Final Portfolio Entry

Since this blog was started strictly for academic purposes as a requirement for my Communications courses here at Harding University, this final portfolio entry will the last post on the blog overall.  I will be creating a new site to maintain a digital portfolio in the near future and will post it as soon as possible.

Over the course of this semester in this Mass Media Writing class, I have learned a lot about the ever-changing ways of journalism.  I have come to experience the aspect of being a backpack journalist while working as a part of the team that went to Italy over spring break.  The posts during my trip and the previous post about how Harding is preparing me for my career will attest to that.

Since that trip I have uploaded several stories to the College of Communication web site The Link on my own and with partners. I have learned to be ready at all times with a camera to capture a story through still shots, video or audio and upload and edit my work to make it a story worth reading.  I have learned to look for the interesting angles of stories or simply tell a person's story and feature individuals who have something to share.

Here are the links to my stories that have been uploaded to the site since the last portfolio entry:

• Brigidino: A secret in Scandicci
• Feature: The Duomo
• Five fantastic features of Florence
• 'Life is Beautiful' in Arezzo, Italy
• Dr. Andreina Bianchini discusses work as international program director in Florence
• All that Jazz: Scandicci jazz band performs at the Villa
• Student shares her passion as art education major
• Some Different Animals make music on Harding's campus

Clearly the first six stories are from my time in Italy.  The first is about the family of merchants in the Scandicci market who have a secret recipe for making their Brigidino.  The second is simply about the incredible Duomo in all its glory.  The third story was a fun piece with an equally fun alliterative title. It was a creative way to experience the various sites one should see in Florence and share that with the readers.  Next is a story about a trip my friend and I took on our own to Arezzo, Italy, where the movie "Life is Beautiful" was filmed. It was a neat feeling to not only be experiencing such an intriguing country as Italy but to be taking pictures of and standing in the same location as an award-winning foreign film.  The next story is about a guest that came to celebrate the HUF program at the Villa. It is a feature story about Dr. Andreina Bianchini who shares a similar position as the director Robbie Shackleford for our international program in Italy but for several state universities.  The jazz story is about the Scandicci Jazz Band that came to perform at the Villa on our last night there.
The last two stories were done since my return to campus.  Both are feature stories: one being about an art student and her talent as she finds her passion and embraces it as her future career and the second being about a newly formed student band who was asked to perform by Harding's Campus Activities' Board Director. It was sort of a preview as to their music and an inside look as to who these guys really are.

Again I will be posting the new site for my entire digital portfolio soon.
Ciao!