PORTFOLIOOOOO

Alyssa’s Portflio

Self-Evaluation This year in yearbook, I have learned a lot more than I did last year. Being a returning staffer has really made me step up my game in all aspects of the program.

Regarding production skills, I have learned how to get the photos from the computers to Edesign and then onto the pages. Korie taught me how to do this one day when my photos were not uploaded to the program and I needed them in order to complete the spread. This skill has already helped me a lot when my photos have gone awol and it will continue to help me. I have even showed other staffers how to do it so they can, too. Relating to design, I have realized just how frustrating it can be to try and design a whole spread. Once everything is one the page, it rarely looks pretty immediately. This has helped me to experiment and try new ideas in my designing.

The deadlines this year have been a lot less stressful than in years past, because everything has pretty much been done in time. It reserves the deadline time to writing captions, headlines, and bylines. This has made the process much easier for us all. In the future, I could probably learn to look ahead at the deadlines so that I do not end up with a boat load of work to do in such a short amount of time.

My team has been really good at working together, especially when it comes to getting pictures for each other’s mods and stories. Along with that, Emily and I have a solid system at how we are to be team leaders together. We have split pages where I work on one and she takes on the other, but we have also had deadlines where I work more on writing, photos, and captions, and she handles the design. She is much better at the designing of the pages, so our system has seemed to work well for us. I could improve my communication with Emily though involving verifying that we are all on the same page (not literally in terms of the book itself).

It can be very tempting to just make up some quotes and stories rather than to actually take the time to interview people.

However, this would be disregarding my journalism ethics, and it is important that I take the time necessary to get the job done correctly. They are extremely important in the class and in life, as integrity is something hard to come by in a world where the media is constantly skipping to far fetched conclusions.

I have become very committed to the staff this year by going to many events to take pictures for topics that were not written or under my guidance. Not only that, but I also help others in delivering their interview slips if necessary. On deadline nights, many people come to me for help in finding quotes for people in pictures and writing the captions. I think it is important that I help out people who are not on my team as well, because in the end we are all on one giant team dedicated to finishing this yearbook.

This year, it has not all been perfect for me. It has been hard as I have dealt with juggling making money with schoolwork and yearbook. It has been all too easy for me, especially in the first deadline, to simply do my homework and studying during yearbook. Going along with this, I had to take the SAT on the same day as one our deadline days, which definitely posed a roadblock for me and my team. Not being there meant that absolutely everything of mine needed to be done and on the pages ready to be designed before the deadline. However, despite this stressful situations, I have found a way to power through it all.

I have gotten it all done, even when it felt impossible. If these problems came up again, at least I know it is not impossible. My greatest weakness is that when I have a lot piled up on my plate, I freak out and want to pull my hair straight out of my head. This is not a cool skill for yearbook, because when deadlines approach, all I do is lose my mind. I have come to plow through this with lots of tears and cancelling of my own plans to make it all work. Next semester, i could work hard to not let everything stack up so instantly.

Reflection #1 On the cross country page, I was assigned to help out a lot given my experience on the team. It was much easier to plan out what to put on the spread and who would be best fit for each story and mod interview. Not only that, but i was assigned to write the main story for that page along with a mod. The mod was to be about the many traditions that cross country has, and the story was meant to be about state. I found state to be an important topic to cover because our school’s cross country team goes to state every single year and never seems to get any recognition for it.

I wanted to give my fellow teammates the praise they deserved through all their hard work. However, as I began to gather my interviews for both of these topics, i quickly realized that i had better information for my comparison mod on the traditions. So many good interviews, that i actually considered switching the stories around and making the state interviews into a mod and the traditions mod into the main story. Since i could not make a decision on which would make a better main story, i decided that i would write them both out as main stories and determine which one was better.

While writing the original state story, it was upsetting to me just how short a story was that merely states, “cross country is really good at going to state”. I decided to dig a little deeper and texted one the cross country captains who has gone to state all four years and asked if he knew for just how many years in a row the team has gone to state. That was one reliable guy, because he contacted the couch from five years ago and sent me all the information on the cross country track record. It was incredibly interesting, and just after reading it, i knew exactly how to write it into a strong main story.

With these new facts, i was able to crank out the story no problem. When i sent to sadie the next day, i found that mrs. hart and her loved the story and the whole idea behind it all. Relating past cross country with present cross country was a very powerful topic, and i am glad that i did not give up on the topic even though it was difficult to come by.

Regarding the writing itself, i was very proud of the format of the story. I based the story on things from the past influencing the team of 2016. I started by writing about past statistics about the boys cross country team that started it all and made the team who they are today. I also incorporated the traditions of 2016 for the boys team. I did the same thing for the girls team, and it proved very effective on the page.

First draft: The girls have something special they do in preparation for state. The last practice of the year, all of the runners run out to a special part of the home course and grab dirt to put in a jar. The dirt is made into mud, and they all wear it on their faces during the state race. “It really represents our team and togetherness,” said Ashley Shirley, a sophomore.

In preparation for their race, at the team dinner before state, all the boys shave their legs. “It is not a fun experience as it grows back but it is hilarious on the night we do it, and it’s kind of a reality check because it means state is the next morning. Plus, you know you’ll be aerodynamic without all that hair weighing you down,” said Jack Matibay, a sophomore.

Final draft: A long, long time ago, also known as 1993, the cross country “team” was made up of one runner. While he was very alone on the team, he was very fast and he qualified for state. He was the first, and many followed. Some girls who had joined the team qualified for state in 1994.

These people paved the path for the cross country runners who have graduated and those who run on the team today.

Something unusual is that since 1994, the girls have made it to state every single year, including 2016. The girls have something special they do in preparation for state. The last practice of the year, all of the runners run out to a special part of the home course and grab dirt to put in a jar. The dirt is made into mud, and they all wear it on their faces during the state race. “It really represents our team and togetherness,” said Ashley Shirley, a sophomore.

As for the boys team, they have made it to almost every state since 1993. The 2016 team placed 5th out of all Arizona schools this year. “The best part of it all is knowing your team is among the best runners in the state and that it’s the last race of the season. You can really leave everything out there without any worry of how you’ll feel later in the week or for the next race,” said Peter Magtibay, a senior and the cross country captain.

In preparation for their race, at the team dinner before state, all the boys shave their legs. “It is not a fun experience as it grows back but it is hilarious on the night we do it, and it’s kind of a reality check because it means state is the next morning. Plus, you know you’ll be aerodynamic without all that hair weighing you down,” said Jack Matibay, a sophomore.

Reflection #2 From this semester, i am very proud of my pictures on the cross country page. No one else on the staff got pictures throughout the entire season, so i gladly volunteered to take some pictures of my pals on the team. It was quite easy for me to get good ones because i know everybody and they are already comfortable with me and knew about my yearbook tasks. So, every single picture on the cross country page was taken by me. I am quite proud of this fact, because i am rarely good at taking pictures.

Another piece of work i am very proud of is the basketball main story. The story topic changed three times due to a story that fell through, and another person who was not comfortable giving me a suitable interview. However, i was able to put together a whole main story in one night, and i am proud of how on my feet i was about getting it done.

I am also very proud that every single picture on the basketball spread was taken by me. I had to stay all night for the games, and i even got some really cute pictures of them before the game. I have never taken pictures of a sport before, so this was very new and useful to me.