ACADEMICS
Throughout my four years at Florida State University I've maintained a solid B average. This spring I will graduate with a dual degree - Communications & Information and Sports Management.
Over and above my various reporting activities, and in addition to my full-time job at WCTV, I was also a member of Reverb (a capella group) during my first two years (was president of the organization in my sophomore year).
Here are some of my favorite courses.
Television Interviewing and Hosting
This course was taught by Shonda Knight, morning anchor at WCTV, the CBS affiliate in Tallahassee. It involved a hands-on approach to learning the intricacies of on-air broadcasting. Ben Kaplan, WCTV's news anchor spoke to us the second week of class. Later, Shonda was instrumental in WCTV's offering me a full-time job at the station during my senior year which I accepted. Then, just a few months ago, I was assigned along with Ben to travel to Puerto Rico to report on the island's recovery from the effects of Hurricane Maria.
One of the features of the course was Seminole Highlights, where students participated in producing a nightly news broadcast.
Advanced Feature Reporting
This course actively involved students in the creation of television reports; every aspect: the initial story line, research, production budget, interviews, script, presentation, narration, videography and editing. Many were broadcast on the Fox Sun Network on Saturday mornings. See a sample of my work on the Seminole Sports Magazine page - or click here (right).
World Geography
One project focused on developing a single-sheet, double-sided travelog (that could be trifolded) for a developing nation ...promoting conservation as an attractive traveler's theme. Any sources including those on the Internet could be used. We were urged to include any tie-ins that might surface with FSU. All information, pictures, etc. had to be sourced. Not only did this assignment enable me to become much more familiar with the country I chose - Belize - but also with the software I used to create it.
(Click on the picture to enlarge the image, then click again to return.)
History Course
Enjoyed writing a research paper that challenged an accepted fact surrounding a major historical occurrence. Using a series of primary sources, backed up with secondary evidence, I was able to demonstrate how Napoleon's second in command at Waterloo - Marshal Ney - misinterpreted certain troop movements of opposing forces leading to his ill-timed cavalry charge.
