My first video

Here is my first edited video, using the Avid program.

Arizona Shooting kills little girl too

To start with, I had no idea what happened in Arizona until this blog posting was assigned to us. With how crazy my work and school schedule is, I don’t have time to check up on the news and usually my parents tell me what’s going on, but they never even mentioned this shooting.

I’ve had to search through so many articles online to try and find the original story, so I can read from the very beginning. Now, I have read that a man, Jared Loughner, went on a shooting rampage during a rally by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on Jan. 8, severely injuring her, 13 others, and killing six, including a 9-year-old girl. 

Although Congresswoman Giffords was the target of the attack, I think someone else, who was killed, needs to be talked about.

Through my search of countless articles, one popped up about the 9-year-old girl, Christina-Taylor Green, and the person who was taking care of her during the event. Susan Hileman was shot three times while trying to protect Green and was just released from the hospital. The article I found about them had me crying while at work. I’ve never read a newspaper article that could bring so much emotion out of me. 

I can’t believe this is what our world is coming to, that a man who should’ve gone to see a psychiatrist is able to buy a gun and then shoot 20 people. I know that the main headlines for this attack is about Congresswoman Giffords, but this little girl should be alive right now, going to school and learning more about the politics in the United States, not be gone.

This is a link to the article that brought me to tears while working late night:
Arizona shooting victim sorry she could not save girl 

Winter Sucks!!

Why is it so cold?

Emily Haggerty, models for my class assignment.

I wake up to find it’s 30 degrees outside but feels like 19, the last time I checked I was still in Florida. 

Can I go back home to sunny South Florida? I do not like how cold it is. I shouldn’t have to bundle up with three layers of sweaters, a scarf, gloves and hat just to stay warm, especially if we’re not even getting snow. 

The only reason to bundle up that much would be to play in the snow, yet Florida hasn’t gotten any. 

This is my third winter spent in Pensacola and I have yet to get used to it. I’ve been slowly taking out sweaters from my winter clothes box, yes, I have a box filled with winter clothes, kept under my dorm room bed, waiting to be worn.

I have fun, completely bundled up at Langley Park.

My room is currently at 67 degrees when it’s usually 70. In the morning, I don’t want to move. My bed is so warm but the rest of the room is so cold. Climbing out of bed at 3:30 a.m. to get to work was unbearable. I’m wearing what I had worn to class the day before with my Housing shirt over it and a sweater, yet I’m freezing and I’m sitting at a desk inside a building. 

The theme was alcohol poisoning.

Every time someone walks in or out of the building, I get a blast of cold air blowing past me, forcing me to shiver. Luckily, at 4 a.m. not many people come in and out of the building. I’ve only seen four people during my whole two-hour long shift.

This winter is going to be tougher on me because I’m going to be outside more than usual to do my homework for classes. How am I going to survive doing my photography outside in this miserable weather?

Ended with bathroom shots.

I’m doing a photo shoot for my photojournalism class tonight and part of it I want shot at the park. The park is a huge open area where the wind will be free to blast my face. Trying to take pictures while wearing gloves isn’t very comfortable, meaning I’ll be taking a couple of pictures and then running to a heated car to escape the freeze.

Hopefully I’ll survive the photo shoot tonight with nothing more than a little chattering of my teeth.

I'm back at UWF...

I’m back at UWF and it’s a new semester. I was super excited to get started, then I went through the first three days of classes and I’m wondering, what did I get myself into? 

I was hoping this semester would be the semester I make straight A’s but I’ve already figured out it’s going to be really hard.

Four out of five of my classes consist of lots of outside the classroom work, mostly photography. For just one of my classes, I need to take 75 photos on two specific themes and they’re due next Friday. But along with that, I have assignments in every other class, I have work, and I hold positions in two organizations on campus. 

I hold the position of marketing coordinator in the Student Government Association cabinet, which I consider to be a glorified banner maker. It seems all I do for SGA is make banners. 

I also hold the position of public relations coordinator for Gay-Straight Alliance, in which I write blogs pertaining to the LGBT community and make sure The Voyager covers any major events we put on.

With that on my plate, I also work 20 hours a week as a student desk assistant in Argo Hall. I love my job. I think it’s probably the best job on campus available to students. I sit behind a desk and check residents’ ids to make sure they actually live in the building and I get to talk to them, make new friends, and if I’m working between 12 a.m. and 8 a.m. I can use my laptop. 

So, all in all, I’m happy to be back but give me a couple more weeks to want to go back home.