Liam Madden

I want to thank all the teachers, counselors, and fellow students who made these past two weeks memorable for all the right reasons.

I arrived on the 18th unsure of what to expect.  I am leaving CSPA with a new understanding and appreciation for journalism.

The engaging classes, intense recreation activities, and interesting field trips have made the workshop worthwhile.

I hope to keep in touch with everyone whom I have come to know the past 12 days.

Thanks!

1)   The CSPA is non-profit and runs solely to reach out to aspiring journalists with teachers who take time away from their jobs to participate.

2)   The CSPA adjusts its curriculum to adapt to the changing world of media.

3)   The CSPA educates aspiring journalists with classes that teach practical skills needed to pursue a career in journalism.

I would publish a map that illustrates where exactly the fire is in relation to the high school and the greater area.  The map would show which areas will likely be affected by the fire.  The map could be updated as the fire spreads and is controlled.

I would also post links to websites with instructions for residents living near the fire about what they should do.  If an official made any public announcement about plans to deal with the fire, I would post a link to the story that includes this information.

If I was able to interview any firefighters on the scene, I would post the information that they gave me in terms of how local people should act.  If I interviewed a firefighter with a video camera or voice recorder, I would post the video or recording online.

Every night after discussion, all nine guys from the workshop gather in one room to play the card game Mau, talk, and hang out.  That is very different from how it was the first night, when none of us knew each other and we had no idea what to expect.

In one week we have all become close, and I feel like I have known all of them for a long time.  Kevin entertains us with his crazy stories, and CJ comes up with funny youtube videos to show us.

We get a knock on the door to turn the lights out and go to bed, and we instantly turn the light switch off and continue exactly what we were doing.

I guess it’s just that we are all very similar.

Olivia Hill scored her team’s only touchdown in a competitive powderpuff football game this past school year against the senior girls.

At Head-Royce High School, the senior girls posed a challenge to the junior girl: a flag football game.  Leading up to the big event, both teams practiced at lunchtime and made team t-shirts.  Each team also had a coach.

Olivia said the experience was really fun and her team bonded through it.

Although the event was simply a friendly challenge, Olivia said the whole school came to watch.  The crowd got into it, and people even booed each other, Olivia said.

“It was for fun, but we were really  competitive about it,” said Olivia.

Even with Olivia’s touchdown, her team of junior girls lost the game to the seniors, who were able to muster two touchdowns.  Olivia said she and her team wanted  a rematch, which never came into fruition.

Olivia said the game will probably take place again next year.  She said that she hopes there will be more practices and her team will produce a better game plan.

Seven assignments into the workshop, I have come to realize a pattern of thoughts that takes place in my mind each time a new deadline is announced: I evaluate how difficult I think it will be, and the harder it sounds, the less I want to do the assignment and the more I complain to myself.  What I’ve realized is that the assignments I have the lowest expectations for and dread the most end up being my favorite if I just put away all my preconceptions and go into each one with an open mind.

The last thing I wanted to do was take hundreds of pictures of a huge crowd of cats in a crowded, bad-smelling shelter.  As I left the shelter with 350 photos on my memory card, many of which I was happy with, I realized the experience ended up being worthwhile.

When it was time for on-the-spot news writing today, I thought, “Run around interviewing six people scattered around campus and then write a fact-filled story in very limited time?  No Thanks!”  When I finished just as Art called time and turned in the assignment that I had worked so hard on for the previous couple hours, I felt proud of the effort I put in and realized that the assignment had been the most rewarding one so far.

As much as I dreaded those two assignments at the start of them, I found appreciation in becoming a better photographer and a better journalist.

Today during recreation, I decided to play soccer hoping that I wouldn’t embarrass myself too badly.  As it turned out, although it was apparent to every other person playing or watching that I am the worst soccer player to ever kick a soccer ball (or, in my case, ATTEMPT to kick a soccer ball), I had a great time.

For every pathetic play I made, there was a hilarious moment–whether that be Kevin’s attempted bicycle kicks and headers or Jeremy Fuster’s intimidating facial expressions as he dribbled the ball down field–that made me glad I chose to do something a little bit out of my comfort zone.

I am faced with similar situations all the time and always end up either regretting that I chose not to do something different or being glad that I simply went against my stubbornness  and said, “Sure, why not?”  Coming to this journalism workshop was something that I almost decided not to do because I often have the problem of resisting things that are different from my ordinary lifestyle.

The next two weeks will bring me opportunities to have fun doing different things that I will hopefully take advantage of.  The type of person I least want to be is the one person in a group who refuses to have fun.

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