a while, and find out what they want to do.  I look forward to the excitement in finding my first job outside college.

Internships/Senior Year Coming Up Fast ..

I cannot believe I am almost a senior at college.  High school seemed like the longest four years of my life, and College has felt like the three shortest years.  The days may drag sometimes, but the weeks are flying by.

I have to say, junior year of High School is definitely the toughest, and I would have to say it’s the hardest in college as well.  This year has been all required classes for my major, and not much time take any fun classes that you take for the sake of liberal arts credits.  I also was told that it is really important to get as many internships as you can in college, because you can get a job out of them once you graduate.  So, taking my parents, my brothers, and my professors advice, I got one this semester.  I have been working as an intern in the Marketing and Publications Department on campus, and I have been learning so much.

I always thought an internship would be getting coffee and answering phones, because that’s how I always saw them.  But I have actually learned more than I could have imagined, and I have been creating and helping to make fliers, posters, and mailers for different big events and activities that will be taking place around Manhattanville.  I will be living on campus this summer so that I can continue the internship and continue learning about graphic design.

As senior year is coming closer and closer, I think of how I still don’t know what I want to do when I graduate, but how my internship is helping to guide me in the right direction.  So, as I said in my first blog, I don’t know where I’m going, but I hope to have a better idea after the summer and next semester.

Mville Communicating

As I walked around campus today I realized that communication around this little college is pretty decent.  Between flyers, emails, advertisements, and word of mouth things get around school fast.  Brownson and the res halls are covered in different advertisements for events, activities, and productions going on.  It never occurred to me how much happens within one day here.

As I went from Brownson to the Castle to the cafeteria, I saw and heard about at least five events that would be happening around campus in the next week.  I think that since we have such a small school, things are easily communicated, and it’s totally different from a bigger school.  After visiting my best friend at UMass Dartmouth, I realized how tiny Manhattanville College really is.  All of the events at UMD are huge, and they have many different facilities for them to occur in.  For example, they had a comedian there recently, and they had to put it in the theater, which held hundreds and hundreds of people.  At Mville, where would we put that many people?

One of the main reasons I came to Mville is because it is so small, and my high school was tiny, so it’s simply what I am used to.  The community aspect of school is much more present in a small college.  The fact that people can put up posters to advertise their event is great, and it is also great that by word of mouth, just about everyone on campus will hear about it.  If a pub party or bake sale is happening, it is very likely that about 75% of Mville will know about it, including faculty and some staff.  I think that is definitely one of the cool things about this school, everyone knows about all the opportunities and events offered each day on campus.

"Said"

The author of the Writing For the Media book says that one should not look for substitute words for “said.”  I think that this depends entirely on the article or story.  The context will help someone to determine whether or not to use the word said.

For example, straight news stories will often use said in interviews because they want to get their point across simply, without confusion.  They also must tell the story exactly as they know, and the cannot be biased and use their opinion in the story.  Feature stories, however, are more stylistic and can use more descriptive words such as exclaimed or yelled.

Also, in stories that use only said, there can also be descriptive words around the word “said.”  Someone can say something angrily or happily or excitedly.  This can add color to the story that is not present by simply said that someone “said” something will happen.

Articles that are straightforward often use said, so that they remain simple and easy to read.   The interviews are an important part of the news, so they say said in order to show the important of the quote, rather than how the person said it.  In feature stories it is equally important to know how the person spoke, so other adjectives may be used to communicate the emotion to the reader.  Stories with the conflict and impact news values may also use words besides “said” in order to show the importance and feeling of the article.

Although there is most likely no right or wrong answer to the word “said,” I think feature stories and stories with more color should include more interesting and descriptive words.

There are many news values that are present in every news story.  Proximity and timeliness are two that are the most common.  In lead paragraphs, one can find the where and when in which the story is taking place.  This is important because it can determine whether the reader chooses to continue reading the article.

My local newspaper back home is the MetroWest Daily News.  The first story I looked at is entitled “Framingham Man in Ashland Car Crash has Life Threatening Injuries.”  The title tells the who, what, and where.  It shows timeliness and proximity because the article went up shortly after the accident.  Although people may not know the person who suffered injuries, they will be interested in where the crash occurred and they will also know that there will be traffic around that area.

“Do You Love Barbie” is an interesting article on the website because it is a very short piece about an event that will be happening in the MetroWest area.  It shows timeliness and proximity and also an element of the bizarre because most wouldn’t expect to see that in an everyday paper.  It draws a certain reader in, and allows them to be a part of an event in the area.

Finally, “Framingham Pantry to Reopen” is a story with impact.  Many people have suffered some sort of loss since the pantry has not been open.  However, they will be relived to find out that it will reopen on March 14^th.  Those who rely on the pantry will again have a place to go, and this allows interest and relief for those reading this article.

Timeliness and proximity are the most important values in an article.  Conflict and impact are the important values in order to draw the reader in.

"Bad News"

One of the criticisms of the news media is that they emphasize “bad news” more than “good news.” People who believe this usually say that when they turn on the television to watch the news, or open a newspaper, there is most likely going to be sad news, or news that does not evoke smile or laughter. The news often consists of different news stories that are problems to be solved. The financial crisis, for example, is obviously a big problem in the country, and the stories based on this crisis consist of people who have lost their jobs, homes, and normal lives.

I would have to agree that most news is “bad news.” Although there is an occasional story that makes us laugh, smile, or feel happy, most of it consists of weather alerts, world issues, and things that need to be fixed and improved. The one medium that contains more “good news,” in my opinion, is the Internet. There is a time limit for television news shows, and there are only so many pages in a newspaper, so it is hard to fit “the good.” Online, however, has endless amounts of space, so there is room to fit everything.

My brother is a TV news reporter, and he often does “bad news” stories. He covers local stories, usually about places that have issues to be solved. For example, he covered a restaurant that recently had a fire, an intersection that had many accidents occur and needed a stoplight, and weather alerts for ice storms that would have a large affect on the area. Although these stories are considered “bad,” it is information that people need to know. Every once in a while he is able to do a feature story, which brings light to the news cast and allows viewers to relax and enjoy the story.

Interesting Stylebook Entries

After going through the AP Stylebook, I found many interesting tendencies in the entries and the way in which the book was formatted. Firstly, I thought the entry of "almost never" was intriguing. On page 13 it says that you should not use this phrase. Instead, one should say seldom or hardly ever. After reading this, I noticed myself trying to correct myself when I was going to use the phrase. Once one becomes aware of what they should or shouldn't say, they can correct themselves when it comes up in context.

I am terrible at spelling, so a few of the entries enlightened me on spelling mistakes that i commonly make. One of these words is "judgment." I always put an E after the G, so it definitely helped to read over that and remind myself again how to spell it. I also saw that on page 246 it says to not use the word "towards," only "toward." I find myself correcting my words after I say that sometimes as well.

The final entry that I found to be helpful was "odd" on page 174. It says to follow with a hyphen when you use it. For example, "odd-looking" and "odd-numbered." The is helpful because I never understood when to use hyphens, and now I am aware that this is one place where they are needed.

The Stylebook is definitely going to help me out when I'm writing my next paper, or my next blog. By having this reference, I can understand different parts of grammar that I haven't studied or remembered recently. It is a helpful resource that I plan to keep near me when working on papers.

Common Spelling Mistakes!

More commonly misspelled words

AP Style Entries

Image of Grammar

In grade school, grammar was drilled into the curriculum. The English teachers would always have many worksheets full of ways to use commas and colons and fragments and run on sentences. It always seemed that the teachers dreaded teaching this subject, and students weren't fond of it either. After a lesson of doing continuous worksheets, all that was accomplished was frustrated students and teachers. High school didn't contain any grammar work that I can remember. The focus was more on writing a good five paragraph essay, and learning the structure of a paper. Our grammar was not corrected, but our form was.

I still don't know perfect grammar. Punctuation has always given me a hard time, and when I write papers I always second guess myself. Commas and dashes and semi colons have been my issue. However, even in class when we had worksheets on them, they all seemed to merge together. I have always hoped that the more I write, the more it will make sense to me. I think that by taking a writing seminar Freshman year I was able to narrow down my problem and make corrections. Throughout college, I hope to discover and correct other grammar issues that I have yet to notice.

With the introduction to Word documents and spell/grammar checks, it became less important to know. When I was in high school I remember relying on spelling and grammar checks to correct anything that I was unsure of. After learning that these tools were not always right, I have learned to rely on myself to determine what the correct punctuation is. Although it is a grueling subject, it is necessary to know before writing long term papers and documents.

Grammar Rules!

Text Messages affecting Grammar

Helpful Rules

I came to Manhattanville College intending to major in Dance. Although I had an injury that set me back in middle and high school, I chose to ignore it and continue dancing. My freshman year I spent in all dance related classes, and spent little time thinking about other majors or activities. Half way through my sophomore year, I got injured again, and had to rethink everything. I started taking classes in many different subjects, including communications, science, and English. I enjoyed my communications classes, and thought about how I could integrate dance with them. From that point on, I have looked for different ways to relate the two, such as working at a dance magazine or doing something like PR for a dance company. By taking a wide range of communications classes, I have tried to incorporate dance into each one, and I am interested to see how this class will allow me to do that.

I am not sure what I want to do once I graduate college. My plan is to do different internships that allow me to understand the different worlds of communications, and to see which one fits me best. Right now I am doing a graphic design internship, which allows me to make posters and be creative around Manhattanville. Although I am enjoying it, I am not sure if this is the path I will choose. I hope to have another internship over the summer in a completely different field, to test my creativity in a different light.

This class will allow me to write about many different topics, and view another part of communications. It is different from many of the communications courses I have taken, and I hope to gain a new perspective of what the outcome of my career will be.

Mville's Homepage
My Old Dance Studio
My Favorite Dance Magazine