One of the greatest things about coming to Drake for journalism is that right here in Des Moines we have Meredith Publishing home of publications like Better Homes & Gardens, Midwest Living, Living a Country Life, etc. They have dozens of nationally read magazines. Which is, obviously, great for budding journalist types like me. I'll readily admit that having Meredith in the city was a draw. And it's still great...
But...
It does not - I repeat - does NOT begin and end with Meredith Publishing. I'm serious. Last year all the sophomores were all going crazy because everybody was applying for the Meredith Junior Apprenticeship progam thing that Drake offers. It's an awesome opportunity, you get class credit, real experience at a magazine... but it's insanely selective (only five students are selected). I obviously wasn't selected, but fellow blogger Kayla Porter (although, I guess it's Kayla Craig now) was. And that's awesome for her. But I think journalism students often spend so much time focusing on the Meredith factor that they forget that there are truckloads more opportunities out there.
Sure, apply for Meredith internships, but don't turn away from lesser known magazines or publications. Experience is experience no matter where you can get it. Who knows? You may stumble onto something really cool. Plus, I don't know how Meredith works or anything, but they're a huge corporation with a national reputation and maybe a smaller publication will take more chances on interns and give them more assignments.
Again, I don't know. But there are other options - LOTS of them. You just have to find them and not be so picky.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Audubon Adventure
Over fall break I went with friends Ryan and Naomi to Ryan's hometown of Audubon, Iowa to check out his farm, the town, and all the nerdy touristy stuff along the way. It was great fun and a really nice distraction from the stress of school. Check out the pictures :)
Here's the route we took. We took the long way. The REALLY long way. But we got to see a lot of cool stuff
Me at the site of the very first train robbery. It was Jesse James, of course.
Tree in the middle of the road!!!! A surveyor stuck his walking stick in the ground to mark the section corner in 1850. The stick took root and 157 years later, there's a tree there.
Plow in the oak. Waaaaay back during the Civil War, a farmer was called to war and left his plow out and a tree started to grow over it. There are still pieces of it showing like this one
This windmill was originally in Denmark. Someone paid to have it taken apart, shipped over, and reassembled.
Another view of the windmill. This is one of my favorite pictures of the day.
This little mermaid statue is an homage to the real little mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark. It's a tribute to Hans Christian Andersen's story - before Disney got ahold of it.
ELK! There's an elk enclosure at Nathaniel Hamlin Park. There's like a gazebo overlooking the enclosure and you can drop elk feed down some tubes for them. I love elk. Especially this little one.
Blacksmith shop at Nathaniel Hamlin Park
Large and in charge - Albert the Bull is the world's largest bull. He's 30 feet high and weighs 45 tons.
In Ryan's church
Mr. Audubon himself!
One of Ryan's farm kitties! KITTIES!
The farm!!!
Satchel! I love this dog. :D
Here's the route we took. We took the long way. The REALLY long way. But we got to see a lot of cool stuff
Me at the site of the very first train robbery. It was Jesse James, of course.
Tree in the middle of the road!!!! A surveyor stuck his walking stick in the ground to mark the section corner in 1850. The stick took root and 157 years later, there's a tree there.
Plow in the oak. Waaaaay back during the Civil War, a farmer was called to war and left his plow out and a tree started to grow over it. There are still pieces of it showing like this one
This windmill was originally in Denmark. Someone paid to have it taken apart, shipped over, and reassembled.
Another view of the windmill. This is one of my favorite pictures of the day.
This little mermaid statue is an homage to the real little mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark. It's a tribute to Hans Christian Andersen's story - before Disney got ahold of it.
ELK! There's an elk enclosure at Nathaniel Hamlin Park. There's like a gazebo overlooking the enclosure and you can drop elk feed down some tubes for them. I love elk. Especially this little one.
Blacksmith shop at Nathaniel Hamlin Park
Large and in charge - Albert the Bull is the world's largest bull. He's 30 feet high and weighs 45 tons.
In Ryan's church
Mr. Audubon himself!
One of Ryan's farm kitties! KITTIES!
The farm!!!
Satchel! I love this dog. :D
Saturday, October 25, 2008
High School Musical Madness
Well, he's back. Zac Efron and his popular posse of basketballers and bookworms have finally taken the box office by storm garnering what is expected to be hundreds of millions for Disney - because if there's one company who needs the millions, it's Disney, right? I'm shocked they waited so long to put a High School Musical movie in theaters. But HSM 3 is now playing, so I guess that's what counts. And now hundreds of thousands of Efron-worshipping, "I want to be Hannah Montana for Halloween" seven-year-olds are dragging their parents to the sweet and cheesy flick.
I would expect no less.
What still surprises me is the number of 20+ year old COLLEGE students who drag their friends along to see it. And the sadder fact is that most of the friends are going rather willingly. Is it just me, or is anybody else baffled by the Disney college takeover? Hannah Montana? The Jonas Brothers? High School Musical? Are you kidding me? I feel like college students have grown way out of the key demographic.
Don't get me wrong, if I see the Lizzie McGuire movie on tv one night, I'll stop and watch it. I will. Let's keep in mind however, I was also in middle school when Lizzie McGuire was popular. And It reminds me of those days when Hilary Duff didn't look like some freakish alien with a huge head, tiny body, and horse teeth.
I'm getting off topic.
What I don't get is why stuff like that appeals to college kis NOW. Is it just because it's all cutesy? Do we crave cutesy? I like cutesy, but I'm not spending nine dollars for it.
If you understand this bizarre obsession, please explain it to me.
I would expect no less.
What still surprises me is the number of 20+ year old COLLEGE students who drag their friends along to see it. And the sadder fact is that most of the friends are going rather willingly. Is it just me, or is anybody else baffled by the Disney college takeover? Hannah Montana? The Jonas Brothers? High School Musical? Are you kidding me? I feel like college students have grown way out of the key demographic.
Don't get me wrong, if I see the Lizzie McGuire movie on tv one night, I'll stop and watch it. I will. Let's keep in mind however, I was also in middle school when Lizzie McGuire was popular. And It reminds me of those days when Hilary Duff didn't look like some freakish alien with a huge head, tiny body, and horse teeth.
I'm getting off topic.
What I don't get is why stuff like that appeals to college kis NOW. Is it just because it's all cutesy? Do we crave cutesy? I like cutesy, but I'm not spending nine dollars for it.
If you understand this bizarre obsession, please explain it to me.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Things to do
People like to ask if there's anything to do around here. Sometimes I think students exhaust the options closest to campus. How many times can you go to Mars Cafe before it gets old? Seriously. The other problem is that other activities aren't within walking distance, leaving those without a car at a disadvantage, or they cost money students can't afford to spend.
One option that I think goes overlooked is volunteering. Stay with me, here.
You don't have to be in some sort of organization to do community service. Independent people do community service all the time. I've met dozens of people who get their family together and volunteer "just because." And I think that's totally cool - maybe it's even better in some ways because it's absolutely not required of you to do it.
You can do and see some seriously cool stuff when you volunteer. Here's one of the best parts - it's free. If you volunteer at a place that would normally charge admission, you're going to get in for free. Who is going to make a volunteer pay? Plus, you can stumble on some pretty awesome stuff you never would have thought of before.
For example, I volunteered at the Drake booth for the Iowa State Fair. I got in for free because I was a volunteer, I parked for free (so far I've saved a total of like 15 bucks), I spend a couple of hours at the Drake booth giving little kids bulldog tattoos and then met up with some friends and spent the rest of the day at the fair.
It's easy enough to find volunteering opportunities. There are massive searching sites like volunteermatch.com that sort opportunities by category so you can find something you'd like to do. You'll probably be able to get a group of friends together to go do it with you, too.
So you're helping give something back to the community, doing something fun, and not spending any money doing it. Sounds like a win-win to me.
One option that I think goes overlooked is volunteering. Stay with me, here.
You don't have to be in some sort of organization to do community service. Independent people do community service all the time. I've met dozens of people who get their family together and volunteer "just because." And I think that's totally cool - maybe it's even better in some ways because it's absolutely not required of you to do it.
You can do and see some seriously cool stuff when you volunteer. Here's one of the best parts - it's free. If you volunteer at a place that would normally charge admission, you're going to get in for free. Who is going to make a volunteer pay? Plus, you can stumble on some pretty awesome stuff you never would have thought of before.
For example, I volunteered at the Drake booth for the Iowa State Fair. I got in for free because I was a volunteer, I parked for free (so far I've saved a total of like 15 bucks), I spend a couple of hours at the Drake booth giving little kids bulldog tattoos and then met up with some friends and spent the rest of the day at the fair.
It's easy enough to find volunteering opportunities. There are massive searching sites like volunteermatch.com that sort opportunities by category so you can find something you'd like to do. You'll probably be able to get a group of friends together to go do it with you, too.
So you're helping give something back to the community, doing something fun, and not spending any money doing it. Sounds like a win-win to me.
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