In my experience a three hour class rarely lasts the entire three hours and it has NEVER taken all three hours on the first day! So, when my Public Affairs fell just shy of three hours on the first day, I knew this class wouldn’t be easy. Despite the difficulty of the course load and the high expectations from my professor, I finished this class feeling much more confident in my abilities. 

In this course we were expected to complete three stories, accompanied by audio and visual elements. I believe that I have grown a lot as a journalist through these three stories. 

For one, I am now much braver when it comes to hitting the pavement and asking people questions. Before, I would not venture into the city to ask questions because I didn’t like getting rejected or the excitement of getting a great quote then being told not to include their name. However, I learned that as a professional journalist, I have to be confident in seeking answers in order to do my job. Professor Evans encouraged me to approach journalism as a separate persona. I might be shy but Journalist Omari is outgoing in order to get to the bottom of my inquiries. When we were tasked with going into our assigned Wards in D.C. and finding a neighborhood story, I think I did a wonderful job at hunting down sources. I interviewed people of different ages, ethnicities, and occupations. Through this relentless effort, I actually found a great story after spending hours in my neighborhood interviewing people. The profile was about how a Business Improvement Development group is effecting a predominantly Black neighborhood.

When it comes to the literal writing, this class has clarified certain rules that I previously felt unsure about. Before, I knew my paragraphs shouldn’t read like an essay but wasn’t sure how short it should be. Now, I know to keep it around 25 words. I also learned about the importance of reader comprehension. Turns out I am writing about grade levels above the national reading average. So, in order to make my stories more accessible, I have to work on sentence structure. This is something I am still working on. Most importantly I learned how to make sure I am attributing sentences correctly. In my first draft of my profile story I wrote, “They will ask for consent before proceeding into a heightened situation, but do not immediately turn away from conflict.” However, this does not properly attribute the quote and the sentence is too complex. So I rewrote it as, “Calogera said that her tour guides do not immediately turn away from conflict. Instead, they will ask for consent before proceeding into a heightened situation.”.  First I make it clear who I am referring to, then I break up the sentence into two, so that they would read smoothly. 

The lessons that I learned in this class have definitely strengthened my journalism skills. I still have to do better about double checking for AP errors before submitting my first draft and I am not the best at asking strangers for pictures. However, this class has given me the skills to do better at this. Now, it is just up to me to keep growing even after this class comes to an end.

D.C. Tourist Bringing Women’s History To Life