I'm back from my blogging sabbatical, ready to start a new school year. Well, not ready, but I'll go ahead and start anyway.
Let's take a look at the impression I have of my classes so far:
1 History of Journalism: Like a REAL history class, a lot of reading, writing, and a lot of dropping by lazy students. Unfortunately, you come across a lot of lazy students in Journalism classes. I'm not sure why, it's a pretty intense career. Anyway, this gem is taught by Bill McGraw, who is a passionate teacher, always willing to talk shop. Although today is his last day at the Free Press. He will be missed I'm sure.
2. Copywriting and Producing for Electronic Media-This is a requirement for tv/radio production classes. I thought it would be news writing, but it's more like commercials. Charlie Meyers keeps in informal in her class, but a lot of the students are really immature, and it gets away from her from time to time. Meyers runs campus video, so if you're in that and know her personally you can basically get away with anything. I'm ten kinds of sick of it.
3. Intro to Journalism-The only reason I'm taking this is because it's a requirement. Also, M.L.-I busted-Kwame-and-won-a-Pulitzer Elrick is teaching the class! I'm so excited that not only is he a good teacher, but he's a cool and funny guy. It's mostly journalism pro's in this class, so he doesn't have to take it slow, which is cool. Seriously, take him if you can.
To update ya, yes I am still working myself to death, but there have been some developments! I'm no longer on campus. By some miracle I got a really good paying job out in Ann Arbor, along with a class line up that is totally 6-9. So I'm working enough good hours to move out of my Dad's house and really tackle some of my debt.
Now to my complaining: I am driving 100+ miles a day from working Ann Arbor, going to school in Dearborn, and living in Clawson (which I'll get to in a minute.) I work seven days a week right now, but I'm just grateful as all hell to be living in Michigan and able to find jobs. My crazy lifestyle is starting to wear on me.
My new job is with a Yoga supply company called Yogapro. It's really interesting, and after three months I was given a promotion and more hours! Plus I love yoga, so I can really get into the swing of things here. It's really worth the drive. I'm finding data analysis and media buying and marketing really interesting. It's empowering, to use math to come up with media and communications strategies for my company. I've never been good at math, I've always been paralyzed with the thought of doing anything math related. But now, it's like magic. I understand what I'm doing. I really love my job.
I find it so interesting in fact that I'm losing, heck, I've lost my desire to do journalism. Remember last year? I was all about news reporting and information. But now I'm losing it. I can't stand the way the health care debate has been handled (by the press, the public, and the president) and I'm realizing more and more that using my skills somewhere that isn't journalism is going to give me a better job and I won't feel dirty or low. I need to work to live, not live to work. Being a journalist, it bleeds into everything. Late nights covering crime scenes or court appearances. Is that really something that I want? I've never been little miss 'marriage, family, white picket fence.' But a real life would be nice. I could use a better paying job to do stuff like move somewhere interesting and travel.
This is a problem because I'm in the middle of a second internship with WDET, and I can't bring myself to care about it. I have good excuse for not staying all day, but for the first time in 3 years I would rather be somewhere else then the radio station. It's a real crisis of conscious. Maybe I'm just tired from the stress of life, but I really feel disconnected from my old love. Lady journalism may not be for me anymore.
Right now I'm also moving, which just keeps me away from the station even more. It's a really big move. I'm moving in with my boyfriend Trevor, and not only have we never lived together, but I've never lived with any boyfriend.It's really exciting/scary
Oh what's that? Class? Well, as you know, this year is the 50th birthday of our dear University, which is very cool. Since I no longer work at the paper (see above for reasons.) and I no longer work on campus I was looking for something to get involved in. Luckily, they need a lot of us COMM kids to do work on Sustainability Day, the new JASS program, and the 50 year anniversary. So I am still kicking around. I recently went to a strolling dinner at the Fairlane Estate, where lots of donors, professors, students and movers and shakers rubbed elbows between drinks and dessert. It was alright. Fairlane was the real star of the show. It is BEAUTIFUL in there.
So good luck readers. Welcome to another year at the University of Michigan Dearborn. It's my last, which makes me both happy and sad. Let's see if I can make it through this one with as much poise and grace as the last.
