Many people think that change only begins when someone is shown on TV, holding a microphone, or is able to attract a crowd. Yet, this week made me question that notion. It occurred to me that some of the most significant changes in history have been achieved not through images but sound. A voice, broadcasted …
Category Archives: Week2_2026
The Secrets Behind Great Podcasts: AYA Week 2
My second week of Annenberg Youth Academy at the University of Southern California was full of fascinating and unforgettable experiences. I appreciated the fresh approaches we took on topics surrounding visual and audio storytelling. My top three highlights from this week that will remain part of my favorite core memories were our trip to the …
Continue reading “The Secrets Behind Great Podcasts: AYA Week 2”
The Stories Voices Carry
A voice, it’s something everyone possesses and utilizes in their everyday lives. Whether it’s gossiping with friends during lunch, participating in a class discussion or arguing with your siblings about what you want for dinner. I never believed that my voice was important or that it could be used to create change. However, over the …
What Goes Into a Story
Writing my last COMM101 reflection made me realize that this week’s topic was a fitting way to wrap up the course. Over the past two and a half weeks, I have learned about many different parts of communication, and this week gave me a different perspective on them. Through the assigned podcasts, class discussions, and …
Sound, Story, and Perspective
Week 2 of AYA at Annenberg was packed with hands-on activities and teamwork. Week 1 felt like we had USC to ourselves, but for the first few days the dining hall was full of international and local students our age, and easy to talk to. We ended up swapping stories about LA, and they told …
Listening Beyond the Story
By Diamond Rangel Reyes Giving Voice to Others This week’s focus on podcasts made me think more intentionally about how storytelling shapes the way we understand social issues. Because I hope to become a lawyer in the future and advocate for people whose experiences are often unheard, I felt especially connected to this week’s material. …
The Decameron
The voice. It’s the thing you’re subconsciously using in your head while reading this. It is a most peculiar thing(?) and the power it holds cannot be measured. I mean, when actors started talking in films it basically changed everything for cinema, from public perception to it being widely accepted as an art form. The …
Community Was Already Here
By: Amaiya Medley This week, a word that resonated with me everywhere I turned was “community.” I didn’t expect that to be my key takeaway, but by the time we left the Natural History Museum today, I could not think about anything else. In COMM 101, we recorded a podcast together as a class. Lots …
The Power of Podcasts: Uniting Voices for Change
“Three, Two, One” I counted down before leaning in to record my answer for our podcast. This week at AYA we learned all about the significance, and the history of podcasts. Through demonstrations we learned how podcasts can be a tool to share our thoughts. Due to the lack of visuals, the radio is classified …
Continue reading “The Power of Podcasts: Uniting Voices for Change”
Communicating Change 