Friday 30 September 2011

THE GOOD AND THE...NOT SO BAD?


As you may have noticed in my description, I am a student in the Creative Communications program at Red River College. Today marks the (almost) end of my fifth week in the program (minus one day; I was happily in New York on the first day of classes...stranded in Hurricane Irene). Mon Dieu, have I seen and learned a lot thus far.

I have discussed my four beloved girlfriends on the radio (yes, I am referring to Blanche, Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia), come across an advertisement for some kind of film called Public Speaking and through the advertising class assignment that lead me to it, discovered the brilliant, godlike figure known as Fran Lebowitz, discussed, in Journalism class, the comely creature making headlines today; a two-headed feline I only wish I could call my own, enjoyed a lot of time in the Public Library, directed a snippet of television, and designed an ad. for a bookreading.


Among other things, of course.

This week, I again was faced with something new; attending an electoral forum where candidates from the Minto riding discussed issues that currently affect the lives of immigrants and New Canadians. There I was, in a cropped t shirt bearing, in rather obnoxious print, NEW YORK F*CKING CITY (I am displaying the same courtesy here by using an asterisk as I did at the forum, where I used a bright green piece of tape), a little notebook and pencil, and the undying belief that I really did not belong. I watched my classmates, many of them with tape recorders and a geniune desire to collect enough evidence to create a story capable of providing its readers with the information they need to fend for themselves, to be self-governing. The type of information they need to be free.
Don't get me wrong, I do want to be a part of that. I, too, want to engage with knowledge powerful enough to liberate. However, I feel more inclined, in this case, to the other side; that is, to assume the role of a reader.
After leaving the forum, I felt kind of bad. I began to question if I am really in the right program or if there is something wrong with me, at least in comparison to my classmates. I told my mom about this and she answered very simply:
"That's okay."
I was in disbelief at her answer, but after she provided a little more explanation, it made sense: I, in the future, am not going to like every part of my job; of my Manhattan apartment, of my face, of my life. And that is okay.
Variety is said to be the spice of life and there are many things I am really enjoying so far (directing in media production loveeeeeeee that, informing myself about whats shakin' outside my own life by reading the paper) and that is all good, great even.
A more personal blog post, I know, and it does come off as a simple realization, I suppose. Many of you might even be thinking something along the lines of 'duh' but after this week I can appreciate that in this profession, this life, there is always going to be both sides of the coin, the loves and the hates.. and it really is good. And not so bad.
What are your experiences?

7 comments:

  1. Looking forward to reading your blog post about Page One.

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  2. I posted about page one last week

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  3. Covering the election last night was easy as pie compared to covering the forum. Whether or not that was a result of of experience gained or mere circumstance is more of a personal matter. In my case, the experience gained and having a clear goal of what I wanted to cover helped greatly.

    There's going to be some things in the course you enjoy and some you don't, as you said. At the end of the day, however, you have a job that needs to be done.

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  4. I love your romantic view of the world. Don't lose that ever!

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  5. You are right Bryan. I, too, thought the election was much easier and, dare I say it, enjoyable to cover yesterday. I feel as though it was beneficial for the forum to come first and my feelings about it are largely due to the experience I had last week. I agree that it is important to stay on task, although I don't think it has to come at the expense of forming/expressing an opinion; both can occur simultaneously.

    Thanks coco, want to hold hands tomorrow?

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  6. I know we talked about this the other day, but I'm glad you posted, because sharing opinions/success/failures frees other people to have feelings and admit failures too. It's honest, which helps us be honest with ourselves.
    I, too, have not LOVED every single thing we've done so far, but I do love that we are being given the widest range of experiences possible. This way we learn what we love/hate/are good at, and are that much more ahead for when we get out into the 'real world'. And I think that's really cool.

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  7. Encouraging people to share their opinions/thoughts/failures/feelings/loves/hates/whatever is the primary focus of this blog. I also agree with you; I am happy we have been exposed to things that we have totally enjoyed, but even more happy we have been exposed to things that make us uncomfortable.

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