Major Reflection

As I reflect on this past semester, the new experiences I have gained on InFocus stand out. In my fourth year on the publication, I have been able to explore new stories, show roles, and equipment all while developing my leadership. On staff, I have continued to help in the production of our bi-weekly show through writing its script and editing it together. In addition, I have also been able to involve myself in our live streaming production including Paly Theatre's "The Birds."

Outside of InFocus, I have also been able to involve myself in different in journalism through different avenues these past few months. In July, I was a counselor for Speak Up Stand Out, a summer program for local middle-schoolers about the fundamentals of writing an article. Later in the summer, I interned for local MidPen Media Center for their summer camps about video production and documentary making. Both these experiences helped me gain more experience in teaching journalistic concepts and even helped me improve my own understanding. For instance, at MidPen, in addition to helping campers with filming their documentaries, I also was introduced to equipment new to me by the media center's employees. I believe that these experiences in the summer have helped me contribute to InFocus this semester.

Before the school year started, Ellie, Torii, and I met to discuss how we envisioned the year going and discuss some areas that we wanted to change. Specifically, I recall us talking about the class energy and environment in the vein of team building. Although I don't think a strong class environment has been lacking in the past few years, we all agreed that this year we would focus on making it a more energetic and fun space. Looking back on the past 4 months, I feel as if we have definitely achieved this goal. Through the addition of music during work time, more engaging manager meetings, and an overall more lively communication over Slack mostly by our new freshmen, I believe that the culture of this publication has improved greatly.

Looking to the future, my time on InFocus has made me excited to continue participating in the field of journalism in college. This semester, I have applied to 10+ schools, majoring in some form of communications and journalism. While writing my personal statement and other supplemental essays, I have pulled from my experiences on staff and with the Paly journalism community. Through this reflection, I've been able to see how big a role Paly journalism has had on my growth not just as a student but as a person in general.

Next semester, I have high hopes for InFocus as we continue to gain more experience with producing shows with our new set up, have staff members who are further motivated and excited to report on relevant and compelling stories, and even explain some new concepts and techniques that could elevate our work. While I hope that we will be able to use some new equipment soon, I am confident that the InFocus team will be able to navigate any challenges and keep producing the best work that we can!