Category Archives: Journalism

Student and Alum Blogs

Many current psychology students and alumni of our program have spirited blogs which focus on their passions, interests, and work in the field. I read some of their stuff and let me just say that a lot of these posts are extremely moving and inspiring! Check out the content here and read about their individual work below:

http://bosswomyn.com/

http://anxiousbrunetteabroad.com/home/

www.justnotafraid.wordpress.com

http://sexdrugsandsustainability.libsyn.com/

Morgan Burke – Graduated in 2014, Current Teacher Aide and Research Assistant

“A thoughtful blog for unapologetic women”

Blog Title: Boss Womyn

Website: Bosswomyn.com

When It All Began: August 2017

What is the blog’s purpose – A platform for “womyn” empowerment. For anybody who identifies as a “womyn” and is unapologetically feminine. A place for womyn to share how they are living their lives everyday through all the bull that we have to deal with these days. This blog is a place that highlights the small victories as well as the big victories and a big part of it is to promote being yourself.

A BossWomyn is somebody who does something for themselves without having to apologize.

BossWomyn supports all womyn, respecting each individual’s choice to present themselves in the way that’s comfortable to them, whether in a feminine way or not. Basically, if you want to rock lipstick and pumps, do that. If you prefer baggy sweats and flip flops, that’s cool, too. All womyn are welcome to share their experiences so we can improve female relationships.

Morgan’s personal meaning behind it – I’ve always wanted to be a writer and I knew I had to do something to get started. I was in a bad place when I began it and needed an outlet that I could invest what I wanted to do to feel self-fulfilled. In a way that it’s for other womyn, but it’s a huge part of me. It’s what I aspire to be.

Morgan is offering a no judgment platform for support.

Goals – Morgan would love to create a community within it and through the Instagram for BossWomyn as well and to make it so that womyn don’t feel like they need to apologize for their choices.

Jillian Hummer – Current Senior

Blog title:

Anxious Brunette Abroad

Blog website:

http://anxiousbrunetteabroad.com/home/

When it all began:

“About a year ago after traveling to multiple countries I decided I wanted to share my knowledge and experiences with others.”

What is the blogs purpose:

“To help provide information, guides, tips, photos, inspiration, and more for those interested in traveling with or without any anxiety.

The blog focuses on different guides to help plan your next trip to countries in Europe and also is a resource for those who have any anxiety/nerves when dealing with traveling.”

What is your personal meaning behind the creation of this blog or why you continue to do it.

“The personal meaning behind the blog is my passion for traveling and I continue to do it because I hope to share information and inspire others to expand their horizons.

I personally deal with a huge amount of anxiety daily, but traveling is something that I have become extremely comfortable with and want to encourage others to have the confidence to travel too.”

Future goals of the blog:

“The future for this blog is huge as it is being professionally renovated as I type.

I plan to incorporate my psychology degree within my website and offer not only traveling advice but counseling services for those around the world hoping to meet their goals.

The blog will soon also being expanding to offer guides and information about traveling in other areas such as, Tahoe, Reno, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and more!”

Maggie Burns – Graduated in 2014

Her blog is called “Just Not Afraid” which comes from a quote Maggie really loves:

“I’m not crazy, I’m just not afraid”

The website is www.justnotafraid.wordpress.com

“I started the blog in 2015. I was thinking about moving to Hawaii and thought it would be a good way to update/keep in touch with family and friends. When that move didn’t happen the blog turned into a way for me to process my thoughts and share them with others.”

Maggie doesn’t have any big goals for the blog yet. She sees it as a way to write about how she feels to hopefully help somebody else who is struggling with similar issues if they may be reading. She thinks that one day it would be awesome to use some of her content and posts to formulate a book later on, but that’s years from now.

Anza Jarschke and Sonya Hernandez – Alums

Blog Title: Sex, Drugs, and Sustainability

Blog website?
https://www.instagram.com/sonyaandanza/
http://sexdrugsandsustainability.libsyn.com/
https://www.facebook.com/sexdrugsandsustainability

When did it all begin:
“Sex, Drugs, and Sustainability has had many iterations over the course of the years, but we officially started this project on New Year’s 2016. We don’t blog in the traditional sense, but we have made podcasts, micro-vlogs (video blogs), full length vlogs, and other content through social media channels.”

What is the blog’s purpose?
“Sex, Drugs, and Sustainability is a feminist and social-justice media collaboration between Sonya Hernandez and Anza Jarschke to create and distribute media we are interested in. In an increasingly question-ridden world, the mainstream news and media have been exposed as a place where truth is not always present. We want to share our truth, and the truths of the more marginalized that don’t often see themselves in the media. We founded SD&S as a way to bring the conversations we were having about social justice issues, and the world at large, to a broader audience.”

What is your personal meaning behind the creation of this blog?
“One concept we really tried to unpack in the beginning was to expand our perception of what Sustainability means. For us, living sustainably is far more nuanced, intersectional, and communal than simply “being green”. At SD&S we see that the 21st century parameters for a Sustainable Community far surpass the traditional objective to lessen our carbon footprint and includes the health and well-being of our community. To understand the plights of our community, we must also understand the systems of oppression that are intertwined into our lives. This is where we find ourselves: through an intersectional feminist lens, we attempt to deconstruct these systems of oppression and share ways to be resilient throughout the journey.”

“One of our main goals is to break down stigmas of all kind. We talk about different sexual orientations, relationship configurations, drug use, and focus heavily on our own mental health struggles. The hope is by being radically honest about our own experiences, other folks will feel less shame, more acceptance, and get more information about a variety of issues.”

What are your future goals for the blog?
“Right now we are focusing on micro-vlogging on our Instagram and creating podcast episodes as often as we can. It’s difficult these days with both of us living in different states and still in grad school/doing thesis research, but because of our close friendship we still make time to collaborate and create content together.”

Author: Ryan Knuppenburg (Senior Intern)

INTD 300: Service Learning Reflection

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Interdisciplinary Studies majors must take three INTD curriculum classes throughout their time at SNC: Intro to Interdisciplinary Studies, Service Learning, and Senior Portfolio. This semester, I was enrolled in the intro class as well as the service learning class.

Throughout the semester, I had mixed feelings about my service learning class.

On one hand, it was great to have the opportunity to obtain volunteer hours while gaining class credit at the same time. On the other hand, it was really time intensive to do so.

Our class was required to partner with a non-profit organization and dedicate 60 hours to volunteering with them, along with another 10-20 hours to create a final culminating project.

Since I was taking many other time-intensive classes along with this one, I often felt overwhelmed and had a negative opinion about the class. I felt like my volunteering hours weren’t making a difference and it was causing me to fall behind in other classes.

Despite the stress, the outcome of this class has surpassed my expectations. Along with my six other service learning classmates, we presented our service learning experiences to faculty and friends on Wednesday, May 4th. While explaining the work I did for my non-profit, the presentation allowed me to reflect on the journey and see how far I’ve come since starting the project in January.

As an Interdisciplinary major in ODAL and JOurnalism, it was impressive how much I used the skills in an interdisciplinary way to benefit the organization and grow as a person. My professionalism and communication skills have improved, and I’ve grown my multimedia journalism knowledge and have created an awesome final article to show for it. I took the thing I learned in a school environment and transferred them into a professional environment; a perfect stepping stone for a senior in college about to graduate and venture into the real world.

While I don’t want to go back and experience that stress again, it was well worth it in the end. Thank you Interdisciplinary Studies for forcing me to grow as a student and an individual!

Benefits of Interdisciplinary Learning

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SNC is unique in their offering of an Interdisciplinary Studies major; students can choose two or three areas of study and develop it into a personalized major. Many students mix Outdoor Adventure Leadership with a complementary area of study, such as Journalism, Entrepreneurship, Ski Business & Resort Management or Environmental Science. Other students choose interdisciplinary majors such as Sustainability, Digital Arts & Journalism, or New Media Journalism.

I declared a major in Interdisciplinary Studies in Journalism and Outdoor Adventure Leadership last fall and am loving the mix of learning writing skills and leadership development in an outdoor setting.

This semester, I undertook two of my three required Interdisciplinary Studies classes: INTD 250: Principles of Interdisciplinary Learning and INTD 300: Service Learning. The INTD 250 class revolves around research-intensive assignments and projects that encompass all of the elements of each student’s major, and in the INTD 300 class, each student partners with a non-profit and dedicates 60 volunteer hours and a cumulative project to their organization. While there’s been points during the semester where I’ve wanted to drop everything and give up, they’ve both been extremely beneficial now that I reflect on my experience.

In INTD 250, I’ve been challenged to examine the links between all aspects of my education – links I’d completely overlooked before. In INTD 300, taking the skills i’ve learned in Journalism and ODAL and transferring them to a non-profit setting has given me the essential, invaluable real-world experience. Both classes embody SNC’s theme of professional preparedness.

In a college education system that doesn’t allow for much experimentation and creativity in degree tracks, the Interdisciplinary Studies program here at SNC is gold. I truly feel like I have designed my own degree and gained the utmost value out of my time here. I’ll be walking away with more than just a piece of paper come graduation.

Learning Multimedia Journalism at SNC

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Since become a Journalism major and immersing myself in the program here at SNC, I’ve learned a thing or two about the ins and outs of writing successful, engaging stories.

Last semester, I took a class called Beginning Multimedia Journalism. I didn’t know what to expect, but in an increasingly technology-driven society, I knew it would be essential material to learn.

In the beginning class, we learned how to incorporate multiple types of media into journalism, such as digital, video, and audio media. We learned how to use Audacity, Google Maps, iMovie, Photoshop, and other programs to implement multimedia into our articles.

I enjoyed the class and decided to take Intermediate Multimedia Journalism this semester. Tanya, my teacher, created curriculum for me and the one other intermediate student, and geared the class as an independent study. We decided what we would focus our multimedia skills on, created a spreadsheet of our hours spent working for Tanya to review. We would also come into the beginner multimedia class every other week to share some insight with the beginner students and help post articles to the Eagle’s Eye website.

This semester, through Intermediate Multimedia Journalism, I have furthered my skills and created some impressive work to show for it. I decided to gear my learning towards social media by taking over the ODAL facebook page and making posts throughout the week. I also created blog posts (like this one!), worked with Rosie Hackett on other ODAL social media initiatives, took Google Analytics courses, and created an online portfolio to showcase my journalism work.

As my final project, I created a multimedia story using Readymag, an online web publication software. Here’s how it turned out:

https://readymag.com/530546

I’m extremely proud with how far I’ve come, both in this class and at SNC. The journalism program, thanks to its amazing faculty, has transformed me from a timid writer to a confident journalist. I couldn’t be happier with my education here at SNC.

The importance of balance

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I often am overambitious. Sure, it’s good to have high expectations for yourself, but if you fill your plate with too many commitments and responsibilities, crashing and burning is nearly inevitable.

This is exactly what happened to me this semester.

In January, 19 credits and two jobs seemed exciting and doable. I told myself that the more was on my plate, the more productive and successful I’d be. I doubled up on intensive interdisciplinary classes that were supposed to taken sequentially. I formulated independent-study-type classes and commitments in order to fit everything in. Now, as March concludes, I’m having second thoughts.

I’m trying to graduate a semester early (this December) to save money. School isn’t my thing, so I’m just trying to get done as soon as possible. This December, at 21 years old, I’ll have completed my bachelor’s degree.

I’m proud of myself. As a two-time transfer student, I never would have thought I’d finish college in three and a half years and have a degree and respectable GPA to show for it. But here I am. I made my own luck.

Unfortunately, this ambition hasn’t come without sacrifices.

I went out to a party for the first time all semester (and probably the third or fourth time all school year) last weekend. It was a blast, but I was so hungover the following day that I missed work and fell even farther behind on the the glaring pile of assignments due. I felt guilty for going out and was ridden with regret and stress.

Here’s the problem with what I’m trying to do this semester. I’m so invested in school and work that there’s no room for anything else. Should I feel guilty for going out and having fun with friends? Absolutely not. Should I beat myself up for spending a night with Netflix and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s? No. Should I detest my classes and dread class every day? No, but I do because they’re all that my life revolves around.

College academics aren’t life. College isn’t life! There’s so much more to this time in our lives than just getting the grade; getting the degree. If this is the only life we get, I don’t want to look back at my 19- and 20-year-old self and say, “Wow, all she did was homework and work.”

If I were to get hit by a car and die tomorrow, that would suck. That would suck in general, but it would especially suck because the years leading up to it weren’t lived well. I’d have an impressive transcript to show for it, but no amazing, memorable experiences to cherish forever.

Life should be an enjoyable journey and we should aspire to be happy. I shouldn’t be counting down the days until graduation in hopes that something better will follow.

Go out and party. Eat the slice of cake. Skip class to hit the slopes on that perfect pow day.

Then, nurse your hangover and drink lots of water. Hit the gym. Write that A-worthy research paper. Go to class. Get shit done.

We often lose sight of this awesome concept of life underneath the weight of all the responsibilities given to students. We’re young and able-bodied and we’re living in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Go out and enjoy it.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t take school seriously; college is a big investment and you get out what you put in.

If I could go back, I’d take on a lot less. Less credits each semester. Only apply for one job. I’d fill my days with more things I want to do, not just things I should do. I’d stick around in Tahoe a bit longer, even if it means a bit more debt down the road.

School is important, but so is self-care and happiness. Keep it balanced.

Welcome back English & Journalism majors!

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Welcome back English BA, BFA and New Media Journalism majors and minors! The English Department is holding a get together this Friday to celebrate your return and hear about your summer adventures!

Come on over to DiMaggio’s (800 Tahoe Blvd) from 4-6 p.m. this Friday and the English Program will cover a variety of free pizzas and soda (you’re on your own for any other beverages). Bonus beverages for anyone who beats Dr. Bob King at pool.

Good Morning Truckee! Let’s talk journalism

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Good Morning Truckee! Every table was filled, and nearly every place marked by hot coffee, as Truckee-Donner Chamber members gathered in the Tahoe-Truckee Airport Conference Room for the community breakfast forum. Each month a different subject is featured and this month’s topic was “The Changing Landscape of Media.”

Tanya Canino, reading the news, as always.

As a longtime journalist in the area and the journalism instructor at Sierra Nevada College, I was invited to be the panel discussion moderator for the morning. On the panel were Michael Gelbman, publisher of the Sierra Sun and North Lake Tahoe Bonanza, Mayumi Elegado, owner and publisher of Moonshine Ink, Katherine Hill, owner and publisher of The Weekly, JD Hoss, of KTKE 101.5 FM, Eric Brandt of Tahoe TV and Robert Grossman of Lake Tahoe TV News.

Chamber organizers asked me to talk about my 25-year career in the area and then give an overview of the changing media landscape, before asking thought-provoking questions of our panel.

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Eagle’s Eye editors fly to New York City journalism conference

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Eagle’s Eye editors take a stop during their stroll through Central Park in New York City. From left to right are Drew Fisher, Sage Sauerbrey, Marissa Stone, Eliza Demarest, Samantha Marquardt and Keala Reeverts.

Big sights, big sounds and a big journalism conference captivated six students and one adviser from the Eagle’s Eye newspaper, March 12-15 in New York City.

The College Media Association hosted the National College Media Convention, which attracted 1200 student journalists to participate in over 250 sessions, tours to top publications such as New York Times, keynotes by famous journalists like CBS News’ Scott Pelley, and a Times Square location in the center of the media capital of the United States.

Eagle’s Eye Managing Editor Marissa Stone, News Editor Samantha Marquardt, Photo Editor Eliza Demarest, Online Editor Drew Fisher, Sports Editor Sage Sauerbrey and Asst. Photo Editor Keala Reeverts, along with Adviser Tanya Canino, jetted across country on a Red Eye, arriving in New York City at 7 a.m. Wednesday, March 12. After navigating the subway to their hotel, the SNC group began sightseeing with walks through Central Park, a stop at McGee’s Pub (the inspiration for How I Met Your Mother) and finished the night with the musical, Once.

Thursday through Sunday were devoted to the journalism conference, where students could pick and choose which sessions they wanted to attend. Continue reading →

Social Media for Journalists and why it’s worthwhile to learn

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By Johanna Tikkanen

I’m a Business major, who is pursuing a minor in Journalism. Last semester I took ENGL275, Introduction to Multimedia Journalism and loved it. This semester I took a step higher class, Intermediate Multimedia Journalism. I really like this class, and one of our assignments was to take a course online at Knight Center. It’s called Social Media for Journalists, and I believe that all Journalism students should take it.

I learned a lot from the 5 week Social Media for Journalists course hosted by Knight Center. To be completely honest, I though it was very boring at first, but when I decided to take a right mindset towards it, I felt like I got a lot of useful information out of it. I think that the lecture of “Find Sources and audience with social media.” was the most helpful for me. I learned how to use social media to target the right audience for me; I started to think more about the audience, and what might be unique that could appeal to them. Also one important (Kind of obvious) was learning that word of mouth is one of the most powerful thing and its rife among people in social media. So if I connect with those that are connected to my target audience, it might be a job worthwhile. Then I started wondering, who is my target audience, and what’s funny is that you can use Google Analytics to find that out specifically.

Also, the importance of social media websites as; Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin was highlighted. By creating accounts or pages on this websites, you can interact with people more effectively. There are 1.4 billion Facebook users and the average time these people spend on Facebook is 15 hours per month.

If starting a new business, you must have the previously mentioned, its basically free advertising and grows your business avareness. Google Analytics is a perfect tool for figuring out the target audience. I definitely learned a lot from this course and have an idea how Social Media could be useful in Business.

Learn about this semester’s Service Learning projects on Monday, Dec. 9

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The editors of the Eagle’s Eye queried a group of students Monday night about what they like to read about in the campus newspaper. One of the top choices that the students mentioned were the interesting and exciting projects students created through Service Learning.

Every semester, Interdisciplinary Studies students develop a personal project which clears a path to their future career, according to an Eagle’s Eye article. SNC offers an innovative interdisciplinary class called Service Learning where students dig deeper and become involved in unique volunteer opportunities. The SNC website, says “Through the required Service Learning course, which challenges students to explore how their actions, their academic interests, and their own initiative can contribute to the community, students learn to make a difference AND maximize their learning. This hands-on, experiential program dares students to get out and do it—and they do.”

If you want to see the inspiring projects completed by this semester’s students, there will be presentations from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9, in TCES 139. Stop by to hear the following students talk about their projects:

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