Final Borderbeat Blog

The end of the fall semester is already here and with comes the final entry in this blog.

Borderbeat was a very interesting experience to say the least and I am very thankful to have taken this class as my capstone course.

I'll never forget how the class started with my first story about a local taco stand falling apart after the woman I talked to told me to scram and then having to go do a story on Pat's Drive-In on such short notice. It was stressful having to go through that but it turned out much better than I had expected.

I've been involved in journalism in one way or another since my junior year in high school and this class has really helped me focus more not just on writing a text story, but focusing on other elements such as slideshows, audio and video. Being able to focus on these other elements has actually made it easier for me to tell the reader about an event, a particular person or place. Take the time to learn as many computer and internet programs as possible. Learn about programs such as Final Cut, Audacity, and Photoshop and it will help make things a little easier.

Choosing to be a part of an online publication was not something that I was so concerned about after starting the class. But after working on four class presentations about online journalism, I'm happy this was my choice. These were the four web sites I did presentations on:

1) Knight Digital Media Center
2) Online journalism paper
3) Journalism.org
4) Online Journalism Blog


Going to the St. Andrew's Children's Clinic was a great experience and is one of the reasons why I would recommend this class to anyone. First hearing about spending a whole day doing this was awkward but this is what journalism is all about: being there in person, talking to people, taking pictures, audio, video, etc. I spent a good deal of time outside of class with Rahsaan Gethers working on making the videos we took there look as good as possible. It was difficult work, no doubt, but seeing the final product I'm sure will be a relief.

My best reason for someone looking to take this class would be because of what this class provides since it is online based. I have been able to get some good clips out of this which has helped me (I think in a big way) in being accepted into the apprentice program at the Arizona Daily Star through the UA Journalism Department next semester. At the internship fair back in October, many of the people I interviewed with liked what Borderbeat was teaching because of the shift towards more online based material such as video, slideshows, audio.

So thanks to Professor Jay Rochlin for making Borderbeat a fun class that has probably done more to prepare me for the future after college is over.

Thanks also go to John deDios for taking a lot of time to help me with tech issues and making the videos created in Final Cut look as good as possible before going on the web site.

And finally to everyone involved in the fall 2008 Borderbeat class, from the staff writers to copy editors to the co-editors-in-chief, I want to say it was a pleasure working with all of you. I can't remember a class over the course of the semester when there wasn't something to laugh about.