Student Blog Posts
WEEK ONE
Alexa Hicklin
Last week has been sort of like an adventure to me. Coming from the Northeast, I didn’t know much about Center City, so I was excited to explore a new environment that is drastically different from the one I’m used to. Center City is fast-paced, thrilling, noisy, and busy. It’s full of interesting people from all walks of life. I basically think of it as the heart of Philadelphia. And to work in the middle of where everything is happening has been such an experience for me.
What I liked most about the program was doing the man-on-the-street interviews. My partner and I were turned down plenty of times, but we also got lucky with a few people who actually stopped to talk to us. We started out in LOVE Park because we figured that most of the people would be hanging out and probably wouldn’t mind if we talked to them. But, in a way, we were sort of wrong. LOVE Park is a very touristy place. Most of the people there were interested in taking pictures in front of the famous LOVE sign. The people that were sitting on the benches or in front of the water fountain didn’t want to be interviewed. We ended up interviewing one person in LOVE Park, and from there we moved onto other places.
On Friday, there was an event going near city hall for Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell’s birthday. The event was thrown not only for her, but the homeless people of Philadelphia. There was music, people, and plenty of food. I personally thought it was nice for all these people to come together and celebrate. We did more man-on-the-street interviews and we also took a lot more pictures. I had to take video footage with my partner, and I personally thought it was a difficult task, because there was a lot of background noise, and on top of that, there was loud music. Out of all the interviews I did, I did get a few quotes.
This whole week overall has been great.
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Donte Green
July 11th 2011 was my first day to work for the Temple University High School Press and I remember it like it was yesterday.
I recognized the place alright because the Saturday before, I went to visit so I could get an idea of where I was going so I wouldn’t get lost on the first day.
I arrived about 20 minutes early so during that time I was on the computer until we were ready to start. When the time came we all introduced ourselves and interviewed each other and became comfortable with each other.
During the second day of work we went out to take pictures which was really exciting for my partner and I.But not just any pictures, we had to take photos that resemble the examples of good pictures in the slideshow that was presented earlier that day.We did a pretty good job with the pictures they were really nice and got thumbs up from the instructors so that was good to know.
The next day we did our Man On The Street assignment. My partner and I weren’t so sure that people would stop and talk to us but some of the people that we talked to were really nice and cooperated with us so we had four people to explain their opinions about the budget cuts, flash mobs, and the excessive heat.
Throughout the whole week we have been very busy and very creative but most important it has been fun and I have enjoyed it.
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Kenisha Pinckney
I really enjoyed my first week here at TUCC for the Journalism program. I’ve gotten a chance to meet different people from various schools, learn great techniques from the instructors and experience life as a real journalist.
First of all, all the students here at the program come from different schools such as Franklin, Lincoln, Kensington and Mastbaum; but our common purpose is gaining hands- on experience in Broadcast Communications, Photo Journalism and Video as well.
Secondly, the instructors are experienced in the fields they work in. As a result, I am obtaining information that will become valuable in my career choice as an anchor woman/reporter.
In addition, I experienced “Man on the Street” interviews, I managed to work along with other people and we took pictures of the environment and I interviewed homeless people and questioned them about their struggles and hardships.
Therefore, my first week at TUCC was only the beginning of something new.
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Darrell Moore
Last week I had a fun, it was a wonderful time. We were paired off groups and worked around the city.
We also worked on the computer. We learned more & more about how to interview people and such and the questions to answer in a story. Those questions are: who, what, when, where, and why.
We learned a lot more but last week was fun and exciting I got to know more and more about my classmates each day.
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Dado Nianghane
I thought the first week of this program was pretty interesting. I got to meet different types of people and learned some things about myself.
I’ll admit at first I was dreading to come here. But now I’m glad I did. I got over being shy and stopped random people to talk to them for our man on the street project.
Also I learned a lot about journalism like how it’s good to get both sides of a story.
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Henry Beard
Last week I had a good time working for the Working Ready program for Temple University.
I met new people and I learned new things. I also learned how to interview people more maturely.
I took pictures of buildings, people, animals, places, waters, cars, etc. I also learned a couple new ways to make the picture standout more. For example, fill the frame, repetition, leading lines, etc. I also had a good time interviewing people.
I went out and gave respect and got respect.
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Jamel Crawford
My experience last week in this program was fun. I got the chance to meet all my colleagues and staff.
I went out downtown and took pictures. I learned how to look at a new perspective while taking pictures.
At first, I didn’t think I’d like this program because I never did journalism before this summer. I only came cause I needed a job. Overall, I enjoyed my time so far.
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Nashali Maldonado
Last week we went out and asked people how do they feel about the cuts in the school budgets and how do they feel about flash mobs. We also asked homeless people how did they become homeless and how do they stay warm in the winter.
My partner and I didn’t talk to any homeless people but we did talk to a man that was not homeless and we had asked him if he became homeless what would he do and who would he contact and why would he contact that person.
We took photos of shapes and textures, things that made us sad and happy. We took photos of things that showed leading lines, and that showed repetition and reflection.
We also talked about the school budget cuts and how we feel about it.
And that is what we did last week.
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Shaquil Taylor
The first week went well; I met a group of new teens like me who go to public school and share an interest in journalism.
We went out for the first time doing some “Man on the Street” interviews and started to get acquainted with having conversations with strangers on the street. We also interviewed people at an event on City Hall, where we talked to homeless people and normal citizens attending the event.
Also we spent a lot of time on our lunch breaks getting to know each other and learning about our aspirations.
To make a long story short, we all had a great time for the first week of the Journalism program and already learned a handful.
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Zyhir Baker-Elam
My name is Zyhir Baker-Elam and I joined the Temple university High School Press last Monday. We have done a lot of things over the past week that I was not used to or I have never done before.
First we had to learn before we could start and I was taught how to interview people and I think I could be good at this. After we learned we got to try it out and we interviewed people on the street, and this is called man on the street. What we did is: Go up to random people and introduce ourselves and ask them a question and ask them for their opinions — how they feel about what we ask them. After that, we took their name, what part of the city they’re from, how old they are, and took a picture of them.
Next, we did a lot of research and learned more about what we were doing. We interviewed each other to get prepared for our next assignment. That way we could be more prepared and kind of get a feeling for what we were actually doing.
Then on Friday we interviewed a whole bunch of people but mostly homeless people at a party/ concert at city hall where Jannie Blackwell held her birthday party to feed the homeless people. We asked many questions like how did you become homeless and how do you feel about the party.
We got many different answers and we asked them where were they from and “Are you still in contact with your family?’
That mainly concludes our week and everything we did to start our first week as Temple University High School Press.
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Sindora Stallworth
At Prime Movers Media, I learned a plethora of things about Photojournalism.
Learning how to interview people was challenging for me, but it became fun. I had a great time meeting new people and discussing current issues in Philadelphia.
It was great going out interviewing people, because everyone has a different perspective on how things are viewed in society.
Taking pictures is one of the most things I enjoyed. I love capturing emotions. One of the best pictures that I took was of Alice Wright. I met her at Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell’s party for the homeless that happens yearly in the city Philadelphia. I asked Ms. Wright many questions about the program and how it helps the poor people, and her feelings regarding the event. She was so happy and proud of Ms. Blackwell’s work. Her picture really expressed how she felt. It was a meaningful photograph.
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Que Scott
My first week being here was good.
Except for going out in the 100 degree weather, talking to people was good.
Talking to complete strangers was weird at first but I am getting used to asking people I don’t know questions.
Going around outside taking pictures was fun. I think everyone did a good job, the outcome was nice. The instructors on the staff here are nice people too.
So far so good with everything.
