It's hard to say goodbye

I wanted to start my last blog by saying thank you to Professor Gail McElroy for being a great journalism teacher. I know dealing with me every quarter this past year isn’t easy, just ask my mother haha! I’ve improved my skills in writing and knowledge in journalism because of you, so thank you!

One valuable aspect I learned about feature writing was the kabob structure. I was used to the inverted pyramid because of news writing, but as soon as I was introduced and incorporate the kabob structure, I was thankful my stories didn’t have to be in the inverted pyramid anymore. A structure that enables me to use my imagination and be a little more free, yet I can’t forget some parts of news writing is in features.

Another lesson I learned was that the subjects that are covered aren’t as depressing as news writing. Why is valuable to me? It’s because I’d rather be sucked into information or stories that bring my spirits down or have to live in fear or be afraid all because of a story I read. Whether it’s reading or writing, I’d prefer topics or subjects in features writing such as trend stories, personal narratives, human-interest, and others.

The third valuable thing I learned was feature writing, in general, is a lot more fun than news writing. I have nothing against news writing since it was the reason I have built a foundation in journalism, but I have a philosophy where if you’re not having fun with what you’re doing or if you’re not enjoying it, you’re doing it wrong. Between the two, I would choose feature writing just because of my personal philosophy.

I feel that my APA style is getting a lot better within my stories/articles and being able to step out of my comfort zone by writing stories/articles with new structures that other people have used that I have never thought of ever trying before. My titles have gotten more creative, but that was only because feature writing has given me the opportunity to expand my imagination more than regular English classes or news writing.

I might be interpreting this question wrong, but my favorite feature style of writing would have to be personality profiles because it enabled me to get to know someone I didn’t know better and write a story about them. It’s like making a new friend and writing their biography (sort of). I learned a lot not only about the person, but being aware of their actions, likes and dislikes, and past. My least favorite was the enterprise/investigative because I’m not really curious with topics such as how many people get their car damaged at school or how clean the bathrooms are.

What’s next for me? Well this is my last quarter at De Anza and I feel nostalgic about it. I’ve been here since the fall of ’07, been through a lot of tough situations, but I never gave up on my dreams and goals in life. I’m happy to leave after so many years, yet it’s hard to move on after being established here for so long. I will be going to SJSU for public relations in sports or video games, continue dancing my heart out until my body can’t take it, learn as many things as I can before my time is up, take care of my mother, and later in the future have a family. Until then I’ll be enjoying my first real summer without having to go to summer school by going to Las Vegas and a possible trip outside of the country or to Hawaii. I’ve enjoyed this class and won’t forget what I learned or the people I met. Thank you all!