We’ve already completed half of the Annenberg Youth Academy program! This second week has been packed with new experiences and learning opportunities, which I’ll highlight in today’s blog. Compared to the first week, this week seemed to fly by even faster. The materials and concepts covered in communications and journalism were incredibly engaging, particularly the guest speakers who shared their professional journeys and stories. But before diving into the details, let’s look at Monday!
On Monday, we started the day with an introduction to podcasts. As someone who enjoys listening to podcasts in my free time, I was particularly excited about this topic. We were then given a creative project to produce our own podcast episode. I chose to focus on spreading awareness and reducing the stigma of social anxiety in teens. The process of recording and editing the podcast for the first time was a learning experience, with some challenges along the way. However, I was ultimately satisfied with the final result. Moving on, a guest speaker, Taj Frazier, came in to talk about Krump. Krump is a dancing style that evolved from African-American street dancing. As a dancer, it was interesting to learn about a style I haven’t done before and know about the history behind it.
Now for Tuesday, a guest speaker, Mark Schoofs, gave insightful talks on investigative journalism. His discussion made me realize that interviewing isn’t just a straightforward process; it requires a great deal of dedication to gather the necessary information. In journalism, we did a silent interview on Karen which I was surprised at how accurate it could be sometimes. Then, we took a tour of the media center which I was excited about the most. When I walk into the building, I would always peek at the media center from behind the glass, but having the opportunity to go inside exceeded my expectations.
Moving on to Wednesday, we went to the dining hall for lunch today which I entered for the first time. We then had a surprise event which was a scavenger hunt. Afterward, we were surprised with a scavenger hunt, which was a nice break from our regular learning activities and a great opportunity to explore the campus. This activity also allowed me to connect with more people and strengthen bonds. Unfortunately, we couldn’t complete our scavenger hunt due to time constraints, but it was fun getting competitive. For journalism, we covered storyboards and different camera shots. I started getting into photography, so it was useful to learn about the sequence of shots and framing objects.
On the last day, Thursday, Joy Ofodu talked about AI in the entertainment industry and her experience as a voice actor. I really enjoyed listening to her presentation and her humor brought up the mood of the class. After, we went to the media center to record our news after working on the scripts. I was able to see the process of recording and being able to reset when making a mistake.
That is all for this week’s blog. Stay updated for next week!
Communicating Change 