Here are some of the photos that I turned in for a recent assignment for my Photojournalism class. The course is offered through the School of Communication at Loyola’s Water Tower Campus. Our professor led the class to the Holy Name Cathedral, an historic Catholic church next to campus. We were given half an hour to represent different elements of the sanctuary and the people in it.
I would have to say this past weekend was one of the top 5 best weekends of my life. I went to The Amalfi Coast, the coast of Italy that includes places such as Naples, Sorrento, Positano and the island Capri. I went to all these places thanks to Bus2Alps, a bus tour company that caters to students. They arranged the itinerary for all three days and even booked us a hostel. It was a great, relaxing weekend. Here a few of the things I did:
1. Went on a boat tour all around the island of Capri. We saw the beautiful houses built into the mountains, and we sailed along crystal clear blue water. It was probably my favorite thing I have done here so far.
2. Jumped off the boat just outside the Blue Grotto. The water was freezing, it wasn’t THAT hot outside, and we had no towels… but it was so worth it!
3. Went inside the Blue Grotto. We had to duck down on our tiny boat because the entrance ceilings were so low. Once we got in, we sailed around for a little bit as our guide sang to us. The water looked insane.
4. Went up on a ski lift to the highest point in Capri. The ride up was terrifying (I’m scared to death of heights) but the views once you got up there were well worth it. We were so high up we were actually in the clouds.
5. Cliff jumped in Positano. Again, I’m terrified of heights, so here’s a picture of me jumping off the very lowest cliff.
6. Laying on black sand beaches in Positano. Just look at the view from behind the beach. This picture do it justice.
7. Pompeii. This town, under ancient ruins, is full of history. It was so well preserved that you could almost envision what it looked like all those years ago. We saw bodies preserved but covered in ash of people who died from Mount Vesuvius taking over Pompeii. Here’s a picture of all of us by an ancient theater.
This was a weekend I will never forget. I never thought I’d be able to say that I cliff jumped in Italy as well as swam near the Blue Grotto. It was unbelievable!
While I would love to talk about how Jered Weaver is going to win the Cy Young this year, I did my own ball playing this past weekend. I participated in a charity style wiffle ball tournament. There was a two dollar buy in per player and the winning team donated the proceeds to a charity of their choice.
I would have never in a million years guessed how intense wiffle ball could be. Our team made it past the first two rounds without much difficulty, but when reaching the finals we were playing a team with matching shirts who practiced every day.
Our team was assembled earlier that day, but we were still all very serious. At the top of the seventh inning (five inning game), the play of the game was made. A sacrifice bunt was hit down the third base line. Our pitcher proceeded to chase the ball down, slide into the catch and roll to a throw, which did beat the man to first to get the out. Unfortunately that roll lead to him breaking his patella and dislocating his knee.
We did eventually loose in the eighth inning by one run and now only have a story and a hospital bill to show for our efforts. But $150 was raised and hopefully the Loyola Phoneathon has done something great with the money.
For Easter I decided to take a break from the Windy City and head to Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was a great way to relieve some stress and relax from the craziness of school. The area is made up of an older community and the current hot topic of discussion is whether or not chickens should be aloud as pets. Everywhere we went someone had something to say about chickens. Personally, I don’t get it, I do not want one of my favorite foods as a pet.
Either way my favorite part of New Mexico is the sky. It is constantly changing and there is always something interesting from sunrise to sunset.
There is a reason it is called the Land of Enchantment and from the art that is everywhere, to the chicken debate, there is always something interesting in this wonderland.
Its always great to go to a Hawks Game, but its even better when they win. The best part is dancing with all 30,000 fans to the Blackhawk’s stadium anthem, Chelsea Dagger. They play the song anytime the hawks, then the whole United Center sings along and dances. This past week I attended the game against the Washington Capitols and got to hear the song 5 times! It just never gets old.
Being broke college students, we usually lack of money required to sit in the premium seats. But the Hawks sell tickets to a section of the stadium that is standing room only. Perfect seats for the college crowd. Sure, you are at the top of the stadium and standing the entire game, but for the price they are perfect. Being at the game was exciting enough and being there with some of your closest friends just made it that much more unforgettable.
The final score was 5-2 as the Hawks moved farther up the playoff ladder.
I really need this short break!
I am pretty sure I have gotten about 12 to 15 hours of sleep for the past week and a half. The trip home does not mean that I’m off the hook from schoolwork! I’ll be studying for a test I have next Tuesday.
It will be nice to see my family. I have not been home since winter break! Easter is a cherished holy day in my family, so it will be nice to spend it with them and continue our traditions.
This is to wish all those who view College Admission at Loyola’s blog a happy Easter in advance! Enjoy your time with your family and friends! I know I will!
Easter is just three days away! This not only means the end of lent and a massive overload of chocolate for me, but lots of family and church as well.
Even though my brothers and I are long past believing in the Easter Bunny, my mom still makes us search for our Easter basket that is hidden somewhere in the house on Sunday morning. When we were younger, we woke up as early as possible in order to achieve the glory of the being the first one to find our Easter basket. Now, however, it is a struggle for my mom to get us out of bed early enough so that we still have time to find our baskets and get ready for church.
So, after we find our Easter baskets and eat more than our fair share of chocolate and candy, we go to Easter mass. After mass my dad prepares a big Easter brunch while us kids change out of our church clothes and get ready to go to Grandma’s house.
All of my cousins, aunts and uncles on my mom’s side of the family will be at Grandma’s house. We spend the day talking, playing games and eating. At some point during the day, the adults and some of us older cousins put on an Easter egg hunt for some of the younger cousins. We fill fake Easter eggs with anything from little chocolates, to dimes and nickels (which they love). After stuffing ourselves once again during dinner at Grandma’s, we head home for a much needed sleep.
My family’s Easter traditions are nothing speculator or abnormal, but they are special to me all the same. Loyola gives students a long weekend so that we have more time to spend at home for the holiday. I am looking forward to a long, relaxing weekend at home spent with family and good food!
And hopefully so will this school year!
So I’ve managed to get super behind in a lot of my classes. It doesn’t matter much to me because “Titanic 3D” just came out and of course I had to see it. It was amazing! The silly thing is, everyone is asking me how it was, and I’m thinking, well it is the same movie, just in 3D… there is no surprise ending or anything!
Anyway, one more day of classes and then it is home to the good ol’ burg for Easter break, which is also an opportune time to catch up on all the readings, papers and whatever miscellaneous items that slipped away before heading into the home stretch!
I could also use some sleep. In my opinion, however, Easter break is really not long enough. It’s more like a long weekend. Sure, we just had Spring break, but in lieu of my circumstances, I could definitely use more time!
So now I must be off to start what is going to be a late night for me!
I’ll never let go…
On March 31, 2012, I had the joy of participating in the Loyola University Chicago Black Cultural Center‘s fifth annual fashion show. This is my second year participating as a model. It is always a great opportunity to be involved in a collaborative effort like this, because along with the hard work, I get to meet new people, especially first year students.
In preparation for the fashion show, we work with a consulting company. They help us find local designers to wear clothes for the show, and they train us to walk and pose like professional models. It is always nerve wracking in the beginning, especially for me, because I can be shy. But the confidence does come out eventually, and practicing for the show ends up being a lot of fun.
This year, we were able to wear clothes from Plato’s Closet, Enstrumental (photographed above), That Girl Boutique and many more. We even featured a swim suit fashion line for the first time.
The staging and lighting were great, and the audience enjoyed the show as well. This is an event that I definitely look forward to at Loyola every year.
On Tuesday, I took the opportunity to attend an event that the Loyola University Chicago School of Communication and the Chicago Headline Club hosted on the effects trauma has on journalists.
The panel discussion included Jeff Kelly Lowenstein, Julie Lieblich and Dr. Frank Ochberg, all of the DART Society. The event was moderated by Randi Belisomo of WGN.
The discussion was very informative for me, as an aspiring journalist because they explained the four stages of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and how this condition can effect the work and well being of journalists. Some of the journalists on the panel, have been in the field so they gave advice and recommendations as to how to deal with reporting stories on traumatic events.
The discussion also covered how to handle the grief of the subject and the grief of journalists themselves, when to know to stop the story if the subject would not like to continue and to be open to sharing and talking about traumatic experiences on the field with others.
An important lesson that I took out of this event was to enter a place of gratitude and humility whenever I am covering a story on traumatic events and interviewing victims. I also learned that journalists cannot protect victims from the aftermath of a traumatic event.
I really appreciate an event like this, especially since I am learning the realities of a field that I seek to enter into. I definitely plan on looking into experiences like this and what else I will face as a journalist.