I won’t be one of those kids that kicks their own butt all of their school career just to slack off when the acceptance letters arrive. I’m not safe that way. American takes the best of the best, and I know I am good enough to uphold its standards. I know I can stay focused long enough to make it there and find myself as a student and future artist.

Monday’s are getting harder and harder to get up for, and the amount of work we get at times seems ridiculous. But I’m gonna fight through it, excede the standard. Graduation is less than 6 months away, and I promised myself at last year’s ceremony that I’d make every second of my senior year count.

I’m going to make good on that promise.

Basically, I’m so nervous about college. I have no idea where these kids are applying or when they did it, but some of my peers have already gotten acceptance letters.

American will let me know their decision by the 31st of December, and I can’t help but think the worst. Will they call while I’m out of the house? Will the letter get lost in the mail so I’ll never know? If I do get accepted, will there be enough aid in my package for me to attend? If I don’t, where will I go?

Approximately 31 more days, and everything will become a little different.

I want to pursue a degree in film and media, and I have absolutely no idea what I’ll do with it.

AU’s main focus on film isn’t so much the big-screen prep that I’ve lusted after since Catherine Hardwicke published her director’s notebook on all it took to produce Twilight. Yet, I love AU as if it were a natural next step from the quirky high school that I have grown to adore.

The plan was to minor in International Relations; give myself a chance to learn about the outside world and how to communicate with and become a part of it. I would use film and media to bring attention to underprivileged groups living outside the lines of Africa and south-eastern Asia.

Just as we learned at the conference, the rest of the world has no compassion for issues it’s not aware of. We can’t help the people we don’t see or never knew existed. We have to be informed, and that job falls upon the photographers and filmmakers and journalists that’re often criticized for their failure to stop and help instead of documenting.

So how to decide between big shot Hollywood fame (or an Indie following) and a life of advocacy?

I’m learning that I don’t necessarily have to know all the answers just yet. Its perfectly okay for me to walk onto any campus my first day of class next Fall, and have no idea what kind of job I’ll find after graduation or how I’ll be paying my bills twenty years from now. As a 17 year old with big dreams, my only responsibility is getting there. I don’t have to have a whole game plan – knowing my intended major is huge enough in itself.

Tonight we dance and pack our bags for drives and flights home, some shorter than others, but we also remember everything that we’ve learned and experienced since the 10th.

Today was definitely an adventure. After waiting in line at Chipotle for what must’ve been the longest 15 minutes of my life, I sat with Ji and Brittany for lunch and we went in search of the Library of Congress. Before looking at the map, I didn’t realize there were actually two buildings bearing the name. I typed the name of our destination into the Navigation feature on my phone (I will admit to being a little map challenged and taking full advantage of everything my cellular has to offer!), and we were off. It took some confirmation with a police officer and many, many photo ops, but eventually we arrived at the Jefferson LOC. For reasons unknown to us and everyone that climbed the stairs afterward, the entrance wasn’t open for visitors.

We turned and made our way toward the Capitol Hill, glad to see some familiar faces. More pictures were taken and we found ourselves finding shelter under graciously large trees, laughing like we’d been the best of friends for the longest and having fun. The group picture hopefully turned out as flawless as it could get, and I look forward to seeing everything as the conference draws to a close.

For now, I can’t wait to see everyone dolled up and ready to go for the Gala tonight, and I just want to thank everyone again for giving us such a great opportunity like the Washington Journalism and Media Conference.

First of all, I forgot to blog about Monday’s experiences. It was late, I wasn’t sure where to start, and I just wanted a fresh start for Tuesday morning. We traveled to the Newseum where we were received with welcome arms, and I found the experience to be the equivalent of a mega-sized candy store for not only journalists, but photography junkies such as myself. I could barely stand to pull myself from the Pulitzer Prize Exhibit. To know that these men and women are capturing awe-inspiring images, some that send butterflies traipsing through your soul and others that almost bring you to tears just recounting them to someone else…that floors me. Our trip was one thing, but I did learn that it wasn’t nearly enough of an opportunity to truly see every single item of interest, so much as a starting ground for so much more.

Then today was just…unreal. I didn’t believe that we’d be so busy, though I was clearly devouring our schedule everytime I had a free moment just to see where we were headed or predict what to expect. It feels like we’re going into our 2nd week of the conference, not the third official day! My favorite speakers of the day were Hoda Kotb and Kevin McCarthy, both that embraced this airy, light, almost carefree attitude about what it takes to make it in the field of media. Through Hoda’s stories about rejection I learned that it isn’t the number of turndowns, no matter how hugely discouraging, but that single ”yes” that gives you a foothold up the steep slope. She entertained us throughly with her choice selection of music, and stuck around way past expected to sign books for overly excited correspondents. She might as well have been a rockstar.

Kevin McCarthy had me engaged since the moment he began speaking during the Young Professional Panel. He’s just got that radio voice that draws you in. One moment I’m chatting with my table about something, and the next I’m caught up in a story about nerd tears and freedom of personal information on Twitter. He was just so refreshing, and the amount of energy he possessed for someone that’s already been seasoned in his respective field, film criticism, was just overly amazing to me. I remember sitting there at dinner stamping my foot under the table because I wasn’t sure what direction the mic was coming from, and I wasn’t leaving the room without asking, even if I had to ask later.

My question to him was: “As  a critic, how do you get others to care about your views on a movie?”

He told me that he has fun doing his job, and having been the second time, just during the extent of this conference alone, that I’ve heard this…I was over the moon. To know that worries about listeners and trends in loss or gains didn’t take precedence really said something to me about the way media could stand to work for my generation. As I sat there listening to his conversation with other YCs about Harry Potter and the value in seeing it in 3-D (apparently, there is none), I thought about my own career. I dream of becoming a film director. If McCarthy can carry on in his own special way, just marching to the beat of his own drum and using social media networks to get him that much more respect from his audience, then I can have the confidence to make movies that aren’t necessarily produced right away for the pleasure of an audience, but rather my self-satisfaction with creating and telling a story. I do believe some research on internships is needed.

Like our advisor was telling us back at our second meeting of the day, this week isn’t so much about learning the craft of journalism. In a way, we already have the tools and more to establish ourselves. This week is about connecting, about taking the dive out of your comfort zone (or at least mine!) and walking across a room and meeting someone that might be job searching with you or even getting you in the door of a career 5 or 10 years later. I’m finding it much easier than I thought, and after the conference is finished, I hope to walk away with a lot of experiences that’ll carry me on in whatever career path I choose.

But to address the title of tonight’s post, our group’s color confusion. As a unit we’ve decided that we’ll be the Brown-Green group in lieu of a more…exciting color. It sets us apart, and if I get one opportunity to be a little less than professional on this blog in the next few days, I’d like to say that our swag’s about to climb to another level all together.

I’d like to thank our speakers at dinner tonight for a lovely reception, especially to Mr. Chris Cillizza  for his really animated response to my many questions. I appreciated it, and it definitely inspired me to take a new approach to the way I want to pursue a career in film and media.

Hoda Kotb’s memoir was absolutely fantastic, and I was actually surprised at how much I got out of it. It was refreshing to learn that she took so many obstacles that came into her life and still made a career out of something she had a passion for. I hope that I get the chance to meet her, but if not, I’ll still walk away with the inspiration to keep going, no matter the problem. If she didn’t give up after being turned down by over 20 stations, then I can pursue my love of film and media and know I’ll find my calling.

So far I’ve gotten in contact with two other correspondents, Jess from Louisiana and Allison from California, and we’re all excited for the chance to meet up. We connected over the conference page on Facebook and it already seems like the time has flown by from months to a few days until we’re all roaming the streets of Washington and learning all we can. I also plan to bring along my video camera and post daily diaries on here, and hopefully everything checks out! Look forward to features of my fellow correspondents as well.

More in a few days,
Leena

So I happened upon this link almost by accident. I say almost because at one point in time, I was absolutely in love with this college and hoping and praying that I’d still be interested come senior year. Though my interest has gone down a bit, my pursuit of a film major hasn’t.

On Auggie’s website I ended up with this link, this wonderful light at the end of a tunnel. You see, I’m kind of addicted to _____ things your hairdresser/waiter/teacher/plumber/dudedownthestreetoraroundthecorner won’t tell you type things. Things you should know, things you’ve heard but – things, okay? Finding this list was gold to me, especially #3:

Know a favorite film inside and out. If you don’t have a favorite film, pick one. Once you have a favorite film watch it until you can quote lines or accurately describe sequences. Study the credits. Get to know who did what. Perhaps even do some research on all those technical jobs? Like what is a key grip anyway? Or what does a best boy do? Not only will this familiarity with a favorite film prepare you for studying film, you’ll have a ready-made answer for all those social gatherings where the typical question is: What’s your major?

This will be my summer project. I have to actually get around to picking a favorite due to the fact that there’s so many, but I have a feeling it’ll be between:

I know that these two movies have almost nothing in common, and I can guarantee that I’ve seen films with better plotlines or diverse characters, but something about these two captures me. I could launch into a rant about each of them, but I’ll save that for other posts. Just know that I want to pick up my abandoned, close to cob-webbed guitar every time I see August Rush (You can’t help wanting to play some form of music after seeing this), and though I never cry during movies (unless its to the instrumental Celine Dion song at the end of Titanic), Remember Me came very close.

On one hand, I’m confident in my writing skills on paper. I’ve been poked, prodded and trained since I learned how to read, and all the honors and AP classes afterwards have prepared me for greatness. But online, one begins to wonder how to connect. Millions and billions of strangers are out there to read your words, to metaphorically hear your voice for the first or the hundredth time. So how do you go about making yourself special enough to stand out from the crowd?

I’m using this blog for two reasons, one of which is included in the link to this little publication: The Washington Journalism and Media Conference, aka the opportunity that is going to change my life. The events kick off on July 10th of this year, four whole days after I turn 17. I cannot wait – you really must try to understand my excitement. I attempted to start a blog earlier about this, but now that I think about it, it was much too professional to grasp just how incredibly happy I am to even have known about something like this. Spending the couple of days at George Mason University will expose me and the other 249 youth correspondents to famous journalists, media specialists and CEOs of companies that’ve made it big and know the ins and outs of their fields. I’m going to have the chance to meet all of these wonderful people, and possibly make connections that could secure jobs for me in the future. This kind of thing doesn’t happen to the average junior. We’re being asked to blog daily, so random tidbits, pictures and maybe even some videos are to be expected.

My other reason? As I’m working out the kinks in my plans for education and careers, I plan to compile a list of all things film, media and photography related to guide me in my profession search. One day it might be definitions/duties of the odd jobs listed at the tail end of movie credits, and one day it could be an interview with Catherine Hardwicke. You never know!

WJMC Tee