People always seem to open up when something that they are passionate about. We saw this as we conducted interviews for the Game Theory Workshop at the Wang Center.
Doing a whole research paper on the movie, Crazy Rich Asians, I just found out that Rachel is not only an economics professor, but she studied Game Theory. Game Theory is thinking about the whole picture, predicting what the other side is going to do and base your decisions off of that. It’s a big mind game and a very intriguing way of thinking.
Both Mr. Chin and Mr. Samuelson shifted into professional mode when we interviewed them on their expertise. Mr. North also gave us a lot of his professional advice and aided us in the interview process.
Everyone can be a winner and when you find the right work it won’t feel like a day of work!
I have a mix of different aesthetics. I’m one of those who have no exact style when it comes to what I wear, especially because I can never make up my mind for what I want to wear. So, today’s outfit was inspired by the Tumbler grunge aesthetic. It’s one of my favorites, not only because of the music scene, but because I love the style. How did I do?
The actual fit was a black tank, flannel shirt, wide-legged pants. And it obviously wouldn’t be something without the Docs!!! Am I giving I listen to The 1975?? For those who don’t know, The 1975 is my second favorite band. I LOVE THEM ONLY A LITTLE LESS THAN I LOVE THE STROKES, BUT THEY’RE STILL AMAZING.
Now lets talk breakfast! On the menu today was delicious waffles, THE EGGS MY FAVORITE PART, and some turkey bacon plus a muffin!
Only problem is, there was no coffee…I am definitely really reliant on coffee, it gives me the energy people know and love me for. The machine was broken and I almost cried on the food line…I ended up getting some sort of headache because of no coffee. So I basically embody the cliche that I am the person that cannot live without coffee. But moving on, today was a pretty standard day.
New headline: Overworked (not actually) high school students try real world hours…
WE WERE NOT ACTUALLY OVERWORKED BUT THE AMOUNT OF TIME WE SPENT EDITING AND WRITING WAS SO MUCH…(standard time, I’m exaggerating)
Moving on to lunch time!!! After all that work, we got to sit down, eat and then prepare to go back to our second home, the newsroom. During lunch, I saw some random guy with a Korn shirt, and decided I had to be his friend. Another thing about me, I’m one of those people who love others who share the same interest as me! I live for it actually.
After lunch, WE FINALLY MET THE INFAMOUS BILL BLEYER. The man who’s comments made me throw my phone but at the same time made my writing a lot better than before. He’s definitely a lot more sweeter in person than on email. On email, you feel as if he’s bashing everything you do and just overall sounds very mad at you, versus in person, he’s so kind and really interesting to talk to.
Had to add a the strokes reference. IFYKYK!
Lastly, we had the privilege of attending the Stony Brook Film Festival. The film playing was Heart of Stone, which is about two statues. Well, to be more specific, one is a woman who dresses like a statue and the other actually IS a statue. The actual girl is in love with the statue and sees her as her muse. It is some of the best scenes I’ve ever seen.
If you were to tell me four days ago that I, and twelve other people, would be getting rained on the first day of camp — and have a bond over that — I would’ve brushed you off. But now I can’t do that because it really did happen, and it sure was an experience.
This camp had pushed me to grow in ways I didn’t think I would achieve in a long time and although I haven’t 100% broken out of my shell yet, I still appreciate the camp for putting me out there, whether it was through podcasting, recording, or networking and working with others. I believe that I was able to be more open to communication and working together with other people.
I am really thankful for this program not only for the practical skills that I have gained for the field of journalism but a potential career path and experience for myself and what I could really do with my life and future with an apperception at the fact that not many kids my age get the privilege to experience a potential career field especially at my age where picking your career or pressure to have at least some idea for what you wanna do.
Lastly, I loved the social experience, comfort, and experimentation that I was able to gain through this program. Although I may not be as open or extroverted as I thought I would get by the end of the program, I still am grateful to the fact that I have a newfound perspective on working with, speaking to, and being open to other people. And I really, ultra-appreciate everyone, especially my fellow classmates, for gifting me with such an unforgettable growing experience.
This is definitely a bittersweet day. Although we are leaving today, we are also leaving with more knowledge, connections, and people we can now reach out to when needed. Breakfast was amazing as per usual and I managed to pack everything back into my travel size mini suitcase! Phew 🙂
Tuesday was a jam-packed day of walking and walking, all in anticipation of earning the enjoyment of Stony Brook’s mystery movie night. This movie night is held every year and was between four movies: Moana 2, Despicable Me 4, Inside Out 2, and my absolute favorite movie, Sonic 3. It doesn’t take anyone to notice I love Sonic the Hedgehog. I own so much merchandise, play any game I can get my hands on (even if I’m horrible at playing them) and watched Sonic Boom, Sonic X, and most importantly every movie in the franchise.
Our instructors gave us our big assignments throughout the day, which was a fun introduction to reporting and interviewing. Faith Welch, Hennie England, and I comprised my group. We got exclusive access to the Zuccaire Gallery and interviewed the director of the gallery, Karen Levitov. She was wonderful, and all the art really spoke for itself, reflecting indigenous culture and its combination with contemporary art.
We also went over to get an exclusive interview for my article at the Nursing School of Natural Sciences simulation center. The simulation centers were uncanny and full of realistic-looking cadavers that were being rolled into the closet when we came in. I got the pleasure of interviewing two women with doctorates in nurses: Dr. Brockunthal and Dr. Giugliano. Both women were beyond excited to tell me all about what it meant to them to have their nursing initiative funded to expand at a time where nursing was in decline. Nurses are integral to healthcare, and our interview was long and detailed and very emotionally driven with how much time both women have spent with Stony Brook and its nursing program.
We closed the day off to my disappointment watching Moana too, but this didn’t take my triumph away from such an intensive day of walking and interviewing. The movie night featured an assortment of games and booths for companies and groups that handed out all sorts of swag. My personal favorite being the hat I made my plushie wear. All and all while I didn’t care for Moana 2, the Greene Team made it enjoyable and tasty with the ashwaganda gummies we ate while watched the sun set for another day.
The first event today was a pep talk from the Ditch Weekly. It’s a newspaper business run by kids from the Hamptons. They’re also the topic of my article, so I interviewed the editor, Billy Stern, and Harry Karoussos to learn more about the Ditch Weekly.Â
After that, the Greene Team went to the TV studio to film a broadcast. In groups, we rotated between jobs. From being on camera, to controlling the cameras, and operating the equipment behind the scenes. This helped me discover broadcasting is not my forte. I’m not a great public speaker and I found the behind the scenes equipment to be extremely stressful. From that experience I learned, video broadcasting is not the branch of journalism I want to pursue in the future. Â
We also went to News 12 to tour their studio and talk to professional journalists. The managing editor showed us the television studio, editing room, graphic design room, and more. We learned about the daily tasks of the people working there and the path they took to become a News 12 employee. Seeing all the technology they use was very impressive. There were rooms filled with computers and television screens lining the walls in multiple rooms. The building also contained a ping pong table and lots of fun decorations including a giant inflatable Santa.Â
My first day at the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute for High School Journalists introduced me to the basics of of journalism. On a day consisting of rain and questionable food, I learned how to write news stories, feature stories, and shoot broadcasts.
The structure of stories varies based on what type they are. Written news stories, for example, start with the most important details and as it goes on the details become more insignificant. In an upside down triangle shape. This is because when editing the information that is not needed or does not fit will be cut from the bottom. Feature stories are written in an hourglass shape. The most important details are still at the top, but at the end there are more important details.
Broadcast news stories take the shape of a diamond. They start by focusing on one person experiencing an event or problem. Then, they branch out by describing how the person is not alone and many other people experience this with them. Showing the broad scope of the event. They end by checking back in with the original person and their problems.
The thing I enjoyed learning about the most was how to shoot video broadcasting. one thing that stuck with me was “The Mantra.” This is a wide shot, medium shot, tight shot, super tight shot, action shot, reaction shot, and to capture the moment. We practiced this by taking a series of shots from each of these angles, the aim being to tell a coherent story. I took videos of a bench with a water fountain in the foreground. This was my wide shot. Then a bird landed on the bench and I took medium and close up shots of that. The bird flying away and the empty bench were my action and reaction shots. Together these shots capture the moment and tell the story.Â
In between these lessons, we went to lunch. The food was not good, but later the dinner food made up for it. There was chicken, rice, pasta, and fries. The best part was the cheesecake I had for dessert.Â
The craziest part of the day was the rain. While the whole Greene Team was walking to the newsroom, it started pouring. Everyone got soaked. But, overall, the day was fun and I’m excited to learn more.Â
Today marks our busiest day yet, working on our stories to post onto the Greene Gazette. It was the most significant surge in work throughout this whole week, but I know that the team and I will be able to handle it and show off what we had learned so far in camp.
This day really put our skills to the test, pushing us unto the boundaries, pressure and even time constraints that traditional journalist would be used to due to their experience. But, unfortunately for us, we don’t have the luxury of that same experience that the professionals are left with.
Even though this may be a challenge for us or even stressful, I still personally believe that the Greene Team can still pull through in the end.
Another day rolls by at the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute for High-School Journalist and it pushes students more into the world of journalism through behind the scenes work of what is done in the news world and stations. On top of this, we got to experience the News 12 building and learn about what they do, how they got into their positions and more.
Along with learning about news station broadcasting, we were also able to record our own news episodes through the help of the Stony Brook News, getting us used to teleprompters and the importance of still reading through a script. The fact that you have a teleprompter doesn’t mean that you should take that privilege for granted. Reading through a script gives not only you but also the viewers a more lively and real execution of the information that you are trying to deliver. On top of that, we got to operate the behind the scenes of the recording of the news, showing us the different controls and edits of live television, how to operate the teleprompter and microphone audio.
After our first-ever time recording in an example of what news broadcasting really is, we traveled down to the News 12 studio with a tour of the different departments including where they film the news that we view on television. It was a pretty big experience for all of us to be seeing the amount of work put in that everyday daily viewers cannot see.
Today I started working on my first two stories with my group, Faith Welch and Lisseth Hernandez. The first story is about the Zuccaire Gallery. The gallery is on campus and currently has an installation centering indigenous culture and language through art. Our assignment was to shoot a video and interview the art director. I filmed the videos using the rules of framing we learned yesterday.
The second story is about the Stony Brook school of nursing’s new simulation center. The school just announced they will be updating their nursing simulation center with new technology and 10 times the area they currently occupy. We interviewed two nurses that have been at Stony Brook for over 30 years. They were both excited to help nursing students learn how to operate state of the art equipment. They explained that it will be helpful to students because it will be a more realistic environment than what they have now.
Additionally, the whole Greene Team held a press conference with Ray Weber who works for New York state Senator Anthony Palumbo. I asked about why the senator wanted to change the common core curriculum.Â
Today I learned interviewing is very nerve wracking and definitely something I can work on to improve.
