Miah Thirion 2019 Spring Portfolio

MIAH THIRION PORTFOLIO

01

As the semester ends and I look back on what I have learned, I realize that this semester was filled with so many more lessons than the past.

This semester I started signing up for more pictures and focusing more on photography. This was probably the most rewarding thing I did and it showed me that I have a passion for photography that I wasn’t completely aware of. I learned that taking pictures is a form of art that I can use as a release and to express my emotions. This semester I have struggled more than ever with stress and taking pictures helped to distract me from the stress. It taught me that I can spend hour taking pictures and it feels like time is standing still. I hope that this skill of photography is something that I can use in my future, and I look forward to seeing where it will take me.

Another thing I did this semester is spend a lot of time focusing on learning more about design and I was definitely more curious and excited to learn about it than before. I spent a lot of time observing and asking questions. I learned about designing a page, what aspects of design attracts a reader to your page, and how to edit pictures in photoshop.

Overall I learned a lot about indesign and photoshop.

I feel this will also make me a more productive and

successful editor in the upcoming year.

However, I still need to work on learning how to use indesign very productively.

I have also learned a lot about the teamwork and community in this class and all the publications.

Without the teamwork, the paper would not be what it is and we would not be able to create the paper that we produce. Every person is responsible for an aspect of the paper and without that piece it falls apart. Another part that I have learned about this community of people is that we all have a passion for the same thing and that is what drives us. We all are fascinated and have a desire to learn more about writing, design and journalism. We are thrilled and driven by the satisfaction of completing your page, writing a killer article, or taking a picture that blows you away. Without this passion the paper would not be created. This enthusiasm created a group of people that are willing to go above and beyond to create something that displays our skills and creativity.

As to my part in the community- I feel as though I have been an asset to staff this semester. I worked well with others and did my absolute best to cheer on other staff to complete their work to the best of their ability. I also worked hard to complete my work on time and it was all good quality work.

Although, as I take on the position of editor in chief of the online paper along with Max I think there is a couple things we could change and do better next year. I feel that next year we could reward and shout out people that did their work more. This could help set an example to the other staff who might not be as motivated to do their work, and it will also show staff that tend to not do their work that is it very rewarding when you complete your work. However, I think the system of editors checking on their writers was successful this year.

I feel that I was dedicated to the paper and I worked hard to be an asset to the newspaper. I spent a lot of time on weekends taking pictures and making sure my articles are the best they could be. I came to all production days and stayed till I wasn’t needed anymore and I devoted a lot of my time and energy to this class. For example, I signed up for more work this semester. This was in some ways more stressful, but it also taught me that I am a lot more capable than I think. Working under such high stress has shown me that I can motivate myself to work, even under high stress. This has been a very rewarding lesson this semester.

One of the main causes of stress in this class is meeting deadlines. I feel that this semester I learned that meeting deadlines can be extremely stressful, but you can accomplish meeting them by working

hard. I met all the deadlines by planning out what I was going to do and when. Planning it out helped me be successful with meeting deadlines, so I will continue doing this in the future.

This semester I learned a lot about ethics. I took several classes in New York about ethics and I learned a lot about being objective, and how important it is to tell the truth. People depend on journalists to tell the truth because we are their source of news. So it is our job to make sure that the information we publish is truth.

This year, I feel that I have grown a lot in my english class and with writing in general because of newspaper. I feel I have only struggled with interviews. I still get uncomfortable when interviewing new people, however I have definitely improved since last semester. A problem I faced a couple times this semester was not being able to interview people because they are busy, especially adults. To avoid this arising again next year I will make sure to start interviewing super early. Through this I learned that it is super important to plan ahead of time. My weakness that is publication related is staying objective when i’m writing. To overcome this weakness I will continue working on this when i’m writing and double check my work to make sure I stay objective. Other than that I am proud of the work I did.

02

My most significant piece of writing for this semester was my article on the start of the Lacrosse season.

This article pushed me to go out of my comfort zone and interview the coach of the lacrosse team.

Since my biggest weakness is interviewing and talking to adults that I am not used to talking to, it pushed me and showed me that if I have confidence I am capable.

I spent a lot of time planning and researching for this article since I didnt know anything about lacrosse.

After planning and getting ready I went to multiple practices to interview players and the coach.

When I first started the article I struggled with organizing it and deciding what I wanted to say. However as I interviewed and researched, the evolved into the final result.

Because I spent so much extra time on this article, I really liked the end result. It was really rewarding to see that my hard work and extra effort paid off.

Throughout my experience this semester I have become very dedicated to the paper. I am not in any other clubs or sports at school, but newspaper has become something that I put a lot of my time and effort into. I have come to learn that work for the paper is the most rewarding thing I have done thus far in high school.

It has challenged me more than I ever thought it would and it has shown me that not giving up on something and continuing to stay motivated towards the result you are looking for is extremely rewarding. I am very happy that I kept my eyes stuck on the work I wanted to make because it has taught me so much about production for the paper.

03

PROM PICTURE- APRIL The prom pictures I took for the April issue is definitely one of my most significant works. I am proud of these pictures because it was not my assignment at first but I stepped in last minute to take them because the pictures were needed. I really like the way the pictures turned out. They look very professional and put together.

DROUGHT VIDEO- MARCH

The drought video Max and I did for the March issue was definitely the best video we did this semester. For the video we spent a lot of time researching beforehand. Another thing we did was interview people we had never heard of which seemed uncomfortable at first but it taught us that it is good to go out of your comfort zone. We also spent a lot of time after class and at lunch getting B-roll and ensuring that is was edited to the best of our ability. I like the final result because it was very informative amd it looked professional.

SIMPLE PROM PONYTAILS SIDEBAR- APRIL The sidebar I did for the April issue on simple ponytail hairstyles for prom was another one of my proudest accomplisments of the semester because I abolsutely loved the final result. I spent a time on doing the hairstyles, and then took the pictures. I like how fun it looks and it looks super neat.

BUTTERFLY WONDERLAND PICTURES- MAY The Butterfly Wonderland pictures I took for the May issue was another one of my proudest accomplisments of the semester. The pictures turned out super cute and they really portray what going to Butterfly Wonderland is like.

TEAR SHEETS F E B R U A R Y

M A R C H

A P R I L

M A Y