Week 1

Class 1 – 

During the first day of class for senior project I was very apprehensive. Only two or three people had any idea what their projects would focus on. I was not one of those people.

            

Alyssa Lenhoff was head of the class. She had us introduce ourselves one by one, and if we had an idea or a topic, that was the time to pitch it.

           

For those of you who don’t know what senior project entails, it’s one big investigative journalism package.

            

It’s no easy task coming up with an idea for the project. Some people just kind of stumble upon theirs, which is how I got mine, but otherwise you have to be creative and read around a lot.

            

When I went into class, my idea was rough and vague, but Alyssa saw potential in it.

            

We also went over the syllabus. It was terrifying. That was quite possibly the most stressful night of my life. Senior project was completely changed this semester. Our first due date was February 7. That gave us about 3 weeks to get a first draft of the main bar.

Class 2 – 

After the first day, not everybody had a solid idea of their story. So, Thursday we did not have a formal meeting. Alyssa had individual meetings with students who needed to hash out ideas. Everybody else gathered together at Smith Hall to learn how to use a Marantz (audio recorder), video recorders and cameras.