I’m halfway through my time at AYA, and I’ve grown accustomed to it. This week has felt like a regular week at a school I have been at for a while. The guest speakers, our professors, and my classmates are all just coming together.
On Monday we had a discussion with our guest speaker, Taj Frazier. He talked about the history of Krump and briefly discussed culture. One thing that stood out to me was what gives something meaning. He gave the example that things are named what they are and known for them because society has agreed that this certain thing holds its meaning. Monday was a normal day at AYA, nothing really special about it apart from our guest speaker.
The next day, Mark Schoofs, USC professor and investigative journalist for over 30 years, gave us an analysis of the Watergate scandal. This led to President Nixon’s resignation due to his party’s corruption. The professor went over how to get people to talk to the press. He told us that the most important part of reporting is to get the person you’re asking to talk. You can start it off with anything, but as long as you manage to get them comfortable enough to start a conversation, that’s all that matters.
Wednesday was a different day than the others of the week. It started off pretty normally with our civic engagement and media class. Instead of a guest speaker that day, we went to the USC dining room. It was my first time being there, but it was nice to see the buffet-style building. The workers, the place the food was served, and the dish rack were all an interesting sight to see. Right after the dining hall, we had a scavenger hunt where we had to go around the campus taking pictures of random landmarks at USC. It was fun running around and looking at all the architecture that’s been there for decades. I saw many libraries, lots of buildings, and a lot of different statues.
On Thursday, we had a guest speaker, Joy Ofodu, come in to talk about AI and voice acting. She had lots of energy and seemed to enjoy her time there, talking to us as if she was excited to tell her story and share her experience. She also gave us insight on AI, its tools, but also its negative impacts, one of which was copyright. She went over the topic of people’s voices, bodies, and images being used in large industries and why it should be regulated.
The second week at AYA has made me feel more like I fit in, and it’s honestly a great experience to be there. It’s honestly amazing to think about how we’ve already spent half of our time here at AYA.
Communicating Change 