2012-2013 UHP Year in Review
My first year at the University of Cincinnati was full of new experiences, friendships, and challenges. Thanks to the University Honors Program, Bearcast Radio, Bearcat Buddies, and the overall friendly nature of Cincinnati's student body, my first extended period of time away from home was an extremely positive and exciting experience. I look forward to returning to Ohio in the fall and continuing to learn and grow in my home away from home, the University of Cincinnati.
Over the course of my first year at the University of Cincinnati, I have forged many new relationships with some really great people that I’m sure I will know and keep in touch with for the rest of my life. The honors program had a great deal to do with many of these friendships as well. For example, I met two of my best friends Logan and Ryan on the honors retreat before the school year even started. We were standing around the bonfire in the back, started talking, and immediately realized that we all had a lot in common. Upon returning to campus, I went with them into the honors housing of Stratford Heights (where I opted not to live) and met many more people who I have since grown close with. My next-door neighbor in Calhoun hall also turned out to be a member of the honors program, and he is actually going to be my roommate next year on the Honors floor of Morgens Hall, right next door to Logan and Ryan! Coming from Connecticut made it so that I knew absolutely nobody else coming to UC before I showed up. Many kids were able to recognize at least one other person from their high school throughout the year, but I did not have that luxury. Luckily, the majority of people at UC are friendly and easy to befriend, and, and I stated above, I am really excited to go back to Ohio in the fall to spend some more time with my ‘new’ friends at school (they are hardly new anymore, I’ve known them for almost a year now!).
The many friends that I made during my first year at school really helped me to better myself both academically and socially. Academically, I was able to easily find or form study groups with like-minded kids who wanted to achieve in the classroom and meet new people in the process. I remember spending hours in the library, first trying to find a room to studying, then giving up and resorting to sitting on the floor and attempting to memorize countless definitions and historical events and graphs and so on and so forth. Without friends like the ones I made to help me through the year, I can guarantee that I would have left Cincinnati and opted to go to a school like UConn, much closer to my friends and family back home. This was not the case, however. I formed a new, close-knit family of people in Ohio and, while it is nice to be home for the summer, I really look forward to going back and seeing them again at school.
I do not feel like I have changed personality-wise since coming to UC. I still have the same sense of humor, interests, and beliefs as I did when a year ago, largely due to my luck in making friends with these same interests and beliefs. How I have grown, however, is in my ability to be independent and responsible out in the real world. Although it seems expected that one would become more independent when venturing off to school, I was really quite surprised at how responsible and capable of surviving on my own I actually am. For example, I got into the habit of cleaning my dorm room every single day (including making my bed, picking up clothes, organizing my desk, and so on) to make sure that the only room that I had ownership of was in the best shape possible at all times. At home, you have an entire house to lounge around in, so it doesn’t matter if your room is dirty. At school, you don’t have this luxury, and I was able to realize that very early on in the year. Another way that my independent side was able to flourish was when my friends had homework to do and I had nothing to do. Being a media major with two engineer best friends made for many afternoons waiting for them to finish their physics or calculus homework assignments that took hours to complete. While the concept of spending time alone would normally frustrate me back home, at school I was able to find things to do to keep myself occupied. For example, I did my own homework, played guitar, played piano, or just walked the school grounds enjoying nice weather and beautiful campus scenery when I was bored. I have always been somewhat of an extrovert, preferring to spend my time with people rather than by myself. At school, my introverted side was able to grow and develop, and I now have a greater appreciation for ‘alone time;’ an essential part to anybody’s daily routine. Clearly, while I still see myself as the same person I was 10 months ago, I do concede that I have grown in many different ways. Luckily, all of these changes to my persona have been positive ones, and I am really grateful to UC for allowing me to grow in these ways.
I feel that I will be able to reflect on these past experiences and learn from them as I continue to move forward in both my academics and life in general. No matter where life takes me, I now know that I have the ability to both make new friends and adapt to my environment quite easily. I have always known that I was a pretty easygoing person, but I now have evidence to back that up. If my career happens to send me to a new, strange city far away from home, I have confidence in my ability to make the best of my new circumstances, make new friends, and live a happy, fulfilling life no matter where I go. It is evident that I really enjoyed my first year at the University of Cincinnati. I made many new friends and learned many things both inside and outside of the classroom. I hope to continue my success both academically and socially with help from the University Honors Program and other services provided by UC and the College-Conservatory of Music in the future. Let's hope that my second year is going to be as great as my first at this awesome university.
Over the course of my first year at the University of Cincinnati, I have forged many new relationships with some really great people that I’m sure I will know and keep in touch with for the rest of my life. The honors program had a great deal to do with many of these friendships as well. For example, I met two of my best friends Logan and Ryan on the honors retreat before the school year even started. We were standing around the bonfire in the back, started talking, and immediately realized that we all had a lot in common. Upon returning to campus, I went with them into the honors housing of Stratford Heights (where I opted not to live) and met many more people who I have since grown close with. My next-door neighbor in Calhoun hall also turned out to be a member of the honors program, and he is actually going to be my roommate next year on the Honors floor of Morgens Hall, right next door to Logan and Ryan! Coming from Connecticut made it so that I knew absolutely nobody else coming to UC before I showed up. Many kids were able to recognize at least one other person from their high school throughout the year, but I did not have that luxury. Luckily, the majority of people at UC are friendly and easy to befriend, and, and I stated above, I am really excited to go back to Ohio in the fall to spend some more time with my ‘new’ friends at school (they are hardly new anymore, I’ve known them for almost a year now!).
The many friends that I made during my first year at school really helped me to better myself both academically and socially. Academically, I was able to easily find or form study groups with like-minded kids who wanted to achieve in the classroom and meet new people in the process. I remember spending hours in the library, first trying to find a room to studying, then giving up and resorting to sitting on the floor and attempting to memorize countless definitions and historical events and graphs and so on and so forth. Without friends like the ones I made to help me through the year, I can guarantee that I would have left Cincinnati and opted to go to a school like UConn, much closer to my friends and family back home. This was not the case, however. I formed a new, close-knit family of people in Ohio and, while it is nice to be home for the summer, I really look forward to going back and seeing them again at school.
I do not feel like I have changed personality-wise since coming to UC. I still have the same sense of humor, interests, and beliefs as I did when a year ago, largely due to my luck in making friends with these same interests and beliefs. How I have grown, however, is in my ability to be independent and responsible out in the real world. Although it seems expected that one would become more independent when venturing off to school, I was really quite surprised at how responsible and capable of surviving on my own I actually am. For example, I got into the habit of cleaning my dorm room every single day (including making my bed, picking up clothes, organizing my desk, and so on) to make sure that the only room that I had ownership of was in the best shape possible at all times. At home, you have an entire house to lounge around in, so it doesn’t matter if your room is dirty. At school, you don’t have this luxury, and I was able to realize that very early on in the year. Another way that my independent side was able to flourish was when my friends had homework to do and I had nothing to do. Being a media major with two engineer best friends made for many afternoons waiting for them to finish their physics or calculus homework assignments that took hours to complete. While the concept of spending time alone would normally frustrate me back home, at school I was able to find things to do to keep myself occupied. For example, I did my own homework, played guitar, played piano, or just walked the school grounds enjoying nice weather and beautiful campus scenery when I was bored. I have always been somewhat of an extrovert, preferring to spend my time with people rather than by myself. At school, my introverted side was able to grow and develop, and I now have a greater appreciation for ‘alone time;’ an essential part to anybody’s daily routine. Clearly, while I still see myself as the same person I was 10 months ago, I do concede that I have grown in many different ways. Luckily, all of these changes to my persona have been positive ones, and I am really grateful to UC for allowing me to grow in these ways.
I feel that I will be able to reflect on these past experiences and learn from them as I continue to move forward in both my academics and life in general. No matter where life takes me, I now know that I have the ability to both make new friends and adapt to my environment quite easily. I have always known that I was a pretty easygoing person, but I now have evidence to back that up. If my career happens to send me to a new, strange city far away from home, I have confidence in my ability to make the best of my new circumstances, make new friends, and live a happy, fulfilling life no matter where I go. It is evident that I really enjoyed my first year at the University of Cincinnati. I made many new friends and learned many things both inside and outside of the classroom. I hope to continue my success both academically and socially with help from the University Honors Program and other services provided by UC and the College-Conservatory of Music in the future. Let's hope that my second year is going to be as great as my first at this awesome university.
2013-2014 UHP Year in Review
I didn’t know what to expect from my second year of college at UC. I knew that my classes were going to be more interesting as I moved away from general education classes and towards more Electronic Media-specific courses. I took classes such as Digital Video, Digital Audio, Writing for Media, Student Media Practicum, and New Media, where I was able to express myself creatively and effectively as I learned more and more about the industry whose workforce I will soon be a part of.
One class in particular, Digital Audio, really sparked my interest in the recording arts. In this class we learned about many different styles of audio production, but focused mainly on radio-style, simple pieces. We learned about the many different types of microphones and other hardware used in the industry today. We also were shown multiple audio recording programs that I now am continuing to use on my own time. I plan on using some of the money I make this summer on good microphones, interfaces, and headphones, and I have Professor Sotelo’s class to thank for my newfound interest and appreciation for the recording arts. I am now itching to take the next level production class called Multi-Track Recording, where I will learn to record full bands in a professional studio.
Taking German 1 and 2 this year also renewed my passion for the German language and culture. My mom is from Germany, so she spoke the language to my brother and I when we were little, but recently it seemed like I had lost touch with my German roots, especially because I took Spanish in my high school, where German was not offered as a foreign language class. Now that I have a full year’s worth of German education under my belt, I find that I can have full conversations with my mom without having to speak English at all! This is especially exciting because the World Cup is this summer, so my newfound enthusiasm for the German culture could not have come at a better time.
As I prepare for the upcoming school year, I hope to retain my childlike sense of wonder and excitement as I continue to encounter new subjects throughout my college career. I feel like it is easy for one to become bored with their field of study after taking so many hours of courses devoted to one subject. However, Electronic Media is a field that is very diverse, so I feel that there will always be plenty of material for me to explore without becoming lethargic or disinterested in my major.
I don’t feel as though my overall outlook on college or life in general has changed very much. I just recently attended my older sister’s graduation from Keene State University in New Hampshire, and as a result I have begun to think more and more about growing up. My college career is halfway over, and pretty soon I will be thrust into the “real world”, just like my sister was this year. I need to use the ever-present deadline of graduation as a motivator to learn as much as possible and to accomplish as much as possible with the time I have left here at UC. I plan on using these last two years to my full advantage, to continue to get good grades, and to make sure I graduate completely prepared for this “real world” that seems to be just around the corner. While my advisors, professors, and classmates may provide some help, I realize that my destiny is, overall, completely in my hands, and I don’t plan on squandering the opportunities UC has provided for me by losing focus on my ultimate goal of not only graduating, but excelling in my field and succeeding to the extent that I know I am capable of.
One class in particular, Digital Audio, really sparked my interest in the recording arts. In this class we learned about many different styles of audio production, but focused mainly on radio-style, simple pieces. We learned about the many different types of microphones and other hardware used in the industry today. We also were shown multiple audio recording programs that I now am continuing to use on my own time. I plan on using some of the money I make this summer on good microphones, interfaces, and headphones, and I have Professor Sotelo’s class to thank for my newfound interest and appreciation for the recording arts. I am now itching to take the next level production class called Multi-Track Recording, where I will learn to record full bands in a professional studio.
Taking German 1 and 2 this year also renewed my passion for the German language and culture. My mom is from Germany, so she spoke the language to my brother and I when we were little, but recently it seemed like I had lost touch with my German roots, especially because I took Spanish in my high school, where German was not offered as a foreign language class. Now that I have a full year’s worth of German education under my belt, I find that I can have full conversations with my mom without having to speak English at all! This is especially exciting because the World Cup is this summer, so my newfound enthusiasm for the German culture could not have come at a better time.
As I prepare for the upcoming school year, I hope to retain my childlike sense of wonder and excitement as I continue to encounter new subjects throughout my college career. I feel like it is easy for one to become bored with their field of study after taking so many hours of courses devoted to one subject. However, Electronic Media is a field that is very diverse, so I feel that there will always be plenty of material for me to explore without becoming lethargic or disinterested in my major.
I don’t feel as though my overall outlook on college or life in general has changed very much. I just recently attended my older sister’s graduation from Keene State University in New Hampshire, and as a result I have begun to think more and more about growing up. My college career is halfway over, and pretty soon I will be thrust into the “real world”, just like my sister was this year. I need to use the ever-present deadline of graduation as a motivator to learn as much as possible and to accomplish as much as possible with the time I have left here at UC. I plan on using these last two years to my full advantage, to continue to get good grades, and to make sure I graduate completely prepared for this “real world” that seems to be just around the corner. While my advisors, professors, and classmates may provide some help, I realize that my destiny is, overall, completely in my hands, and I don’t plan on squandering the opportunities UC has provided for me by losing focus on my ultimate goal of not only graduating, but excelling in my field and succeeding to the extent that I know I am capable of.
2014-2015 UHP Year in Review
Ahhhh, junior year- AKA the busiest year of my life. Over the course of these past two semesters I was challenged academically in ways in which I had never experienced before. I was prepared going into the year, as junior year is classically the busiest in both high school and college, but I really didn’t know just how busy I was going to be.
Over the course of 2014-2015 I took ten different classes: English Composition, Media Law, Music of the World, Professional Selling, Single Camera Production, Listen to the Music, Consumer Behavior, Issues and Ethics, Marketing Innovation Tools, and Multi Track Production. Each of these classes challenged me in their own way, all combining to create an amalgam of essays, projects, tests, more essays, presentations, and more projects. Although the material was difficult, this year was the first time I truly felt like I was becoming more of an expert in my field than the average citizen. I began to understand and be able to converse about media with my peers in a more professional and experienced manner. This revelation didn’t come easily, though!
Media Law was the first time I ever really had to study for an Electronic Media class. There were actual MATERIALS and DEFINITIONS we had to memorize regarding the nuanced and complex world of trademark, copyright, privacy, contract, fair use, patent, trade secrets, intellectual property, and many other facets of law. The class was taught by Steve Gillen, a successful lawyer here in Cincinnati, who taught me that in order to become a professional in this business you had to know the legislation behind it in order to make sure you don’t get in trouble with the law, or worse, sued by another producer.
Another class that I really enjoyed and helped me feel like more of a media professional was Single Camera Production. I had been in sort of a funk regarding video production because I hadn’t made a real project in quite some time, and I was itching to make a video that I could really work hard and pour my soul into. And pour I did! The final project for this class was to write, plan, shoot, and edit a short film, roughly 10 minutes in length, with three other members of the class. I was placed in a group with good friends, and together we spent SO many hours outside of class trying to coordinate our schedules, the schedules of our actors, book locations for shooting, rent lights and microphones, and complete what was the biggest production of our lives in less than two months. We couldn’t even edit the film ourselves! We had to work with the kids in the post-production class, who had busy schedules of their own, and tell them exactly how we wanted to film to look and feel. This was very frustrating. During finals week I woke up at 4am three days in a row to go into the editing studio until well past noon. I was exhausted both physically and emotionally by the time the deadline came around, but overall I feel like our efforts were worth it- we made a FILM! How exciting! However, this was not the hardest I worked on a video this year, believe it or not.
Spring semester came around, and I was contacted by Cam and Nick, two Musical Theatre majors who were looking to make a promotional video about their department as an independent study project. Chris, the lead actor in my short film from the previous semester, had recommended me to them, and I happily accepted their request for help on the video. I didn’t expect it to be TOO much work, but BOY was I wrong. I spent multiple hours, two to three days a week, interviewing members of the musical theatre department (which included setting up lights, audio equipment, and camera equipment-usually all by myself), transcribing everything they said in the half hour interview to a word document, shooting footage of their dance and acting classes, voice lessons, and performances, tweaking the audio to make it sound better, and finally, organizing these clips into a cohesive timeline and editing it down to a nine minute promotional extravaganza. I wasn’t even being paid for my work, but I couldn’t even begin to describe how much better I got at production over the course of the three months of hard work. I am not extremely confident with lighting, audio recording and editing, and video recording and editing. I don’t know how many of my peers in the Electronic Media department could have pulled off what I pulled off this semester. I don’t want to brag, but I am extremely proud of Cam, Nick, and myself because our hours and hours of hard work really paid off in the end. Aubrey Berg, the head of the Musical Theatre Department, is delighted with our video and said the department will be using it for recruiting purposes for -quote- “Decades.” How flattering!
It was an exhausting year, that’s for sure. All of my school work, coupled with my projects outside of school, coupled with a great new job working for the Cincinnati Zoo Gift Shop left me feeling exhausted at the end of almost every day. But they also left me feeling extremely fulfilled. I am starting to realize my full potential as a professional in the media industry. During my first two years of school, I was plagued by the mindset of “this stuff is easy, I bet anyone could do what I’m doing right now.” That mindset is long gone. I new feel my three years of training coming to fruition, and it is one of the most satisfying feelings in the world.
Over the course of 2014-2015 I took ten different classes: English Composition, Media Law, Music of the World, Professional Selling, Single Camera Production, Listen to the Music, Consumer Behavior, Issues and Ethics, Marketing Innovation Tools, and Multi Track Production. Each of these classes challenged me in their own way, all combining to create an amalgam of essays, projects, tests, more essays, presentations, and more projects. Although the material was difficult, this year was the first time I truly felt like I was becoming more of an expert in my field than the average citizen. I began to understand and be able to converse about media with my peers in a more professional and experienced manner. This revelation didn’t come easily, though!
Media Law was the first time I ever really had to study for an Electronic Media class. There were actual MATERIALS and DEFINITIONS we had to memorize regarding the nuanced and complex world of trademark, copyright, privacy, contract, fair use, patent, trade secrets, intellectual property, and many other facets of law. The class was taught by Steve Gillen, a successful lawyer here in Cincinnati, who taught me that in order to become a professional in this business you had to know the legislation behind it in order to make sure you don’t get in trouble with the law, or worse, sued by another producer.
Another class that I really enjoyed and helped me feel like more of a media professional was Single Camera Production. I had been in sort of a funk regarding video production because I hadn’t made a real project in quite some time, and I was itching to make a video that I could really work hard and pour my soul into. And pour I did! The final project for this class was to write, plan, shoot, and edit a short film, roughly 10 minutes in length, with three other members of the class. I was placed in a group with good friends, and together we spent SO many hours outside of class trying to coordinate our schedules, the schedules of our actors, book locations for shooting, rent lights and microphones, and complete what was the biggest production of our lives in less than two months. We couldn’t even edit the film ourselves! We had to work with the kids in the post-production class, who had busy schedules of their own, and tell them exactly how we wanted to film to look and feel. This was very frustrating. During finals week I woke up at 4am three days in a row to go into the editing studio until well past noon. I was exhausted both physically and emotionally by the time the deadline came around, but overall I feel like our efforts were worth it- we made a FILM! How exciting! However, this was not the hardest I worked on a video this year, believe it or not.
Spring semester came around, and I was contacted by Cam and Nick, two Musical Theatre majors who were looking to make a promotional video about their department as an independent study project. Chris, the lead actor in my short film from the previous semester, had recommended me to them, and I happily accepted their request for help on the video. I didn’t expect it to be TOO much work, but BOY was I wrong. I spent multiple hours, two to three days a week, interviewing members of the musical theatre department (which included setting up lights, audio equipment, and camera equipment-usually all by myself), transcribing everything they said in the half hour interview to a word document, shooting footage of their dance and acting classes, voice lessons, and performances, tweaking the audio to make it sound better, and finally, organizing these clips into a cohesive timeline and editing it down to a nine minute promotional extravaganza. I wasn’t even being paid for my work, but I couldn’t even begin to describe how much better I got at production over the course of the three months of hard work. I am not extremely confident with lighting, audio recording and editing, and video recording and editing. I don’t know how many of my peers in the Electronic Media department could have pulled off what I pulled off this semester. I don’t want to brag, but I am extremely proud of Cam, Nick, and myself because our hours and hours of hard work really paid off in the end. Aubrey Berg, the head of the Musical Theatre Department, is delighted with our video and said the department will be using it for recruiting purposes for -quote- “Decades.” How flattering!
It was an exhausting year, that’s for sure. All of my school work, coupled with my projects outside of school, coupled with a great new job working for the Cincinnati Zoo Gift Shop left me feeling exhausted at the end of almost every day. But they also left me feeling extremely fulfilled. I am starting to realize my full potential as a professional in the media industry. During my first two years of school, I was plagued by the mindset of “this stuff is easy, I bet anyone could do what I’m doing right now.” That mindset is long gone. I new feel my three years of training coming to fruition, and it is one of the most satisfying feelings in the world.