The end.

It's been one year. And all the should ofs and could ofs are now expired. But I think I've accomplished a lot of good things, learned a lot and definetely had a great experience.

Sure, I could have blogged more, or made more programs, written more grants, etc etc etc. At least I can say that I have followed most of the workplan and hopefully instilled a foundation for a strong youth program at Media Bridges down the road.

Since the last blog, I have taught another great class - Ad Attack! The kids were middle schoolers and very receptive to learning about advertising and the NMMLP's list of persuasion tools. They knew they were being marketed to, but only to the obvious level. Hopefully they'll keep in mind the other marketing techniques and persuassion tools and practice being smart consumers. For anyone teaching such a class, I would suggest recording some recent commercials from the kids stations and also places like BET and MTV. I thought some of the commercials would be too mature for them, but these kids watch a lot a lot of tv. One student really liked the "bow chic a wow wow" commercial - the Axe one. So I also threw in info on sex appeal, since they already were aware of those commercials. Also, when preparing for such a class, come up with a tv/media watching survey and throw in some questions also about what they think advertising is. Then that will take you into a discussion about their favorite commercials and all that. Anyways, that class ended with some short videos that were, eh, ok. But I think the main point about ad techniques was well recieved.

The rest of my month was rather boring, tying up loose ends, making an end of year binder and all that. The highlight was going to Washington DC, courtesy of Danielle and that Housing Network conference. I presented with Nettrice Gaskins about Digital Media. I think it went well. And it sure was fun to go to DC for free and hang out with the ol' vista leader!

So thank you CTC VISTA project for exisiting and providing such a phenomenol opportunity. This has been the ideal situation for me, being between schooling and not quite sure what to do. I was actually able to utilize previous education, gain knew knowledge and experiences and of course look impressive on the resume (seriously). Future plans (which is basically now) are to move to Oregon. I'm in Ohio, so it's a serious excursion. I'm going to the University of Oregon for masters in communication and society. Maybe I'll continue down the path of media literacy, community media and media reform, as I have been doing the past year. But who knows where this will take me! And here's a note - if you are applying to school anytime following the VISTA year, whether you believe it or not, you are an impressive candidate for being in Americorps. And depending on your duties and experiences at your site, you may be able to translate that into a full ride! I'll be a graduate teaching fellow (fancy for ga) because I have Photoshop and Final Cut Pro experience, so I think I'll be teaching or assisting with those in some way (still don't know for sure). So if you're going to school, try to find the department (even if it's not what you are going to school for) that can utilize your experiences, and hopefully you too will be offered an assistantship.

Take care all! Rock out, don't crack out.