BMT Day #3

Hi All!
I think one of my favorite things about Berklee is that they have guacamole at every single meal. I'm not kidding, it's always in the salad bar! And this morning, there was raspberries, blueberries and strawberries in the salad bar too! Talk about being spoiled zomg. So today, in addition to the usual dance, voice and acting classes - I took beat boxing. And let me tell you, beat boxing is hard!! But now I can beat box in simple 4/4 time. It sounds like dum st ck st dum st ck st. He also taught us some more complicated beats that I am too lazy to spell out.
In the evening we took a slam poetry class and boy can these people talk! Have you ever heard of slam poetry? It's beautiful. You should watch this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zQucWXWXp3k (seriously! Now!)
So slam poetry is acting. But it's acting your truth and that's what makes it special.

Love
Phoebe

BMT Day #2

Hi All!
Day 2 at Berklee passed pretty quickly, even though it was crazy crazy busy. I think my favorite class today was dance because I just love musical theatre dance stuff. We started one song from In the Heights the musical and another from Damn Yankees, which was also cool!  Voice was also really fun...and we started a song called 96,000 from In the Heights, which is the dance we're learning. In acting we talked about active verbs and brainstormed methods of showing the audience. Yoga was also fun, as was stage combat!
 In Stage Combat I learnt how to slap someone, push someone, grab their head, grab their ear, as well as fall, pretend to be slapped etc! It was actually so cool I can't wait to teach Pennie...and potentially slap her (accidentally of course!) in the process! Tehe it's difficult though!
In the evening we played Musical Theatre Trivia! You would be so shocked how nerdy these people are. They literally know every single musical out there and I feel so inadequate. But don't worry, the vast majority know less than me! I was able to get a few answers right, stuff like West Side Story and Mamma Mia. After Trivia we played Name that Tune, which got verryyy competative, of course!
Samantha and I chilled in the dorm from 8:30 onwards and rehearsed some of our songs and dances for tomorrow...Anyways i'm tired  so maybe I'll have time to write more tomorrow!


Also, in case you want to hear what's up in the feminism world, i'd watch this short video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs#t=15 - pretty cool! and this http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/the-realest-tumblr-posts-about-being-a-women...

BMT Day #1

Hi All,
Day 1 at Berklee went pretty smoothly, I'd say! I sang reflection for my audition piece and received my schedule for the week. Needless to say, they will keep me busy! I've met some cool people, but i miss my NSLC friends a lot. They were just so awesome! Here's my schedule for the week, if you're interested!

Berklee is really cool though, people are literally playing music EVERYWHERE and singing and strumming and drinking coffee. It's the first real urban environment I've ever been in, which is good to see....Although everything is very expensive here! (hint hint you should add more money to my debit card hint hint)... My new bathrobe is just fabulous (it's ralph lauren btw) and overall i'm doing well! Except for the fact that i'm exhausted and will be going to bed now! 

Goodnight!

Love,

Phoebe

NSLC Day #11

Hi All!
I just want to say that I already miss NSLC. The people were awesome and the experience was so fun. Thank you to everyone

Love,
Phoebe

NSLC Day #10

Hi All!
Last full day at NSLC and it was full of activities. In the morning, we went to the National Mall, where we were free to roam around as we wanted.

Sydni and Marni and I went to the American History museum - i had never been! It was really cool actually. I saw Dorothy's slippers! My favorite exhibit focused on the change in transportation. We all have to go there together sometime because I could definitely spend five hours there - or maybe five hours just in the first ladies exhibit - there are SO many gorgeous dresses omg.
For lunch, we went to the Sculpture garden and i had a very yummy salad. Here's a pretty pic i took:

After we arrived back on campus, we had class until 4. In class today, we taped the live anchor recording - it looked very good! Hopefully by now you've seen the finished product of our particular section of the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loC2kYScCdM&feature=youtu.be I hope you like it!
In the evening we had a super emotional activity called "what i discovered" where people have the opportunity to share how they've learnt or grown in their time at NSLC. By the end of it, there is not a dry eye in the house let me tell you. Just writing it makes me sad so i'll stop now.
Then we had our final presentations! We got to watch all of the work we've been working on this week and it was so cool. People are so talented...Here's a photo of my team advisor Jen and my friend Mari. We love Jen so much, she's basically the best.

And that's about it! I booked a taxi at 12, so i should be at the airport veryyyy early! :)
lots of love,
phoebe

NSLC Day #9

Hi All,
It's crazy to think the week and a half has gone by so quickly! We started off today with a cool simulation to make us think about leading and equality.
So essentially, We were divided into groups of six and asked so sit in certain parts of the room divided by tape. One group had a huge portion of the room, my group had a middle sized portion, and the two others had tiny portions..but everyone in your group had to fit into the taped of section. Then we were given supplies and asked to build a town. The group in the large taped off area had a ton of supplies and markers and money. We had a medium amount. The two other groups had next to nothing. Our job was to build a town, and to do that we had to get building permits. But we also couldn't step outside of our boundaries. The policemen who patrolled the boundaries and the building permits woman was very nice to the groups with the largest spaces, but very mean to the two groups with the smallest spaces. The point of the exercise was to illustrate class and its role in our society. The Upper class had lots of room and lots of money and they keep getting more money, even though there are fewer people. The lower classes do not have space or money and the police and everyone is against them. Essentially, it was supposed to show how corrupt our system sometimes can be. BUT there were also two students who were deemed "journalists" whose job was to reveal the corruption and hold us all accountable. Which of course is why we are all at communications camp!
We then had a communications workshop where we learnt about the history and future of magazines, radio, tv, newspapers and film - the five major sections of media. After lunch we had another leadership session. This time, we were asked to pair up and talk to the other person about something we want to achieve in life. We spoke to them 3 different times. The first time, the listener had to ignore us. The second time, the listener had to refute us. The third time, they could be supportive. This was supposed to show us how many obstacles we will cross - people ignoring us, telling us we aren't good enough etc...but in the end, if you care about something, you will keep talking even if people ignore you or tell you you can't do it. This exercise would have been great if I had come up with something concrete I wanted to do. So many people here have their lives planned out - they're going to become the next Anderson Cooper or Diane Sawyer...but I'm not so sure yet.
Then we had class, where I finished up editing our film! It's so good and I can't wait to show you - it's only 3 minutes but boy did it take a long time. I wrote, directed, filmed, edited and produced the three minute clip, which is really cool. I can't wait for everyone to see it at our closing ceremony tomorrow!
Then after dinner we departed on our D.C. at night trip. We stopped at the World War II Memorial first, when the sun was setting.

It was SO pretty to see all the monuments at night - these pictures are awful but get the point across!

Can't wait to see yall

Love Phoebe

NSLC Day #8

Hi All!
Today was a day full of contrasts and trying new things.
This morning, we had two communication meetings. The first was with this cool news host from Politic Tonight called Paul Lisnek. Have you heard of him? I think he works in Chicago. I would like to say that I learnt a lot from his presentation, but I was very tired and therefore do not remember most of it I'm afraid! But he seemed very professional and told us a ton of stories of his adventures on the air, which was fun and would have been even better if it hadn't been so early! (www.paullisnek.tv)
Then I had a communications class about ethics and journalism, which was really really cool. We talked about boundaries that you set as being a reporter and the difference between ethics and morality. You can be ethically right as a journalist, but morally wrong as a person and vice versa and that is something to think about.
After that we did this cool exercise which sounds kind of ridiculous. Everyone at camp had to walk their "walk" down a runway of sorts made of people. It was a leadership test, to see if we could throw everything into an activity. I ended up walking down as a queen, waving my right hand stiffly - but boy was it a nervous five minutes before hand figuring out what I would do! Other people did cartwheels, struts, etc..but the trick is, you couldn't repeat a walk! Everyone clapped and cheered the whole way. We are a very supportive group, which is really nice after such a competitive and stressful school year. Then we had a dance party and went to lunch.
Late afternoon, we journeyed to the Holocaust Museum which is probably the saddest thing I have ever done and the most depressing place I have ever been to.

The hardest part for me was walking through a real train car that took prisoners to death camps. Another part that terrified me was a simple clay model of Auschwitz, which detailed the path to death in a sign next to it. The room with a collection of shoes, piles upon piles, was also terrible to witness. It was all so terrible and awful, but so overwhelmingly powerful. I couldn't cry, my eyes just welled up with water but nothing would come out. It was as though it was too sad to cry and that my crying doesn't do it justice. You all have to go and it will be awful but you still have to. I'm glad I went, even though sleeping will be difficult for the next week!

Then, as part of the study of contrast, we hit Georgetown! Marni and Skye and I went to Clyde's, a cute american restaurant and I got a yummy turkey burger, which was SO good!

Then we went to Sprinkles the cupcake place, naturally, and I bought a carrot cake cupcake. I'm nearing my $300 budget so good thing I'm coming home soon! Here's Marni and I in Georgetown:

And that's all for today! Have a safe flight home mum and pen

xox

Phoebe

NSLC Day #7

Hi All!
Today was an extremely eventful day! First we had a news simulation for four hours! Essentially we were in a newsroom, and breaking news happened and we had to cover it! There were press conferences, and personal interviews and we were running all around campus to cover the "news." By the end of the four hours, we had to have 2 articles done, one broadcast and have a ton of photos in order to make our deadlines.
I wrote an article for my group, seen here: www.nslcthelink.wordpress.com (the website for our fake news organization).
It was kind of like a thursday morning at The Phillipian, except I wasn't in charge, which was frustrating. I still did whatever I was asked to though, so that was fine.
After the simulation, we were exhausted...but I was also very excited. I'm not sure if I told you or not but on Tuesday night I stayed up really late to write an essay to submit to a contest. The contest was for laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. They announced after the Newsroom simulation that I, and three others, were chosen to participate in the ceremony.
I have to tell you it was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done. If you want to read my essay, scroll to the very bottom of this post!
First of all, Arlington Cemetery is beautiful and absolutely tragic. Picture D-Day, Normandy type grave yard, but even bigger and it's not just on a flat piece of land - graves line the roads, the hills, and the traditional lawns.
We saw the Kennedy gravesite before heading up to the tomb of the unknown soldier. Here's a photo my friend Colin took of the eternal flame:

When you get to the top of the hill and look down, all you see is a sea of white tombstones and it's really powerful.

 

(again photos courtesy of colin)

So here's me laying the wreath at Arlington (which by the way is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I will never experience again)

I started crying when they played TAPS during the wreath laying. It was beautiful. 

Anyways, after Arlington, we went to baltimore where Skye, Kelly, Marni, Mari and I ate at Dick's last resort. Here's a photo of Skye and Marni and I there:

Then we shopped and headed back to campus, where we had a quick leadership session before bed. Our leadership session was a get-to-know you kind of deal with someone who we hadn't met yet. I talked to this awesome kid called Robert who just came out as bi. He is so nice and likes photo and music. We chatted about life and philosophy and answered questions like what we are afriad of, what makes us most excited, what we daydream about etc. Anyways - off to the holocaust museum tomorrow (more crying...yay). 

Love, 

Phoebe

P.S. (essay below)

 ESSAY FOR CONTEST:

On Thursday, May 29, my history teacher Mrs. Paulson turned on our classroom projector. After inserting the DVD into her computer, Mrs. Paulson sat back, and we turned to take in the vivid imagery of the menu screen: dusty helicopter landing sites, cargo uniforms and combat boots. The word “PLATOON” was written across the top in large capital letters.

We had been studying the Vietnam War for just two days when Mrs. Paulson had decided to change our curriculum to include the movie Platoon. Upon reading the title, I involuntarily shuddered in my seat; I have always hated death and blood and everything to do with war. At that particular moment, I wanted nothing more than to leave the classroom to avoid exposure entirely. 

         The opening scene of Platoon follows a young soldier called Chris Taylor. Fresh out of high school and ready to fight in Vietnam, Taylor arrives in Hanoi via military cargo plane. When exiting the runway, he observes piles upon piles of body bags that are lined up on the ground to be loaded and sent back home. Taylor cringes and grits his teeth. In the classroom, I mirrored his actions and then pulled off my glasses. My theory was as followed: without glasses, life was a blur. If I couldn’t see what was happening on screen, the images wouldn’t affect me or evoke the emotion they were designed to induce.

         After removing my glasses, I could only just make out the foggy images and shapes on the screen with my -2.75 prescription eyes, but the music - the excruciating thumps of suspense - continued to notify me of what was happening in the film. The music was what made me shrink in anticipation, and the sound of bullets hitting their targets made me wish I had skipped class altogether that day.  A mere fifteen minutes into the film, I didn’t even need my eyesight to understand that Chris Taylor and his platoon were in the middle of an ambush attack against the Viet Kong. I could hear it. The overwhelming power of machine guns, the shouts of pain and the peace of a last word - these are all things that were communicated to me through my hearing. Before long, however, I slipped my glasses back on, and, despite the blood and horror unfolding in front of my eyes, I managed not to recoil.

         I learnt that hidden behind the blood and horror was people and personalities. In the scenes inside of the army camp, the soldiers laughed and cried. They played cards together and swapped crinkled photos of their “girls back home.” I found myself growing attached to Taylor, Tex, Doc, Ace, Tubbs and so many others as I watched them struggle through each day.

I left the film feeling like a wiser and older person, having watched the deaths of so many. I had asked on multiple occasions before class that we skip the film in our curriculum, but I am sincerely thankful that Mrs. Paulson held her ground. The film ended with Chris Taylor’s departure from Vietnam. He reflects, and cries, in the helicopter as he stares down at multiple craters full of broken corpses, the result of a surprise enemy assault. At this point in the movie during class, I cried alongside Taylor. I cried for the men who made me laugh earlier in the film – the men whose broken bodies would never leave the crater. 

It is the men whose bodies were never recovered who are honored at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This tomb represents the soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors who sacrificed their lives for the rights that we take advantage of everyday.

I realize that my moment of epiphany came in an odd way: through a historical fiction movie in a U.S. History class. My teacher saw, however, that Platoon was the biggest learning opportunity: the opportunity to learn the value of a cause and a cause worth fighting for. But Platoon also presented me with the opportunity to see the faces behind the unknown remains. It would mean a lot to me to be able to honor their service in laying down a wreath. 

NSLC Day #6

Hi All!
I was so tired when I woke up today! So last night, i lost my key card thing, so I slept in my friends room! Luckily, I found it the next morning and everything was beautiful again.
This morning, I had breakfast with Skye, Marni and Jake (remember him? Isabel's cousin!) Then we boarded the buses to head to USA Today! The USA Today building is absolutely beautiful and located in McLean, Virginia. Here's a pic of the lobby:

At USA Today, we talked to someone about the digital transition. What struck me the most is how fast the media lanscape changes. They said that 5 years ago, they had one man who worked digital and online and video. Now they have entire staffs devoted to those teams! The online scene is huge for USA Today. 5 years ago, 90% of the revenue came from print and 10% from online. Now its 60% and 40% so you can see how quickly everything has changed. Apparently, you should have different tactics for different social media sites too. People like to retweet graphics and quick facts on twitter, but people like to read heartwarming sentimental stuff on facebook where they can comment. I never even thought about that! How cool. Something else that was neat was that when they finish an article, it automatically goes up online and is edited as news breaks.  A second version of the article that is more of an analysis comes out in the paper the next day - because by the time it comes out - it's not hard news! Now the public wants something more. This got me to think a lot about media in general. I'm not sure if I like how unpredictable it is, but at the same time, it shows the extent of media's power. On the way home from USA today, we watched Easy A on the bus (great movie btw)!

Then after lunch we had broadcast class, where I got most of our editing done! With a tiny extra bit of work over the weekend, our broadcast should be good to go. Kind of exciting actually! Here's a still from the editing process - this is of Morgan, our reporter!

After class, we had a series of communications workshops. First I had a class on Social Media and Citizen Journalism, then I had a class on Interviewing and then another on general Newsroom life in preparation for a simulation beginning tomorrow.
Very tired so sleep time now - sorry this is short!

Love
Phoebe

NSLC Day #5

Hi All!

This morning, we had a class on public speaking. The TAs asked us each to do a speech on a topic for 45 minutes (we picked the topic out of a hat). But the catch was, every speech had to avoid the words like, um, so, uh, ok and other filler words, because they make us seem less professional, apparently! I failed in my endeavor to produce a 45 second speech about sunglasses. On the third sentence, I said "um" and was therefore disqualified! Ah well, I guess it's just a "learn from your mistakes" kind of deal - literally!
Today, I spent three hours in the afternoon in Tenley Town, MD interviewing people about feminism! We got a ton of footage and I can't wait to start editing it tomorrow in class. I have opted not to be in the video, so Morgan is our reporter and I run the camera and essentially produce it. I also wrote the script and videoed it. There were a surprising number of "no" answers to the question are you a feminist...which was good for our story but also disheartening about the shape of our world. Ah well. The project should come out pretty cool!, as I mentioned above. It was interesting...I can't wait to show you all the final project! Here's a still from one of our interview shoots! These girls told us all about the dresscode controversy at their school. It was awesome - they are both feminists!

When we got back, we had a quick turnover before heading out to the Nationals game!

Can you believe this is my first game since the Red Sox in second grade? It felt like I was an American. I had this great moment when I was carrying french fries on a "down" escalator and felt like the obesity that is America. I also felt like I was in the lyrics of "Take me out to the ball game" because I bought these for desert:

YUM. I have to say, I didn't spend much time watching the game. Instead I ate chicken and talked to friends....And took selfies! LOOK HOW FIERCE I LOOK IN THIS ONE!!! (I stole Marni's hat to look like a baseball fan)

On the way back from the stadium, Helen and I had a singalong in the back of the bus. I'm pretty sure everyone else wanted to murder us, but we were too busy singing "Gotta Get Back to Hogwarts" and "Bend and Snap" (from legally blonde) to care! We sang a beautifully harmonized version of For Good as well....and Tomorrow from Annie and Can You Feel the Love Tonight. It was really fun!

What has struck me the most about NSLC is that there are a LOT of southern people here. New England is definitely in the minority when it comes to where people are from. This is really cool though, because now I have friends from Arkansas, Georgia, Ohio, Alabama, Nebraska and other places! I always thought of the south as some terrifying blackhole, but these people are pretty cool.

Love,

Phoebe

NSLC Day #4

Hi All,
Day 4 passed in a blur. This morning, we went to the Newseum. On our way we passed through Embassy Row (which is so cool!) and saw the british embassy, as well as random ones such as the Cote d'Ivoire and even Iraq! The embassies are gorgeous and the british one has a beautiful garden. I thought of Mum and Pennie when I passed the french embassy! This trip to the newseum, I spent most of my time in the 9/11 exhibits. This time, I watched the video located to the left of the 9/11 exhibit, which focuses on the experiences of photographers, news anchors and reporters that day. They all faced the question: When am I a journalist and when am I a person? For example, for one man he interviewed a woman whose family had most likely perished just an hour after the South tower fell and when she started crying, he put down his microphone to hug her, deciding it was more important to be a person than to get her emotion on film. The footage in the video generally was incredible and heartbreaking. I didn't know there were clear images of the crashes. I walked out of the exhibit with tears in my eyes.
I also saw the Anchorman exhibit, and spent more time looking at the historic front pages than we did last year. There was a front page from the Pittsburgh Courier (remember my 310 paper?) SO COOL because it was covering MLK Jr's I have a dream speech!  I also spent some money at the Newseum store where I stalked up on the Newseum magnets, such as "WILL WRITE FOR FOOD," "I'm silently correcting your grammar," and "Journalism is the rough draft of history."

I forgot how awesome that place is.  ALSO i did another mock newscast - this time I know what I'm doing!
Also, I found this awesome inscription in the wall that I would like to have inscribed on the wall of The Phillipian room, Mum and Dad - you willing to pay? Tehe just kidding, but here it is:

In Mean Girls, the movie, they wear pink on wednesdays. So today (wednesday!) my
 TA group wore pink!! Back row from left to right is Sydni, Carmen, Mari, Collin. Front row is Alyssa, Helen, Me and Oakey.

After returning to American University, we ate lunch and then went to class in the afternoon. We made a ton of progress in designing our broadcast. Here is the updated outline:

OUTLINE

I. Hi my name is Morgan Trau. Feminism has always been a controversial topic. Since its inception in the late nineteenth century, feminism has been connected to radical women and often associated with liberals and lesbians, yet at its core, the term refers to the belief in equality of the sexes. I’m here to talk to people about their view of the term feminism.

II. Talk to people on the street: are you a feminist and why or why not?

III. There is difficulty with the definition amongst celebrities too. Shaleine Woodley and Lana Del Rey deny the term, yet Beyoncé and Jennifer Lawrence endorse it. Miley Cyrus has her own take on feminism:

IV. (Quote from Miley here about dress and how feminism means people can wear whatever they want) http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/24911610 - 1:26

V. Yet, freedom of expression as it pertains to girls clothing in school is often debated. On May 29th, 2014, the Wasatch High School yearbook in Utah exhibited altered yearbook photos. The school administration took it upon themselves to deem what was appropriate. Girls shoulders, cleavage, tattoos and other expressions of individuality were edited out and photoshopped in an effort to make the girls look (acceptable/appropriate).

VI. People on the street talk about school dresscode: do you believe in school dress code? what is “appropriate” for girls to wear?

VII. At NSLC at American University in Washington D.C., girls are also expected to follow a strict dresscode.

VIII.Q talks - explains dresscode and reasons behind it. What does this say about women in business? Feminism?

IX. Some sort of conclusion!!

We will begin filming tomorrow! We were exhausted after classes so Skye and Marni and I chilled and watched netflix until dinner. After dinner, we had another leadership session on personality, this one centered on how everyone has a different leading style and how important it is to understand yourself. Essentially, when you understand yourself, you can lead others.  

After the leadership session we returned back to the dorm to get ready for casino night - our fun activity for the day!  (from left to right: Marni, Skye, Me)

While others played black jack and poker, Oakey, Helen, Mari, Marni, Alyssa and I played BS (known as liar in our family!). After an impromptu dance party, we decided we were tired and headed back to the dorm for the night. Instead of sleeping though, Marni and Skye and I stay up and talk. It's actually really cool having them as friends because it means we can be totally honest with each other - there are no consequences or preconceived notions so it's really fun. 

Anyways hope you all are having a blast in your respective cities and whatnot.

Love,

Phoebe

P.S. Here is another photo of members of my TA group on the observation deck infront of the capital building: Jen, my awesome TA, is next to me on the right. She's so nice and is introducing me to the world of PR - which is an awesome world btw. 

NSLC Day #3

Hi All!
Day 3 at NSLC was a blast. We woke up super duper early to go to a ropes course at the University of Maryland. It was a 30ish minute drive through D.C. suburbia - but was well worth it. We spent over 3 hours at the ropes place - playing a ton of team games and then each having our turn on the ropes! I set a goal for myself - reaching the first platform of three in the high ropes - and I did it! It was probably only 15 or so feet off the ground but it sure felt higher. My friend Sydni was the first to go and she did the whole tower, which was like 50 feet! Way too scary for me but awesome nonetheless. After the ropes course, we returned to campus and had a little free time before going to class. Marni and I went to the gym actually for like 45 minutes (we felt inspired!) and I ran on this awesome running machine thing for a while. Working out felt really good until we walked into the 95 degree weather in sweaty gym clothes and then it just felt gross. During class, we narrowed down our story topics. My pitch got picked! So Morgan, Sebastian and I will be pursuing feminism. Here is our idea so far:

Name of Project:America Answers, What is Feminism? 
Outline: 
1. Pan filming of of american apparel, urban outfitters --- located in Georgetown. People wearing “revealing” or very “conservative” clothing. 
2. Reporter: In this society, the term “feminist” is often thrown around with the words “revealing,” or “bossy.” Teenagers glorify and shame self-expression and revealing clothing. Celebrities, such as Shaliene Woodley, Beyoncé and Jennifer Lawrence deny and endorse the term, thus general confusion often surrounds the definition. 
3. Ask Americans: Stop people on the street in Georgetown. How do they define the word “feminist”? Ask people of all generations, races, genders etc. Get at least 10 people giving their definitions, hopefully with a variety of answers. 
4. Reporter: While Americans as a population are split and have varying interpretations of feminism, the academic world has a clear cut definition of the term.
5. Conversation with an Expert: (We have emailed women in Women Studies Programs at American University and Georgetown as expert sources). They will give the real definition and comment on feminism in our society, such as its place in clothing. 
5. Reporter: It is unclear where this leaves us, but it is clear that America has prejudice against the term feminism. Does this mean there is prejudice against females themselves? Back to you [Anchor]

We're struggling with objectivity vs. advocacy and there are lots of variables still unaccounted for but we have a main base which is awesome! After class we went to a leadership session in our TA groups where we talked about the different types of leaders. I'll explain it all later, but essentially we talked about the personality matrix and how that defines how you lead. Personalities can be loosely broken down into categories, described here: http://prezi.com/vctfk7p5dmot/personality-assessment-animals/ (click the arrow). What's weird about me, is that I am literally 25% each animal, which is confusing when it comes to leadership and career choices and things. I'm mostly lion and koala, according to our session today. 

After dinner and time to change into professional clothes, we did a communication jeopardy game where we identified famous newscasters, fonts from newspapers, actors and soundtracks from movies. It was fun but not terribly informative! 

Then we did a MOCK PRESS CONFERENCE! With the political group here at NSLC. So basically there are like 6 different NSLC programs going on at AU (american university). There is Communications & Media, International Diplomacy, Political and Public Policy, Forensic Science, Engineering and Medicine & Health Care, and Intelligence and National Security. Each group has like 80 kids in it. 

SO in the political group, there are 4 kids running for "president' and others are assigned roles in their campaigns. Our press conference was with the 4 presidential candidates and the situation was that there had just been a cyber-terrorism attack on the US from a chinese terrorist group. We asked a ton of questions and it was very serious and professional. Afterwards we swarmed the candidates asking for follow up questions - because of course, we have articles due on friday about the presidential race!!

After that we ate freezy pops and Skye and Marni and I chatted in the common room for a few hours and ate doritos. ALSO i found Andover people! Jake Taylor (Isabel's cousin who is in the grade below) is in the Politics group and Nick Diadamo (in my history class) is in the Engineering group!

and that's about all for now.

My name is Phoebe Gould and thanks for reading, POSTS BY PHOEBE

see ya next time (*virtual wink*)

<3

NSLC Day #2

Hi All!
"Day 2 on the alien planet" as they say in Cheaper By the Dozen- reference anyone? Anyways so this morning I woke up early to get a Vanilla frappaccino at starbucks before breakfast. After that, we went to the American Film Institute in Silver Springs, MD where we saw a documentary and learnt about the art of producing documentaries. The angle of the camera, the tone of the interviewer, the music, the lighting - it all creates bias that is usually used to make the plotline more entertaining. The documentary we saw was about a man addicted to video gaming. It was how his life transformed as he set the highest gamescore for Donkey Kong or something - but it was really interesting to look at it from an analytical perspective.
After that, we ate lunch back on campus and started our classes. My broadcast journalism class is SO COOL. We started by each introducing ourselves and getting used to being in front of the camera, although others, and I, made it clear that we'd prefer to be behind the camera instead! So in the program, we have to pitch stories and film a news segment to be part of a greater newscast. A girl called Morgan and I are thinking of doing a story about Feminism - which is of course super newsworthy and everything. We're developing the pitch tonight via google docs and will work tomorrow during class to perfect it and start contacting sources. We don't have that much time to work on it - but I'm very excited nonetheless!
After our class, which lasted 3 hours, we had another "TA" session (which is like advisory) where we talked about skills important to being a leader, like listening, being approachable, dedication, commitment, etc. Then we talked about what specifically we would like to work on. I said I want to work on being a better listener and being more receptive to the ideas of others. After our TA session we had dinner and then split back into groups for our communications workshop.
Today I learnt about Public Relations - which is probably the best part of my day now that I think about it! We were given a prompt - my group's was "How do you incorporate press conferences, interviews, social media and commercials to sell Gatorade using a star athlete." We came up with a HUGE ELABORATE plan to use some soccer player as an advertising tool. He spoke about gatorade at press conferences and in interviews. He instagrammed gatorade...and most importantly I designed a killer commercial: picture a boy on the bleachers in the middle of a dirt field holding a soccer ball. He is forlorn and sad. Suddenly he reaches down and pulls out gatorade. He drinks it. AND BOOM the scenery goes black and white. There is pounding music and intense lighting. He is now the tall, huge, muscular star athlete that we know...he kicks, he scores! HE WINS THE WORLD CUP. In the midst of celebrating it flashes back to the little boy, who smiles as he swallows his gatorade. THEN A BLACK SCREEN COMES UP AND THE WORDS "live your potential" then #thejourneystartsnow fades in at the bottom. BUT THEN our teacher was like "oh surprise! your star athlete was arrested for a DUI. Its a PR crisis! What do you do?" And we had to solve that! Of course, I came up with a brilliant plan to play the "justin bieber" card, which is to publicly apologize through Saturday Night Live. Anyways so learning about PR was fun. Negative press is not always good press, but negative and positive press are almost always better than neutral press because that means no one cares! After the Public Relations workshop we ate ice cream and went to bed! I'm exhausted now - but I had a good day!

Love,
Phoebe

NSLC Day #1

Hi All!
So today is my first day at National Student Leadership Conference's Journalism, Film and Media Arts Camp at American University in D.C. First off, I've made some friends! Gasp! Shock! The horror! People want to be friends with Phoebe! My friends are called Marni, Sydni, Skye, and Mari. There are other people who are really friendly too! But they aren't in Broadcast Journalism with us. So today after I checked in, Dad and I unpacked. I'm living in a room with three beds, although my roommate and I only use two of them (obvi). My roommate is actually a certified dwarf. Her name is Brittany and she's very nice! When I originally moved in,  I had the lower of a set of bunk beds, but I have now moved because it would be much easer for her to have that bed! She's probably exactly 3' in height, which is short. After check-in, Dad left to catch his train from Union Station and I went to socialize and meet people. I then went on a campus tour of American University, led by a tour guide from the college. American seems really nice! They have an awesome communications building and major, as well as a ton of international diplomacy related stuff. The campus is small but pretty. After the tour, I hung out with Skye, Marni and Sydni until dinner and then we went to our first leadership conference. The "opening ceremony" essentially welcomed us and encouraged us to think about what we wanted to get out of this program. It also reminded us that no one here knew us, so we can shape our personalities however we want - which is kind of cool! We then split into our "TA" groups, which are kind of like advisory groups. My Teaching Assistant is Jen - she is hilarious and so nice - the kind of camp counselor I always wanted at Wyo. She's very funny, gives us jolly ranchers, and accidentally swears all the time. After that meeting we came back and showered and had a hall meeting. We have to be on our hall at 10:30 and in our rooms silent by 12 am. I think I can do that! Although I'm so tired I'll probably be asleep much earlier. Can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store - I'm really excited for my time here. Mari, Marni, Skye, Helen and I are waking up early to get starbucks tomorrow morning before our full day of activities. More about that later though...

lots of love,
phoebe