JEM 222: So Far...

This has been the first class I've taken where any lectures have been taught from another city. It was definitely different to have someone teaching me from their apartment in New York City via video chat, but for the most part, it worked just fine. Of course there were the first couple of days where I couldn't hear much of what Peggy said, and Staci had to scroll around on her Powerpoint slides because they were bigger than our screen, but most new things have kinks that need tweaking.

The one thing that I always appreciate in my different classes is when I feel like the professor actually knows me. And both of you have done a great job of that this semester. That is why I enjoyed being able to talk to Peggy on the phone and have the chance to ask her questions and get some advice. I really appreciate the time you took to really consider my questions and talk about my writing style. And thank you for going so far as to ask your co-workers for links and references for me. Our phone meeting really helped me start to figure out what I may be doing after I graduate this May.

As for the whole semester, I feel like I have gained confidence - partly because I already knew how to do several of the things we learned this semester, but also because I was assigned to do things that I wouldn't have done myself and I learned from it. The one thing I wished I could have learned more about in the class would be computer skills like Photoshop, Flash, HTML and other coding. During the semester I realized more and more just how useful those skills would come in working in the field of online journalism.

And I believe this is where my perception of online journalism has changed over the course of the semester. Like most of the students in the class, I don't really like the idea of being a reporter - having a beat and investigating the latest local house fire. But once I started learning that there is so much that goes into producing a news-related web site, I was excited at all the opportunities that a career in this field could offer me. Though I still have no idea what I will end up doing with my life, I'm not dreading working for a news organization anymore.