blogging for pleasure, work... and school

Good morning ! Since the last post, my days have honestly been that much more pleasant. Sometimes a girl just has to vent and you all are such a sympathetic and understanding audience... thank you :). Now I will take on a more serious tone. You can tell, right? ;)

Throughout the past year and a half I have had this blog, one that I started for my memories and self-exploration, and for you and your own unique yet similar experiences. And, I have continued, quite contently, for the both of us. Over the summer at Modelinia, I helped their official blogger, Bianca, with research and contributing two posts. One quick and fun one about the supermodel "seizure" of August fashion mag covers, and another more detailed post about a film (of which a model stars in) and the interview with her before the showing. 

I can now add blogging for school to the list. Today, in NEW305, our lesson was centered on blogging, specifically blogging about a beat. A beat is a particular genre in journalism that a writer (journalist) chooses or is assigned to. They usually stay with this beat for a significant amount of time, formulating stories that pertain to the topical theme and would interest readers that somehow associate themselves with that same topical theme. As a beat journalist, with the consistent research and interviewing, it is not surprising that one becomes, shall I say, an expert.

For the rest of the semester I will be submitting a multitude of news articles on my beat, while also blogging  bi-weekly about it here. We were asked to create a blog dedicated entirely to our topical theme but since I already have a blogging platform and some readership I'm just going to thread it throughout my usual posting. I hope you don't mind? 

What will I be writing about, you ask? Ah well, I'll tell you, quite extensively too. Just look below at the description & intention from the beat plan that I submitted to my professor about a week and a half ago. It received an A :)

After spending a year studying abroad, first in Santiago, Chile, then in Strasbourg, France, I have experienced first-hand what it feels like to be an international student in a large university setting. I have experienced the same confusion, day-to-day challenges, and the rewarding gifts that it can bring. Now, back at my home university, I would like to watch the evolution from an outsider’s perspective and cover the international student news that most often falls under the radar. Syracuse University is listed as 8^th on the 20 university and colleges across the country that have little race and class interaction which is ironic when SU admissions boast that SU provides “an environment in which students from diverse backgrounds come together to create, explore and grow.” The student population represents 100 countries and all 50 U.S. states yet only approximately 5% students are from countries other than the U.S. Does that make their presence any less significant? their voice any less important? They are attracted to Syracuse University by the countless opportunities that come with admission but are all the resources available to them once they get to campus? I’d assume that aside from the academic experience they are also seeking familiarity with life, traditions, and students from the United States, as I did in the foreign countries I studied in. I would like to discover who these students are, find out how they’re involved, and look for an answer as to what is keeping them from integration into the 95% majority of the student body. Perhaps the answer will help bridge the gap.

Basically, you can be expecting a lot more posts about prejudice, about diversity, about culture in an American setting... which I suppose I've touched on briefly in the past anyway. Just wanted to give you a heads up! And please, let me know if you're in any way, shape, or form opposed to it. Otherwise, I hope that this academic addition will give my blog another dimension, one that is both informative and thought-provoking for many of you, and will hopefully foster more dialogue on some topics that are generally not talked about nor present in mainstream media. Namaste.

Words by D. Alvarez, Photos by Kate Ottomanelli