Get Inspired

Don't worry...I'll post McCain's as well. But, to be honest, I can't imagine feeling as deeply moved and touched by his as I did by Obama's last night.

An exercise in objectivity

So, I can't say that I envisioned spending the last ten days of my time in Greensburg in front of my television - even less so tuned in C SPAN.

The truth is, I'm stressed out enough trying to fit in all of my goodbyes, and finding time to devote hours to watching political coverage is the last thing I want to do. But, I must. You see...I am spending my semester in D.C. and while the bar *cough* I mean museum-hopping will be amazing, I have to remember that I'm mostly there for the experience of political reporting - an area in which I tend to fall short. So, when my program director sent out an email encouraging us to take in all of the Democratic and Republican convention glory, I took note.

Which brings me front and center in front of our amazing HDTV watching - not car crashes or action scenes - but Caroline Kennedy talk about her father, Ted Kennedy and Barack Obama. It's not what I pictured, but I'm really enjoying it actually...

...but I'd consider myself a democrat.

And here is where we reach the point of this particular entry: I need to learn to be objective. Now, I don't believe that I overtly have a problem with this, but I can already tell my attention to this particular convention is immensely greater than my attention will be to the GOP convention.

(Side note, they just showed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Yeah...I've met him :-))

Anyway..(see...attention problems)..my goal for this entire semester is to maintain the same objectivity I bring to news stories about campus bikes to stories about politics. It will be an initial challenge - and not in the writing, but in the reporting. I believe that the bias begins in the reporting. It's harder to be slanted when you have a full-range of quotes for a story - not impossible, but hard.

I have tons of goals for my time in D.C. but I can't think of a more fitting one to voice than this of a quest for objectivity. I think that, of all the situations in which I could find myself testing my objectivity, this election in this city is really the truest test to that challenge. Wish me luck.

Also...I currently endorse C-SPAN for the most accurate coverage of the convention - without commentary. I also enjoy CNN and MSNBC - wonder why? Okay, okay...Fox News too...

The Last Summer

I think after you graduate if you don't do anything after school it's called unemployment, not summer. So, this is it - technically. And while this blog is supposed to be focused entirely on my time in D.C. I think it's somewhat fitting and allowable to write a review of summer...just as a lead in to where I'm heading this fall.

In case you had not gathered, I'm a very big fan of sectioning off whatever I write to allow for readability. In the journalism world, we call these sub-heads - and, yes, I'll be throwing in journalistic facts whenever I can. There' s no point in reading a blog about journalism and not learning a little bit about AP style. For example, AP says that when you're talking about this blog, you call it a Web site, not a website or a web site. Capital W, space site. Strange - yes, but correct nonetheless.

So...in typical Courtney fashion, I present the sub-heads of my summer.

The Good
Losing what I gained: Last summer...I dropped about 30 pounds. I gained about 7 of them back during the school year, and now I'm down fifteen...sooo I've lost 37 in the last year. More importantly, though, I'm back on a routine - and I am aware of the challenges of keeping it off. We'll see out D.C. treats me... :-\

My old friends: Summer always reminds me just how great my friends are - both those nearby who I do not get the pleasure of seeing during the school year, and those who are torn from me because of the summer. It's also amazing when those you pushed away allow you to pull them back.

The new: Some people come into your life and change it. This is nothing short of a gift, one for which I am extremely grateful.

The break-up: I've written a blog about this already, but essentially...I'm thankful for the way it ended and that it ended at all. It was a gift that it went smoothly and that I bounced back so well.

Lack of stress: Don't get me wrong - this summer has had it's share of turmoils, but in general, summer reminds me to be the more relaxed version of myself. I've never been one to go with the flow, but I can adapt much more easily during the summer months. I generally like myself during the summer more than I like the mess of stress I can become during the school year. The three month break is much appreciated.

The Bad

06/07/08 Flood: I will remember this summer as being water logged. Despite the tremendous stress this flood placed on my family, I will remember this date as being a turning point for everyone in the surrounding areas of Central Indiana. Some of the things I saw during and after this weekend were just...mind-blowing. I am thankful for the lack of damage our basement incurred during this devastating weekend. Cut to....

07/22/08 Flood: I can't fully describe the emotional toll this took on myself, or my family.We had been in our basement for a grand total of 17 days. We were on vacation for five of those. To wake up at 3 a.m. to an inch and a half of water beneath your feet is not pleasant, nor is the thought of summoning up the courage and energy to deal with being displaced. I think the worst part - aside from the financial burden that's plaguing our seemingly cursed family - is the fear of rain it's given to our family. I feel my stomach churn when I hear anything heavier than a drizzle. It happens though...

Favre Saga: Talk about an emotional roller coaster. Favre cam anyone? I honestly don't think this deserved as much media coverage as it received...I wish it hadn't at least. I have made my peace with it and, fittingly, he's no longer the media magnet that he was. It's still hard...especially on my father.

Learning the truth behind the facade: Friendships are not always meant to last forever. And if you learn that the basis of a friendship is strikingly different than what you had imagined...well then it's okay to shake up the foundation.

The Upcoming
August 8 - 11: The reunion1 I've been looking forward this weekend for quite a while. The Sikes/Pappas wedding is providing an excellent occaision for getting together with some of my all-time favorite Tigers. Most importantly - the Trio. I can't wait to see Emily and Megan. Emily and I have a hotel room in Plainfield for Friday, a shopping trip with Tumbas scheduled for Saturday, and then some HSM on Sunday before she heads to Chicago...and then to Africa. The only downer to this weekend is the reminder that I'm going to be away from all of these amazing people for a semester.

August 13: The DePauw's Back to School issue...I can't fully be a part of this week, but I at least wanted to swing by and say hey to my favorite budding journalists. I can't imagine not being with them every day (except Saturdays) for a whole semester...plus BTS week is notoriously fun.

August 14-17: Robin, Jon and Sean are coming up from VA for the weekend. I have no words to explain how excited I am about this.

August 30-31: Last visit to DePauw before I head out.

September 4: The DeParture (hehe...capital P...get it....no?)

And now for something fun. I'm a list maker. I make lists mentally, in my sleep, when I wake up and even when I write...well...especially when I write. As music, movies and TV dominate a sadly large part of my life, I'm sharing - as a change of pace - these pieces of pop culture that have or will make an impact.

The Music that I Learned to Love

I own very few CDs anymore. I collect my music song-by-song, sporatically. But...this summer four bands/singers really took over my iPod. I love them, and they are all on iTunes, so please check them out!

Charlotte Sometimes
Katy Perry
Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers
Thriving Ivory

The Movies I Must See

I didn't see nearly as many movies as I would haved liked this summer, so hopefuly I can make up for that when I'm on the East Coast. Here is a running list of the movies I want to see through the end of 2008. (Source: imdb.com)

American Teen
Bottle Shock
Burn After Reading
Eagle Eye
Hamlet 2
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Henry Poole is Here
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
Miracle at St. Anna
Mirrors
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Nights in Rodanthe
Pineapple Express
The Brothers Bloom
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The House Bunny
The Rocker
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
The Spirit
The Women
Yes Man
Zak and Miri Make a Porno

The Shows I am Craving

I didn't actually watch that much TV this summer...but only because all of the best/my favorite shows were off the air. Here are the one's I'll be catching up on while I'm in D.C.

24
Dexter
The Office
Pushing Daisies
Scrubs
Smallville
Ugly Betty

An Introduction

To me...

Logic would indicate that if you're reading this, you have a fairly good idea of who I am - at least in terms of the basics. You'd know that my name is Courtney. That I'm from Indiana and am going to school at DePauw University - where I'm a senior. You'd be able to guess that I'm 21. You might know that I'm an English Writing Major - with minors in Sociology and History. That I want to get into Journalism. That The DePauw is my favorite thing about going to school in Greencastle. You could probably tell someone that college has been terrible and wonderful for me. You could mumble about Delta Zeta and perhaps boast of a few of my good times. If you really knew me, you'd be able to determine that my friends are my heroes. I love my family, both immediate and extended. I've been truly blessed in life - not that I haven't been through m share of disappointments and failures, I have. But I've come out on top, I think.

If you didn't know any of that...well then you probably stumbled onto this by accident. So, hi there. Welcome and feel free to read on to get to know me - or not.

To the Program...

The most important thing that you should know about me is that I'm spending the first semester of my last year at DePauw not at DePauw. I'll be in Washington D.C. as a part of Boston University's Journalism Internship Program. Yes - I'll be in D.C. through Boston via DePauw.

I'll be taking 16 credit hours - 4 credits for you DPU folks. Four of the credit hours will be spent taking a Political Reporting course. Four will be spent as an intern for the Washington Bureau of The Columbus Dispatch. The other 8 are spent...well...I'm not quite sure exactly. It's a course called "Newsroom" and from what I can gather from the program's Web site, I'll be writing newsclips and there's a chance the clips will make into some fairly prestigious New England papers:

"Directed Study in Print and Broadcast-Newsroom. Advanced newsroom training in
writing and reporting political and public affairs news for publication and broadcast. Students cover Congress and the federal government three days a week for the Boston University Washington News Service and its news media clients throughout New England. Students serve as the Washington correspondent for a particular news outlet and work closely with its editors proposing story ideas, carrying out assignments and filing on deadline. Students typically earn 20-30 bylined clips."

Either way - it's writing and collecting clips for that ever-so-daunting process of shipping out my resume to any/all interested area newspapers. So that's it for academics!

As far as logistics go, I'm staying in The Washington Center where I'll be living with five other people in an apartment that has a kitchen, bathroom, 3 bedrooms (gulp...I'll have a roommate again!). I won't be bringing my car (I get that question a lot) because I am afraid of D.C. drivers.

Some other fun facts about the experience:
- One of my friends from high school who goes to a different university is also going to be in this program - though not for journalism, for politics - so I'll have a face from home there too!
- One of my best friends - and E.I.C. of The DePauw for the spring semester - lives in Northern Virginia and will be a mere Metro ride away if I ever need anything. Plus...she's one of my favorite people and getting to spend the semester with her...and others...is going to be fantastic.

To the Blog...
The whole point of the blog - in case you hadn't gathered by now - is to update everyone on my time in D.C. I'll do my best to post clips of mine (assuming I have some and they are accessible from the net), update you on what I'm doing/experiencing and basically chronicle my time off campus. The idea behind the blog is that I'm much more likely to take the time to write a blog than I am to sit down and write an email. Plus you can always check to see new things I've posted. If I were the type to take pictures, I'd post them here. I'm not - but maybe D.C. will change that.

What it boils down to is that if you want to know what I'm up to - this is the place to find out!

With that...enjoy the blog and feel free to leave comments!