And So It Is

My final project was a profile of several schools around the country who were given the highest marks for environmental sustainability by the Sustainable Endowments Institute. I interviewed reps from Dartmouth, Stanford and Harvard, but due to time constraints, I was only able to include the first two in the final cut. There was a good amount of info I wanted to include, so I was a bit frustrated with the final result. Nonetheless, it was a fun report to work on, and it certainly taught me how to manage time, set up interviews way ahead of schedule and edit precisely to make sure music flowed with the project.

Now, for my final rant, I will reflect on the past three and a half months. Back in August, I was terrified of Professor Nicholson. He was a towering, intimidating figure who carried himself with a certain arrogance and bravado that made me feel knee-high (literally). I knew he was a professional who was very accomplished in the field and therefore was probably very demanding of the students he taught. So I was scared. But as the semester progressed, I learned more and more that he was somebody who understood students' worries, who took time to make sure his students improved in their writing, and who was a wise-cracking, laid-back and easy-going guy. Not to mention he knows everything about everything. His teaching method, I believe, allowed me to progress in my writing ability. He made sure I knew how to write an interesting lead, how to produce a newscast, how to improve my voice projection, etc. I could go on for a while about how much I appreciated his guidance, so I'll stop here and say I hope every teacher I have in Newhouse is as caring, smart and easy to get along with as Prof. Nicholson.

Of course, the other part that made the classes so enjoyable were the students. I don't think there's any other class in Newhouse, or perhaps at SU, that really allows you to get know your fellow students during class time. You learn to work with people (especially on Thursdays) under pressure, cooperating with them and doing your part to help a team succeed. And I don't think I could have worked with a better, more impressive group of students. Each one of us, in my opinion, brought a different aspect to class each day which made every class exciting, fun and even unpredictable. And I was humbled by the amount of talent in this class. I will truly miss hearing the newscasts every Tuesday, because I think they really proved how much we can accomplish in the future. I'm going to miss getting together with all of you twice a week, that's for damn sure. And I have no doubt that all of us, as long as we continue to work at it, will have the opportunity to do this as a living one day. And so ends my sappy rant along with my favorite class of all time.

Not to mention we got to meet Bob Costas, which is nice.

Long live RTN 311.3/364.3! Rock and Roll is King!

Donatoni's Grand F...