Jitters flooded my stomach as my phone’s navigator guided me through the USC campus, and after just a few minutes of walking from Downey Way, there it was—the Annenberg building. Opening the doors, I was quickly greeted by my two smiling professors, and after a light breakfast, we were introduced to an icebreaker. Typically dreading these types of welcoming games, my stomach churned—and I imagine my classmates’ did as well, considering the absurd amount of time it took for any of us to actually start moving around the room and conversing—but our nerves were briskly put at ease when we realized how easily we were all connecting. After the icebreaker, I found myself with a group of new friends that I intend to spend a delightful rest of June with.
My first class, Communications 101 with Professor Rogelio was cut short for our first day as we had a thrilling presentation and after, conversation with guest speaker Megan Telles, a KTLA TV anchor and reporter. She told us about her journey building up her career to the great success that it is now, and truly encouraged and inspired me to follow my dreams of becoming a journalist. Telles taught us the importance of networking, first impressions and turning rejection into something greater—a drive to succeed next time. My friends and I continued conversation with her in the dining hall at lunch as we took pictures with her and told her about our aspirations, which she wished us great luck on.
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying both my Communications and Journalism 101 class. Communications has brought me greater perspectives on how I view daily interactions, delving into the structures of the linear model of communication, discussing media literacy, symbols, how media and politics go hand-in-hand, etc. Additionally, on Thursday of this first week, we were discussing Juneteenth and I learned something particularly interesting about the USC campus. In the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Nazi Germany’s dictator Adolf Hitler presented winners in the Olympics oak saplings. Jesse Owens, a black American, won the 100 meter sprint, and Hitler himself presented the oak sapling to him. After discussing this, our professor then took us outside to trees that were once saplings presented by Hitler during those Olympics, and we then upon arriving back to class discussed how this shifted our perspective of how long it has been since those horrific times.
Before each Communications class, we have assigned readings to complete. Our first assigned reading, “An Introduction to the Field of Communication,” by Wood discussed many aspects of communication—but I particularly enjoyed the focus on systems. Each person is a factor in how another person will respond, behave and communicate as well. For example, the text talks about how, in a problematic household, if there was an alcoholic, that person would be isolated from the rest of that familial environment for some time, allowing them to recover from that alcoholism and feel less of an inclination to drink. However, when said “problem” member of the household is brought back to the rest of the family, they often fall quickly back into their old habits, and this is due to their behavioral responses to their interactions with other family members in a sort of cause-and-effect situation. This is a perspective I have never thought much in depth about, because in settings with this poor communication, all the blame in the situation typically falls on one person, fully on their own, rather than discussing how other people’s actions cause the other to communicate in a certain way.
In our Journalism class, we’ve been discussing how to write articles and broadcast, and discussing the differences between print and broadcast as well. Additionally, we’ve had a few small projects. One thing that we did was create a zine (which we are also doing for Rogelio’s course, but with a group rather than individually) in order to showcase our storytelling skills—and were able to create it on our chosen topic. My zine explored insecurities and impossible beauty standards imposed on women, as well as overcoming that kind of adversity placed upon them from a young age through a short, yet inspirational story. Another project we’ve been working on is a Vox Pop (short for vox populi, a Latin phrase meaning ‘voice of the people’). In order to complete this project, we’ve had to complete a series of street interviews and then place those interview audios to create a Vox Pop production. At the USC Village one day after school, a few classmates and I walked around, asking shoppers our Vox Pop questions. My question was centered around whether or not it is believed that America is or is turning in the direction of becoming a fascist country. I interviewed around ten people and got a variety of answers and a few rejections—rejections which, I’ve learned, are encountered a lot in journalism.
This first week has brought a great deal of excitement, from the fascinating topics covered in lectures and assigned readings, exploring the USC campus during free time with newly found friends, and interviewing the unsuspecting stranger on the beautiful Village streets. The only disappointment I’ve had this week is in knowing that this program isn’t going to be for far longer.
Communicating Change 