Who are you?
This is my third semester working with The Ranger but my first semester as an editor. My first semester doing communications was fall of 2016 in Teresa Talerico’s Media Writing course. The second semester was spring of 2017 while taking Dr. Edmund Lo’s News Photography 2 class as well as Irene Abrego’s Editing and Layout class. This semester, I am taking Dr. Lo’s News Photography 1 class as it is taught only in the fall. I also took Mass Communications in spring of 2016 with Ms. Talerico, which was a great class to get me started on thinking about journalism.
What was this competition about? What were the awards won?
The conference is hosted by the Texas Community College Journalism Association and it took place in Arlington, Texas at the University of Texas at Arlington. The conference included an on-site competition and also had workshops offered by various newspapers and photographers. There was an option to compete then and there, but we also had the option to submit previous work to get awarded from previous years. The five editors who came to participate this year all participated in the on-site competition. It was a simulated event about texting and driving. It took place on campus for about 15 minutes, and we all had to get as much information as possible. We interviewed the police officers, witnesses and all other people involved. We had three hours to create a multimedia package. My portion was to produce a video. The multimedia package included a story, video and photos. We won five awards total. I won second place for the best headline, third place for the multimedia component and the team overall won third place for best overall multimedia.
When did you realize journalism/photography was something you wanted to pursue? When will you graduate?
Intro to Mass Communications really helped. Prior to taking the course, my friend was a Mass Communications major and she said she really enjoyed it and got lots of job opportunities from it. (She went to the University of Texas at Austin.) Mass Communications helped me realize that I wanted to go further into journalism. I chose journalism as my major because I think it’s a great platform to be behind the scenes and to learn about people from all walks of life. I get to learn about their stories as well as their experiences. I got more specifically into photo/video after taking Dr. Lo’s courses. Videography is not just meaningful words, but it’s meaningful in another sense. You get to actually see people’s stories. I plan to go to Texas State University to get a bachelor’s in journalism with a focus in multimedia design. I should graduate from San Antonio College by spring of 2018.
Where else did you go during this trip? Where else do you think you can apply this knowledge and experience?
On the way to the competition, we went to a place to have famous kolaches. After arriving to Arlington, we went out to eat and then went straight to sleep. The next morning (Friday), was the day of the competition. All day, we were busy competing and working. Afterwards, we all drove out to Dallas and did a bit of sightseeing. On Saturday morning, we woke up and had Waffle House. It was a great experience because I’ve never been there before. We didn’t have a lot of free time but we got to see some great things in the Dallas area the night before. This competition gave me a great real-life experience of what a journalist would be doing. In between creating my video, I was also helping my team write. It was also great team working experience, which will definitely help in the future.
Why was this competition important? Why should someone be encouraged to join the competition next year or join the journalism program?
I think that it’s a great addition to add to your portfolio for the future. It’s a Texas-wide competition so we were able to meet so many different people from different community colleges all across the state. There were roughly 11 to 12 other colleges. The University of Texas at Arlington has a really great journalism program and also has a great newspaper so it was very interesting and beneficial for us to get a glance of a great university.
How will these experiences help you in the future? How will you go on to the next steps in finding a career? How should someone get started to be in the position you’re in right now?
It’s essential to be interested in learning about other people and learning from other people’s experiences. Communications is essentially transferring information into messages for your audience. Last semester, while I was taking News Photography 2, I showed a lot of ambition and passion in creating photos and videos. The quality in my videos stood out. This is what led me to getting my position as the multimedia editor on The Ranger. Joining The Ranger is a great way to get your foot in the door in terms of journalism. It helps you get a lot of things published. You also get to work as a writer, photographer, reporter and a team worker. What sets The Ranger apart from other colleges and universities is that it gives you a lot of experience and exposure. There’s a rapid, weekly paper with real quality content so it’s great as a fast-paced environment to get you ready for the future.
It also helped me get a job as a crime beat reporter for the San Antonio Express-News over the weekends. Ms. Talerico’s Shadow Project actually helped me get introduced to Jennifer Hiller, a reporter at the San Antonio Express-News. She asked for my portfolio, and it was perfect because by the end of the semester, I already had around 13-15 stories from Ms. Talerico’s course. I only work two days a week, but this position helped me get real-life work experience. My position at the Express-News is primarily writing while the position at the Ranger is photography/videography. My main passion is for video journalism and writing. I love the visual aspects of communications. I’ve never done too much in radio/television but I’d also love to get involved in that. Other than working as an editor, I’m the vice president for the Society of Professional Journalists. I’m doing videography and photography as of right now but after this semester, I’d like to do freelance work as a videographer.
To register for journalism or photography classes, call 210-486-1765, email aderfler@alamo.edu or visit Room 204 of Loftin Student Center.
Want to enter a raffle to win a gift card for Subway or this college’s cafeteria? Like, comment and share Nicole’s art exhibit photo by 5 p.m. Oct. 30. The Ranger will announce winners Oct. 31 on Facebook.
