Students United

Students United, originally uploaded by SisterSafetyPin.

Boy, it's amazing how much you don't get done even when you dedicate all your time to doing it.

What do I mean? Well for one, I've had two blog updates written in my notebook for the past two weeks. With the intentions of posting them the same day they were written upon coming home. Clearly that didn't happen.

The end of this semester has hit particularly hard. At any given moment I'm on the cusp of being overwhelmed, yet somehow managing to navigate just enough to stay afloat. Honestly, I dig it.

Well, I dig it now that my 10 page EU paper is over. That was a nightmare. So to, was my Capstone and in class articles for my journalism class.

[paramour, I shake my head at that band and its listeners. < / tangent > ]

Why the stress over the Capstone article and what IS a Capstone article? Well the stress derives from the fact that the Capstone is a major part of my overall grade. And the article was basically a 410-450 article based on a speech we were supposed to go to. I thanked my lucky stars that I took diligent notes at the Chelsea Carter Q&A and did mine on that.

However, the in class article led to, I'm sure, a few strands of premature gray. Why? This article, to which we had an hour to write based on a paragraph of facts, would determine whether I pass the class... And am formally allowed into the journalism program. And while I'm fairly confident in my writing skills, there's the minor issue of my comma problem. To which I, like many others in my class, "throw them in randomly hoping that they'll land in the correct place." That is, according to my professor.

But alas. This week sees the end of two classes. Tomorrow, the people that passed the in class article will take the final. [Cruelly, no one knows if they've passed until tomorrow.] And on Wednesday, my final paper in my woman's study class is due.

[Why are some baristas such snobs? Hi, barista? You're ruining my coffee experience. < / tangent > ]

Oh well. Ignoring the fact that I haven't yet started writing my paper and probably wont until after tomorrow's class around 6pm... It's all... Good? 5x5? Swell? Eh. It's cold and I don't hate it.

Now in case you were wondering about today's picture... It's from a Mock Funeral/Protest over the never ending fee hikes the CSU schools are undergoing. Especially in the face of the administrators giving themselves excessive raises while firing our professors, lecturers, and cutting class offerings. It was also a protest of the Governator cutting the funds meant for the CSU and UC schools to almost nill. When we register for Spring Semester, it's to a pop up that says, "CSUS has the right to raise the fees for next semester without letting you know." It's crazy.

So yeah, about 200 students came out last Thursday with signs to show how much we don't appreciate our Government and administrators crap.

To check out more photos from the rally just click the link beneath the picture.

Connect

Connect, originally uploaded by nicolemonet2002.

Today the Associated Press correspondent for Iraq, Chelsea Carter, came to talk to about 40 Journalist Majors at Sac State. Why? Because she's an alumn, believe it or not and the experience was so much more then I expected.

Which isn't really saying much as I'm not sure exactly WHAT I was expecting. Honestly, I think I may have went in with my fair share of cynicism. Expecting her to either speak down to us, over glorify the life, or over simplify it.

She did just the opposite. She spoke frankly, and honestly. She made sure we knew the pay was horrible, lol. That we understood the hours could be endless. And that we would without a doubt be starting out at the bottom.

However, the most important thing expressed by her in every single response she gave was the undeniable love she still had for the art. At the end of the Q&A she asked for a show of hands of all who planned on going into the business. Unsurprisingly, most of the people in the hall raised her hands. Then she asked for a show of hands on how many people were planning to go into print. Also unsurprising, there was maybe 9 other hands other then my own. To us she gave a special kudos. After all, if the media were to be believed newspaper writing is a dying medium. And of course the vast majority of students in attendance had aspirations of broadcast.

Chelsea Carter was absolutely what I needed. She didn't sugar coat life as a journalist. She let us know that more and more to be competitive one needed to be a sort of one man band. Can you also take the pictures for your story? Brilliant. Can you edit a video? Brilliant. Can live on coffee alone? Brilliant.

Just kidding about the last one. But seriously, where some might have been discouraged by the frank way she let it be known that we would most likely never be rich... I was completely fine with that.

After all, who needs to be rich when you're doing what you love?