Journal Update #7 - 10/10/19
The week posed many meetings (opportunities) relating to my practicum's current progress and future goals. I first talked with my McBride practicum adviser, Justin Latici, on October 7th to ensure that my work in the practicum is on a good pace to finish by the end of the fall semester. I showed him my completion of my pre-assignment, which was a modified version of my original Mental Health Independent Study Proposal that I shared with Melanie and Toni in August. This assignment applied the proposal to a brainstorming activity for the project; however, Justin wanted me to add a literary review or annotated bibliography. This suggestion made me realize that I lack any objective or researched material in the information-gathering stage of my practicum, so I believe it is best that I sit down and conduct research for the time being. Justin also helped me refine my three goals and learning objectives for the practicum while he was reviewing my overall McBride Practicum Proposal Form. I appreciated taking the time to look at the outlines and expectations for the actual project; I noticed that it's easy to become lost in a project to the point that one forgets its established requirements. Due to the importance of checking in to my practicum adviser to modify current work and keep me on an efficient path, I plan to meet with him every Monday until the end of the semester.
The second meeting of the week was a second-round session with the chairs of Every Oredigger on October 9th. My accumulated meeting experience since the last chair-lead gathering gave me a boost in self-assurance as I walked through the door. Rather than starting with twenty-minutes of all attention focused on me, this time seemed like a regular meeting. I was eager to share what I have been talking and learning about in the other sub-committees I am a part of, but I mostly chimed in when a student perspective on a certain topic was needed. This was not the greatest participation I have had in a meeting, but it was certainly better than the one a few weeks ago. Near the end, Rebecca allotted me time to present my revised pitch that was more specific to my final deliverable. I passed out the document that contained the CAD picture and project details, and each chair member seemed to appreciate the work. All was going unexpectedly smoothly until the chair of the communications committee mentioned a problem regarding conducting faculty interviews. She said that I shouldn't work with the Trefny Center but should rather record them on my own and then send them to the Mines Communications Department. I tried to explain that the Trefny Center has far better video resources and equipment, but I learned that the communications group and the Trefny Center are on opposite sides when it comes to Mines media. I didn't know what to say except for agreeing with her advice. Nonetheless, I would eventually come to a crossroad as I would have a meeting with the Trefny Center in two days.
The day came when I would have to talk with the Trefny Center about recording faculty for Every Oredigger. Luckily, Sareen was with me so we could both talk about our vision for the video with the recording team. We discussed video format, backgrounds, scripts, teleprompters, green screens, scheduling, and more as the meeting felt like it would go on forever--I never knew there was so much involved in professional video creation. We settled on a concrete list of plans and ideas for the video, and we hope to start the initial recording process in early November. For the meantime, I am working on the interviewing/teleprompter questions while Sareen will coordinate with other faculty about recording times. Both of us have partially dismissed the fact that we are working with two rivaling media departments, but we figured that we should use all available resources to the best of our ability for the time being.