My First Broadcast

I am blogging to you on the bus! Yes, I am going to a journalism convention during my spring break because I'm a "news nerd." I blogged about the SoCal regional conference last semester, but this one is even more important. I am on my way to the state Journalism Association of Community Colleges convention in Sacremento with some of City College's news crew. Also....big news....I GOT ACCEPTED INTO CSUN!!!! Many blogs to come, but for now— I wrote, filmed, edited, and anchored my first broadcast!

I am extremely honored to have done my first broadcast bringing awareness to a topic near and dear to my heart. I reached out to the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation to report an FYI on one of its upcoming events that brings awareness to childhood cancer. I reached out to the foundation once before in hopes of volunteering, but to no surprise— I've been so caught up in school. Thankfully I could multitask by interning with TVSB and helping the foundation at the same time. I love the new feeling of realizing that I can do good things through my work! It assures me I'm on the right path.

How I filmed my first broadcast:
—Interviewed the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation
—Wrote the script
—Set up the camera on the tripod, along with the mic and lights
—Recorded myself for 30 minutes straight, repeating each line a few times
—Uploaded the footage to Final Cut Pro
—Spent hours editing, simultaneously learning new techniques
—Submitted my final media to TVSB and uploaded it to YouTube

Have I mentioned I'm extremely facially expressive? Well now you know—hope you enjoy these bloopers!!! You'd think I'd be embarrassed, but I kind of expected this to happen because I'm still learning. I have done a voice over before, but this was the very first time I've filmed myself. If I continue down the broadcasting path, expect many more bloopers to come! At least I can get some practice in before going live!

If you're local to Santa Barbara, you can tune into channel 17 or 71 to watch my broadcast as a TV commercial between April 1-20!!! I wish I had cable so I could see it, but maybe I'll catch it during my interning hours at TVSB. 

With only a month left at my internship, I still remain indecisive as to whether I want to major in general journalism (writing) or journalism with an emphasis in broadcast. I've always had a talent for writing and it's something I'm comfortable with. With broadcasting I have to push myself, but it's fun! Either way— in today's social media world full of different types of media— it's best to be knowledgeable in all aspects of the field. I plan to speak to a counselor or better yet— a journalism professor at CSUN to figure out the best path for me!

Ocean Kayaking

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, I began my first semester at SBCC by taking an Ocean Swimming class. Here I am attending my last semester, and there was no way I wasn't going to take advantage of that!

So—I am taking an Ocean Kayaking class!

Ironically, I signed up for this class to have fun and enjoy the rest of my time here, but that's not exactly how I feel waking up at 6:45am to make it to school before 8. However, once I get into the kayak, I instantly awaken and am grateful for the experience.

The first day of class, I walked into an overflowing PE classroom full of students waiting for the teacher. When the teacher arrived, he welcomed the class with his British accent. That was the moment I thought 'YES I'm definitely going to enjoy this class!'

The beginning parts of this class wasn't to my liking. I was sick the day we had to take the swim test in the nearby pool, but I took it anyway because I didn't want to have to take the test swimming in the freezing ocean.
The next few classes consisted of practicing three different "saving techniques." We had to tip ourselves over off our kayaks into the (may I repeat) freezing Pacific water and perform different ways of getting back onto our kayaks. The first time I did this my body went into panic mode—not because I was scared of being deep out in the ocean, been there done that— but because the water was sincerely that cold on top of the wind. It felt as though my throat was closing up and my heart was beating slower with every second. At least that gave me the determination to get back on the kayak as quickly as possible. The intensity was real. After the saving technique steps, I lifted myself back onto the kayak with one mighty push of upper body strength.

We also started practicing kayaking against the waves near shore, but so far the waves haven't been big enough to knock us over (watch, I'll get knocked over next time for saying that).

If you take this class, I highly recommend you remember the days that you'll be practicing saving techniques because you'll want a wetsuit, especially during spring semester. Also, bring a pair of flip flops or waterproof shoes on board. The ice-cold metal deck you load your kayaks off of might just burn the bottom of your feet.

The past three classes have been cancelled due to fog or rain. But the best part about kayaking happened during the last class; we got to see wildlife! So far we have only seen sea lions being lazy on the buoys, but hopefully we will see dolphins soon! The pelicans welcome us out from the harbor every class.

Kayaking has now become a refreshing start to my Tuesday and Thursday mornings at school. The light sprinkle of sea water on my legs, bright sun on sunny days, and the often game of "bumper boats" surely wakes me up. We always meet at the Paddle Sports Center down at the harbor. After class, I walk back to my car, grab my bag to change in the nearby bathroom at Leadbetter Beach, and make my way up the hill to my next class.

This video was taken during my most recent Ocean Kayaking class. Sorry my feet were on display, but I could only put my GoPro on my life vest at the time! I wish I could've shown you how intense the saving techniques were, but I didn't want to risk the fishies stealing my GoPro at the bottom of the ocean.

I encourage you to take this class, or any other outdoor PE class at City College. My experience here in Santa Barbara wouldn't have been the same without these two classes! I wish I could've taken Beach Volleyball, but the timing of it never worked out with my other classes.

What will "workout" is my shoulders. These stunners will make you reconsider your next shoulder workout ;)

SBCC TV Commercial

Living on the Edge

Waiting on acceptances from universities is like living on the edge. You don't know what city you'll move to in the next few months, what school you'll go to, who you'll live with, who you'll meet, what careers you'll be offered and where, and how much it'll all cost. It's all based upon whether or not you get the "Congratulations" or "We're sorry to inform you that."

So far I've been accepted to Long Beach and San Diego State! I used to think those were my only two options in southern California as a journalism transfer. That goes to show how important it is to do research on schools before making any big decisions.

Later I came to find out that Fullerton and Northridge also had journalism programs as well, so I applied. A couple of other private school had journalism programs as well, but in the end, I decided not to apply to them because the expense wasn't worth it. My future career and success is more important to me than the college I get a degree from.


Here I am, two months left into my last semester at SBCC, waiting on the response from the university I thought I once didn't want to transfer to.






After doing much research and thinking, Northridge (CSUN) is the best school for me. Out of all the schools I applied to, it has the best, most diverse journalism program and it is closest to friends and family.

San Diego State and Long Beach are highly impacted schools. Out of all the schools I applied to, they were the first to tell me that I got accepted, yet they were the most difficult schools to get into. They seemed like better schools because they are better for other majors, but not my major in particular. They'd be the most fun to go to regarding the "college experience" factor.

However, that's not what I'm looking for. You see, my friend Julia and I are like 30-year-olds trapped in college student bodies. We like to have fun, but most of the time we're determined and hard-working. It's all about balance, but at the moment, being editors on top of school and other jobs prevents that.

Julia and I take trips together farther south whenever we can!
Santa Monica, CA

Our plan is to be roommates and go to CSUN together. I'd love to experience this with her; she's my "cubicle buddy." As friends, we push each other to do our best. As of right now, Julia has been accepted (WOOO!!!!) and I'm still waiting (BOOOO!!!). But seriously, I hate this. I just want to know already. And quite frankly, Julia does too.

The frustrating part about it is that I didn't even take all the required courses to get into San Diego State and they always take their locals first, yet I'm still waiting on CSUN where I took all the required courses. Channel Islands is my local school, but they don't have journalism, therefore, CSUN is my local school. However, I called its admissions office and a lady working said I'm a "tier 2" student, meaning that I am not local. I explained that I'm an exception due to my journalism major. For now I just have to wait and see if they accept me. Worst case scenario I'll petition, arguing that CSUN is my local school.

I went from asking an admissions guy from CSUN what my chances were of getting accepted as a journalism major and him telling me "Oh, you'll get in" to anxiously waiting to know and checking at least once every day.

Any time now CSUN, any time.

My latest article on The Channels: SBCC Board of Trustees approves vision statement