1. Describe your interviewing experience. How did it feel to interview someone using an audio recorder?
   1. My interviewing experience went as planned. I have interviewed people a lot in the past so there wasn’t really anything that was new to me. Although it was different for the fact of the set of questions that were asked. Normally when I am interviewing someone, I have a set of questions that are on a set subject and I have to do my interview around that. For example I do job interviews, I’ve done interviews for past essay’s. So it was nice having a little bit of free range on this interview. I have used an audio recorder on a good majority of my interviews as well so I have gotten used to that as well. Although I do like to use the audio recorder because it is easy to use.
2. Describe your audio editing experience. What did you enjoy and not enjoy?
   1. My audio editing experience was a little different than normal. I am use to using Adobe Audition for my editing through past classes and for my current internship at the Hits 106 radio station. So it was a little challenging learning how to use a different program this time around. I did enjoy how it was a little bit more simple for me to do because of my experience. I did not enjoy the process of actually editing. I have never been a big fan of that. It just gets to be time consuming in my opinion.
3. Be sure you embed the portrait photo that you took of your interviewee. Insert a one or two sentence caption as well. Use complete sentences and use AP Style for the caption.

1. Describe the experience of taking a portrait photo to go along with the audio story.
   1. The experience of taking the portrait photo was not as difficult as I anticipated just because over the course of the semester I have gotten more comfortable asking to take photos of people.
2. Did anything surprise you about this assignment?
   1. Nothing really surprised me as I thought it would of been more difficult for me to do when I first started this assignment.
3. Do you wish you could have done anything different? Or do you wish something went more smoothly?
   1. I do wish that my interviewing could go a little more smooth if I had to change something. This is something that I normally always struggle with, so I do wish that I could do better with that. I feel that my interviews are choppy and do not have a flow to them when I conduct interviews.
4. How might you or could you use audio in your future? And please don’t just say, “not at all.” Even if you go into agriculture communications, or public relations, or advertising, there are ways to use audio. Think creatively.
   1. Assuming I am going into radio for my future career, which as of now is what I envision myself doing, using audio will be a very common thing for me. In my current internship with the Hits 106 radio station, I am already creating and producing ads that play live over the radio and have been for the past several months. My goal with my internship is to create this into a career for me and to also be able to do a live, on-air show of some sort within the radio station. Voice tacking, producing ads, editing recordings will all be included with this in this type of field. I do see myself dealing and using audio in the future in this retrospect.

Audio Profiles:

5 minute unedited: https://soundcloud.com/austin-perry-27/audio-profile-5-min

2 minute edited: https://soundcloud.com/austin-perry-27/audio-profile-2-min

1. What were some production skills/concepts that you expected to learn in the class?

-After reading my first blog post, some production skills that I expected to learn in this class was that I was expecting to learn and strengthen skills to create blogs each time. I was anticipating my content and how my blog looked was going to be better each time.

• To what extent did you gain the production skills/concepts that you expected to learn in the class?

-To an extent my productions skills got better based on my knowledge of WordPress now. Before WordPress was very difficult to understand for me and very difficult for me to do assignments on. Now WordPress is easier for me to understand and I can do assignments on it without much question on how to operate it.

• Now, brainstorm about what “soft skills” you have learned in this class. Examples of “soft skills” are interpersonal communication, listening well, empathy, perspective-taking, being a good critical thinker and problem solver, and being able to make connections across complex ideas. To what extent have you learned and practiced “soft skills” in this class? (Hint: Many of your assignments helped developed these skills in one way or another.)

-The “soft skills” that I have learned in this class has been a good critical thinker and problem solver. I have practiced these skills in this class because of some assignments I may have not known how to do them, it has allowed me to use critical thinking and problem solving to help get the assignments done I was struggling with. For prime example the Live Tweeting Practice and Instagram Story Promotion assignment. I had very little to no clue on both assignments on how to do them. So, they have helped me develop these “soft skills.” These “soft skills” could help me in my future career because it would allow me think of ways to solve problems and create ways to help me come up ideas to help situations.

d. Discuss how these production and soft skills/concepts could help you in your future career.

• What assignment did you find the most meaningful? Why?

-The most meaningful assignment to me was the Creative Devices assignment because it allowed me to open my eyes up to more detail and look for the little things when I was shooting pictures of all of the plants. It helped me look for new things and ideas.

• What assignment did you find the most challenging? Why?

-The assignment I found was the most challenging for me was the Live Tweeting Practice assignment. This assignment was so difficult for me because I don’t have twitter and I didn’t know the first thing about tweeting before doing research for me. So, it was a new experience for me and difficult to catch up on.

• If you could go back in time and give yourself advice about this course, what would you say to yourself?

-My advice to myself would to be to stay on top of my assignments and not to procrastinate so much. Also, to ask for help when the material was introduced. That in itself would have been so helpful for myself if I would of done those things because it was very difficult for me to catch up this semester once I fell behind.

• Preview Tweet: I will be covering President Trumps discussion of the state of the vaccine development that will be taken place at the white house on 5/16/20 #vaccine.
• Trump stated that “Tomorrow will mark 30 days since we released the White House guidelines for a safe and phased opening of America” # reopening.

• Today secretary Purdue and Ivanka Trump launched the Farmers and Families Food Box Program. #helping farmers #helping food lines
• America is now testing up to 350,000 tests per day, as President Trump said was the most in the world #Covid-19 testing
• Scientists at the NIH began developing the first vaccine candidate back on January 11^th shortly after the virus took off. #developing the vaccine.
• Operation Warp-Speed is looking to develop, manufacture and distribute a proven vaccine by the end of the year for the Coronavirus. #Warp-speed
•  In preparation, the government has been evaluating 100 candidates for the vaccine over the world and identified 14 that are the most promising. #Preparation
• The government will deploy every truck, plane and soldier necessary to distribute the vaccine when ready. #Distribution
• “I just want to make something clear, it’s very important. Vaccine or no vaccine, we’re back.” As President Trump stated about the vaccine. #We’re back
• As many others have spoken following President Trump, they are all hopeful for success with all of the research being done. #Hopeful
• The press asked many questions as Trump answered some questions with reassurance that many countries are working together with America. #No ego #Working together
• As things were wrapped up, Trump insured that even though many countries are infected they are all fighting through it.

Summer is coming up fast and we all want to show off those new kicks. Where can you go to find those new shoes? Well there is multiple places you can go. This all depends on what you’re looking for in a shoe.

In Laramie, there are multiple different places where you can find shoes that are just for you whether you are looking for a pair of work shoes or boots, or just something to relax with. But the question is what are you looking for? That’s where I think that I can help.

Where to go?

Below is a map of where Sports Locker, Dodd’s Show Co., and more shoe companies can be found. Please click on the icons within the map to receive more information about these stores.

Sports Locker

If you are looking for a sport like shoe, where you can work out and exercise in, then Sports Locker would be your go to store. Although they have a small selection of everyday sneakers, this would be your best bet on looking for shoes to exercise in. No matter if you are headed to the gym, looking for some cleats for the big game, or going for a run, you can find what you need here. https://www.doddsshoe.com/

Dodd’s Shoe Co.

Speaking of shoes to relax in, Dodd’s Shoe Co. is a perfect place to go as they have quite the selection of everyday shoes, to dress shoes to boots.  Sport’s Locker’s sister store is without a doubt more flexible in taste of shoes. As Logan Perez said, “This place is awesome! I wouldn’t shop anywhere else for my shoes.” https://www.doddsshoe.com/

Murdoch’s Ranch & Home Supply

Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply is the perfect place to get your footwear for out on the ranch or farm. Murdoch’s has an amazing selection of boots that can help you get the job done. They have sizes for all ages, so it doesn’t matter if you are a young child or an adult, you can find your fit here. https://www.murdochs.com/stores/laramie/

Martindale’s Western Store

You also have another great option for ranch and farm work. Martindale’s Western Store doesn’t only have your western clothing, but they also include western footwear. Need anything with your footwear that has that western touch? Well then it appears that Martindale’s is the place you need to go to. https://m.facebook.com/MartindalesWesternStore

Walmart Supercenter

Now as many people have knocked down Walmart shoes from what I have heard, Walmart has a great selection of low-priced footwear. Their selection includes tennis shoes, dress shoes, flip flops, and boots. “Their boots are a for sure buy for the price. It’s hard to believe how low priced they were and how great they work for me.” said Logan Perez. https://www.walmart.com/store/1412/laramie-wy/details

Creating a Sense of Hope

• 

            As many countries across the world attempt to recover and stop the spread of Covid-19, many struggles with keeping their jobs through this pandemic. There have been many Americans who have recently had to file for unemployment as businesses have taken a huge hit with a decrease in business.

There are businesses that have been able to increase sales and do better off because of the pandemic such as fast food restaurants. After speaking with workers in different industries, there is different views of how the pandemic has affected the economy. Taking a look at the coronavirus and how it can affect people and their jobs has many different views.

Worried Workers

            Josh Pierce, a technician at Good Vibes Garage south of Laramie located on Highway 287, has recently been laid off due to slow of business. Josh who has been working at Good Vibes Garage for 5 months has gotten used to being able to come into this shop and go to work every day not having to worry about being laid off due to any type of virus.

Now that this has changed, he is having to accommodate his living situation now that he is not having any source of income till this virus slows down. When asked about how the economy has been affected and how people will be able to accommodate from this virus, Josh said, “I think that the economy will for sure take a big hit with this one. I think a lot of Americans are going to struggle even though a lot of them will get a $1,200 stimulus check. That is going to affect the economy too by doing that. We’re really in a catch-22 with this.”

When speaking with Josh there was a lot of worry coming from him as he has a girlfriend and a baby to take care of. As this is expected now, Josh is very concerned with how this will play out. He has high hopes that things will get better although it is “tough to stay positive through this,” as Mr. Pierce mentioned. Now looking at another part of the economy, the fast food industry has taken a turn for the good as many people have been able to receive a job from different food chains. Adonia Grinevicius, the Co-Manager at Little Caesars here in Laramie has a different view.

            A Positive Outlook

When asked about what she thought about the Coronavirus pandemic, she said, “I believe that even though many people are struggling, there are a lot of people that are benefiting from this virus. I’m honestly scared for my family members of them getting sick, but I do think that a lot of people are able to get jobs in the fast food industry more so now than before.”

She also included, “Many of my friends who have been out of a job for quite some time, have at least gotten jobs since Covid-19 hit.” When talking with Adonia she did sound very optimistic that things will get better for businesses around the country and world as time goes on.

Getting a job can always be difficult but with a pandemic going on things can be different or the same as before. After speaking with Josh and Adonia, it is tough to decide. Josh is worried that the economy will be worse off than before with everything on. There is belief that even though things may be getting better with people not being sick as much, the economy will still suffer.

Adonia is a bit more optimistic of how things will turn out. Her view on what the economy would be like once the pandemic is no longer was this; “I think that the economy is going to be so much better because people are actually going to need jobs which will then help the economy.”

Getting the right mindset for basketball

Procrastination

Study Time

Relaxation

Hard Work in the Garage

1. For the non-sports feature photo’s, there were three. The title and caption for the first one was: “Procrastination” “As Logan is yet another student affected by procrastination as the homework piles up.” The second one was: “Study Time” “Logan, a UW student, studying hard for his test coming up in his statistics class.” My experience when taking these pictures was easier than it would of been if I would of taken these pictures before Covid-19 had caused everything to shut down. The non-sports feature pictures were definitely a lot easier to capture rather than the sports-feature pictures. Some of the creative device I used when taking these photos was focus.

2. For the sports-related photos the title and caption of the first one is: “Getting the right mindset for basketball” “Logan a UW student, having high hopes to play college basketball for the Pokes at the University of Wyoming.” The second one is “Hard Work in the Garage” “Logan, a UW student, goofing around in the garage while taking a break from homework as he gets ready for the weekend to come.” For the sports action photo titled, “Hard Work in the Garage,” it was definitely a challenge to get a good photo because there was movement from the person in the photo. Doing it off of my smart phone limits me from capturing a better shot rather from doing it off of a camera that is built for that kind of photography. The creative device I used to get these shots were sports-action and sports-feature.

3. For the general photos I used in my top 5 the title was: “Relaxation” “Finally able to enjoy the nice weather in Laramie Wyoming as we have seen plenty of cold days. We are finally able to get ready for spring.” The atmosphere of the scene was nice because it was super nice outside and was easy to get the shot. I felt that when photographing this one it was a lot easier than the sports-action photo because the subject in the photo was sitting still. The creative device I used was background.

4. The only thing that suprised me when doing this assignment was that when I was taking the sports-action photo, it was a lot harder than I anticipated because a lot of the photos that I took came out blurry. I wish that I could of used a better camera instead of my smartphone when shooting my photo’s.

1. After reading through some of the former students’ blogs and reviewing the syllabus, I think that some skills and concepts that I could anticipate learning in this class would be definitely being able strengthen my skills of word press of being able to create blogs that are better each time. Both with the content and also with how it looks when you view the blog.

2. Thinking of journalism, some issues that I would potentially like to report on this semester would be some controversial issues such as political topics. For events it would be the not as popular events going on in the world today, such as events that people may not know about. I would like to report on people this semester who are not well known but have good causes they are trying to get out.

3. Some of the issues that I could promote this semester would be things that the student government are trying to promote and trying to encourage. With that being said, promoting the student government would definitely help out as well. It would be helpful for them because it would be supporting them and their cause. Also for the events that I could promote this semester would be events to get students to come together in their free time. Such as sporting events whether it be club or one of our division I sporting events. It would give students a chance to interact with new people and also meet up with people that they already possibly know.

My name is Austin Perry and I am creating this blog as a part of one of my classes. I am from Colorado and am currently in my Junior year of college. I play baseball and I enjoy watching sports, listening to music, and hanging out. I am new to blogging so I will be learning this as I go.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.