AprilDudash Keeping it on the record.

Pizza and windy weather: The Big City

Posted July 5, 2010 at 17:05 in blog

The trek to Chicago from Indianapolis takes about three hours. You pass cornfield after cornfield while trying to suppress the urge to pull off onto the side of the highway and take a bite into the first husked ear of goodness you see.

Then there are the windmills. They take up miles of farmland and spin in lazy yet productive circles. I felt like I was sucked into an alternative energy commercial.

If I had a time machine...

Posted June 21, 2010 at 00:12 in blog

SPJ Headquarters got a letter in the mail last week from a middle schooler who said she was interested in becoming a reporter. The membership coordinator looked at the letter and handed it to me, saying I should write her back.

I had to think about it for a while. I didn’t want to freak her out…telling her about the state of the industry would certainly do that. I could just imagine her eyes going wide as she read the letter and then saying, “Er…nevermind. I’ll stick with becoming a lawyer, thanks.”

Graduated, Moved and Settled

Posted June 9, 2010 at 22:10 in blog

So much has happened since we last chatted, blogosphere. I have a four-year degree now! Hooray! On April 30, I walked down the aisle, got to sit on the stage and was given a B.S. in journalism. I hugged some great mentors and role models during my walk from college into the real world.

I was also awarded the journalism college-wide Dean’s Cup for Service and the Society of Professional Journalists department award, which was such an amazing honor.

Then I went to Disney World for four days and braved the Tower of Terror. (Can that thing drop any faster? Gravity, yeesh.)

A Town Hall with Pizazz

Posted February 14, 2010 at 18:06 in blog

Seven panelists. Dozens of students. Delicious subs. Questions, musings and advice on the future of journalism.

All of these things came together to create a town hall forum at the end of January. The theme of the forum was Integrating New Tools with Traditional Journalism, and students got the chance to ask questions about their future careers.

The UF Society of Professional Journalists, The Fine Print and Campus Progress co-hosted the event. Lydia (co-editor of The Fine Print), Travis (Fine Print’s web guru) and I (president of UF SPJ) met up a bunch of times before the event to discuss what we wanted it to be. What did we want to create?

'Tis the season

Posted November 30, 2009 at 18:06 in blog

The TV station recorded my voice for a commercial today while I was at work! That was strange. And I talked about health foods as gifts for the holidays.

So if all goes well, these pipes will be on cable. It still feels like a random, weird achievement.

Speaking of the holidays, there’s only one more semester left until I graduate, and that fact is rapidly sinking in. Friends and fellow journalism majors are starting to plan their “real world” fates. The intense search for internships has gripped the entire journalism college. It’s starting to feel like an episode of Survivor.

Blogging from the Back Line

Posted October 5, 2009 at 01:01 in blog

Making things up on the spot. Being center stage. Playing with invisible props. Sound crazy?

It can be. Most of the time.

SPJ-tastic!

Posted August 11, 2009 at 15:03 in blog

I just received some brilliant news, hot off the presses, that I would like to share with the Internet world…

The UF Society of Professional Journalists has been named the National SPJ Campus Chapter of the Year! Yippee!

Nearing the end of summer: A journalistic update

Posted August 8, 2009 at 21:09 in blog

My senior year officially starts Aug. 24. It’s an exciting yet terrifying thought, that in a year I’ll be thrown out into the real world. I think my job search will start once school starts.

So I have stayed in Gainesville this summer, and a lot has transpired. Here’s a bit of what’s been going on lately…

Climbing Bleachers

Posted July 8, 2009 at 15:03 in blog

About a week ago, I spent a good hour in the near-empty UF stadium climbing the bleachers and attempting to get a few shots with my Nikon D5000.

The camera: both a convenience and a curse

Posted June 26, 2009 at 23:11 in blog

I’ve been interning at the TV station for a couple months now, and I’ve begun to notice how being in front of a camera can either enchant people into spilling their life stories or destroy their composure.