Sunday, November 30, 2014

Publication Opportunities

One publication opportunity is Buzzfeed.com, Buzzfeed allows young writers to contribute through their "community" page and publish their own original pieces and suggest it to their community editors, if they like it can become a feature piece.

  http://www.buzzfeed.com/community/about 

The second publication opportunity that I found interesting and that I did not know about was USA TODAY College. All you have to do is to compose a short pitch about your piece and if your pitch is accepted you get to work with editors to get your piece ready for print.

http://college.usatoday.com/correspondent/

Ferguson Thoughts

I think that the things that are happening in Ferguson recently are just despicable. Taking everything out of the actual case between Darren Wilson and Michael Brown and just reacting to the chaos that occurred after the decision was made.

 It is sad to me that many of the same people that are taunting the police, and slandering the police are the same people that will be begging for their help some day. I agree that racism is extremely alive right now, but so is ignorance. If people think the system is wrong and want the system to change, then they should become the police officers, judges and lawyers that are apart of the system. Do something to cause change, don't burn your own city to the ground. The same people that were saying that the police brutality was too much, and the police force was out in too much force when the first riots occurred in the summer, were the same people that were saying that the police don't care about Ferguson and were doing nothing about the chaos that ensued this week in Ferguson. The double standards need to stop. It is doing nothing but dividing this country even more.

 The worst part about this whole case, chaos, whatever you want to call it. Is the fact that it makes people take sides. You cannot talk about this case without having a personal opinion about it. It is extremely hard to talk about this case without race coming up, because that is what this case has been turned into. It is sad that it has become that,

 The most interesting thing to me about all of this was the difference in opinions that have come out afterwards. A Facebook post from the New Orleans Saints Benjamin Watson was a particularly moving piece and I thought that it should be shared.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=602172116576590&id=378220362305101&refid=17

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

The Working Poor

The more and more of The Working Poor that I read, the more my eyes get opened to things that I have never thought about. The author uses such real examples that you cannot help but feel emotional when these stories are told. I come from a very rich town and I just wish that people in this town would be forced to read this book. It would make them feel so grateful for all the stuff that they have, and just how privileged of a life that they live. So far this book is such a life changer.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

The Working Poor Chapters 1-3

When reading through chapters 1-3 in The Working Poor, it was shocking to see how many employers take advantage of foreign workers. Foreign workers do not know most of the federal or state laws that apply to the work place, and employers will fix time sheets and time clocks so that they can have these workers work longer for less money. These first few chapters opened my eyes to a whole new problem in this country that I have never thought about. I look forward to reading the rest of this book and learning more about the work force that is being taken advantage regularly without anyone looking out for them.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Telling True Stories reading

After our assigned reading of certain sections of Telling True Stories I feel much more comfortable writing my profile drafts. One point that particularly stood out to me was the explanation of the use of quotations. You do not want to use a whole lot because it should not manipulate your story, but enhance it. Learning when to use quotations is a skill that must be mastered in order to tell an effective story.