Wow! It’s already my second week at AYA. It’s unbelievable how swiftly it went by. I’m already halfway done with the program. I am very grateful for this opportunity to be here in this program. Although it is almost over, I will continue to use this program for all it offers and only do better as time progresses.
This week had a lot of new things going on. I had to do a podcast about a social issue; for my podcast, I talked about how social media influencers can negatively impact youths’ views on how they should look and act. I found my microphone for my computer and used my headphones. It made the podcast experience feel more real, and I was able to get the flow of it. I have some experience with editing, so it was nice to put them to use in Premiere Pro while learning Rush as well. I enjoyed being able to talk even if I didn’t have an audience. However, I did face a few hardships. Sometimes I found myself speaking too fast or mispronouncing words, which caused me to take a few retakes. I don’t think I’m ready to start my own podcast yet, but I wouldn’t mind learning about it to gain experience with audio editing.
This week I got to facilitate Rogallo’s Communication class. My reading was about how hip-hop has been used to address social issues. I was nervous at first, but as the lesson progressed, I found myself opening up more. This week, I achieved my goal from last week and spoke at least once every day. It’s been difficult to open up to people beyond my social circle, but I have talked to other people and realized we share some common interests, making it easy for us to connect. It’s nice not to be serious and actually speak up; this program has helped me a lot, and it’s only been 2 weeks. I’m proud of myself for this achievement.
We also got to go to the media center on Thursday. It was larger than I had anticipated if I’m being honest. There were screens and computers everywhere. I didn’t get to see anyone actually use the studio, but I was able to go in at the end. Allen and the others who participated explained what they did and how they felt about the experience. I’m hoping to watch next time.
I also went into the USC Dining Hall. Although it wasn’t as I anticipated, it was overall okay. I wouldn’t mind going again; the ice cream reminded me of my childhood. After we finished eating, we had a scavenger hunt around the campus. I met a new group of people; I knew some of them, but we didn’t get to talk as much. However, while we were in the group, I really got to know them and we had fun, even though we didn’t win. We found everything, but we didn’t make it in time. The experience was still great, and everyone in my group was nice and cooperative.
This concludes week 2 of AYA! I’m so enthusiastic about what the next two weeks have in store for me. This program exceeded my expectations, and I’m very grateful to be here. Learning more about communication and journalism is very important, and I know it will stay with me as I get older. Our generation has a lot of potential with the access to media we have, and this program is teaching me how to use it in ways I didn’t even expect. That’s all for me this week! Thanks for reading and see you next week — fight on!
Communicating Change 