This is it!

In about an hour, I'll be heading down to the station for the last time this semester. In about three hours, I'll be on the air for the last time with Nicole, Valecia, and Parks. In less than a week, I'm out of here for summer vacation.

This year flew. I'm sure there were times I felt as if it would never end, but in all reality, I'll be a sophomore in no time. All of the work, stress, joy, and achievement that went into these past two semesters is almost over. I still can't get over how fast my first year went.

I'm slowly erasing tasks off of my "Things to Do" bulletin board, and suddenly I can feel the sweet release of summer sinking in. The only monkey riding on my back now is this research paper that seems to be the only thing I can't motivate myself to complete. I WILL finish it tonight, right after the two hour episode of Grey's Anatomy. Haha...

Even though this week has been busy, I can't say it hasn't been fun. Clarion Hospital sponsored Spring Fling this week in downtown Clarion, so all the wonderful food vendors who appear during the Autumn Leaf Festival are back. Of course, I couldn't resist getting the classic Poorman's Apple and Chicken on a Stick. I love carnival food.

Here's some pictures of the gang and I at Spring Fling:


Erin, Myself, and Bryan downtown


Kristi and I with our Poorman's Apples!


Myself and Kristi


Scott and I


And a full moon to end out the night...

So, this will probably be my last post of the year. Thanks to all of you that kept up with me throughout the semester and I hope that you've enjoyed reading my blog.

Best of luck finishing out this semester and have an unforgettable summer!

Peace and love,
Deidra

Inching Closer...

Summer is so close...it's driving me crazy! I absolutely cannot wait for this year to be over and to live at home again for three months. I'm having one of those weeks where I'm missing anyone and everyone from my hometown in Greensburg.

Anywho, this week has proved yet again to be busy. For my package this week, I covered a Virginia Tech Vigil that Clarion University sponsored in honor of the victims. The German Club raised $600 for the college and donations through the Hokey Spirit Memorial Fund will also go to the campus. A binder full of personal messages from Clarion students is also going to be sent to those at Virginia Tech. I thought it was a great way to support the victims during such a difficult time.

I anchored my second to last newscast for this year tonight! I can't believe there's only one more broadcast before the year comes to an end. The rest of the Thursday night crew are seniors, so I can't imagine the feelings they're going through right now. I'll definitely miss them all--Nicole, Valecia, Parks...I love you guys!

So I hear Clarion's bringing Alex and Colie from Real World to the university next Tuesday. I definitely jumped on that for my story next week. My friend Bryan is super excited to meet them. I can't say that I'm not excited to seem them in person either...especially Alex. Haha...

This weekend, I'm getting inducted into Phi Eta Sigma, an honor's fraternity at Clarion. I'm really excited to be involved with an organization that recognizes academic achievement and it's nice to be noticed for my efforts this year. My parents are coming up on Sunday for the ceremony and taking me out to dinner after. I can't wait!

I'm trying to pack up as much as I can now so I'm not faced with a ton of things on move-out day. I seriously wasn't aware of how many clothes I have. It's pretty ridiculous.

The final schedule is up, and I only have three finals this semester! Yay! My two online classes aren't really giving finals; for Writing for Media, we're taking an online test, and for Writing II, we're writing research papers. That leaves Speech, which I present my last speech of the year (a business conference speech) on Monday. I'm left with a Science final on Tuesday, May 8th and a French and Logic final on Wednesday, May 9th. After that, I'm out of here! I can't wait to go home. =)

Good luck through these last two weeks everyone! Study hard...I know I need to get cracking, especially on this research paper. =P

Headaches are not cool

So, I have an insanely massive headache, I'm extremely tired, and scheduling today has sent me over the edge. Despite all of this, I will try my best to remain as pleasant as possible throughout this blog. =D

This entire week has been a whirlwind. Monday night was the usual TV Station meeting where I found out my story to cover for the week. Tuesday night I had to go downtown to the Main Street Center and film. The Clarion County League of Women Voters sponsored an open forum for the candidates running in the upcoming election. Those running for District Attorney, County Commissioner, Prothonotary, Treasurer, and Auditor were showcased. After the forum, about seven of the candidates approached me for interviews. Let's just say I didn't get out of there until 10 PM and I still had homework to do. Lovely.

The forum was actually pretty interesting, but the editing took me forever the next day. I also had to film the Medical Minute with Darlene Hartle on Wednesday, so I walked up and down campus at least three times. I wish I had a pedometer to see how many steps I take in a day; I'm sure it's ridiculous.

Anyway, I spent a good three hours at the station editing and then had a ton of homework to do that night. I guess this brings me to today...

Thursday. I have such mixed emotions about Thursdays. Sometimes I look forward to them because I get to anchor the news...but with that comes writing stories and making at least two trecks from Nair to Becker. To make my Thursday even more special, I had to schedule today.

Wow. Scheduling has to be one of the most stressful times of the semester. I had all of my classes figured out, but of course, the math and dance class that I wanted to take closed. =(

Oh well...here's what my fall semester looks like for 2007:
MWF--> 9-9:30AM [Intro to Theatre]
1010:50AM [Principles of Sociology]
1-1:50PM [French III]
TR--> 9:30-10:45AM [Temporal Media]
11-12:15AM [Publication Design]
Co-curricular--> BaZaar Magazine

I'm a little bummed I couldn't take math and dance this semester, but overall it doesn't look too bad.

But I'm exhausted and need to get some more homework done before the night's over. Hope everyone is getting through this week okay. I'm going home this weekend and can't wait.

Have a great night!

Back at it again...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break. I didn't go anywhere spectacular, but spending time at home with my family is enough to make me happy. =)


I gave work a schedule for the summer, so I should be starting up again right after school's out. I work at a nursing home and I absolutely love it there. I'm in the dietary department, so I basically run tray-lines, serve food to the dining room residents, and work in the dish room. I have a lot of fun with the people who work there and it's always great talking to the older residents. I miss them so much.


My boyfriend surprised me over break and took me out to The Cheesecake Factory in Pittsburgh. It's a shame it's taken me 18 years to get out there, but I'm head-over-heels in love with the place. Their food is outstanding and they give you a ridiculous amount. And their cheesecakes are TO DIE FOR. I wound up getting the Godiva chocolate cheesecake. I swear it was heaven in food form.


Here's a picture of my boyfriend, Barry, and I at the Cheesecake Factory:




So the semester is finally coming to an end. I can't wait for summer. There's a lot that needs to get done before I can start dreaming about the beach though. I'm just finishing up a paper in Writing II, but I have to start thinking about what I want to do my last paper on. It's a research paper, so I might try writing about why Myspace and Facebook are so popular among high school and college students. I also have to give one last speech for my other class, and it has to be a special occasion speech. I'm giving mine as if it were for a 10 year high school reunion speech. I'm working on a group project for Logic as well and we just started Oceanography in Science. Like I said, lots of work to get done...but I'm sure everyone is feeling a little pressured with all the last minute assignments.


I'm really hoping the weather improves. I'm completely over winter and I thought the 70 degree weather we had a few weeks ago was more than enough assurance to put away the winter jacket. Guess I was wrong! Snow for this weekend? Ah...


My friend Scott's birthday is this weekend, so we're all going out to the Roadhouse to celebrate tonight. I'm excited. Happy 20th B-day Scott!

One more day!

Only one more day until Spring Break! I can't wait to go home and celebrate Easter with my family. I absolutely love holidays because of the strong traditions my family and I have. Since I'm Polish, my grandma makes hallupki (cabbage and meat) and ham. My mom always makes sweet bread every year too, so Easter is usually a big holiday for us. I can't wait to see all my little cousins dressed up for Easter.




This past weekend, I went home to see my high school's winterguard perform at their Championships out at Kiski. Their show this year is to "Never Surrender" off the Halo Soundtrack. They've improved so much. It's so weird to be on the spectator side now, cheering on all my guard girls, instead of performing the show with them. I miss all of them so much. Here are some pictures from the show:


I had to make a sign for them. =)


My friend Dez and I.

My friend Jacob and I.

Alexis and I.

Sam and I.

As far as school work, I just took a Basic Earth Science test today. It was kind of difficult, so I have no idea what to expect. I also have to submit a draft of my essay on adolescence today and get down to the station to edit a package for the news tonight.

My roommate and I went to the UAB craft series last night to make bamboo pots. They're so cute! We have ours sitting on our window-sill. They provided the bamboo, glass pots, rocks, marbles, ribbon, and water. A lot of people came out to make one.

Have a wonderful rest of the week and enjoy your spring break!

WQED-TV Trip

The trip to WQED-TV on Saturday was definitely worthwhile. After getting lost on the way there, we made it to the station just in time for registration. At 10 a.m., the forum began. The panelists were Newlin Archinal, news anchor for WPXI-TV, Dave Crawley, reporter for KDKA-TV, Carolyn Donaldson, news anchor from WTAJ-TV, Dave Forstate, videographer and editor for KDKA-TV, Jocelyn Hough, executive producer for WQED-TV, Michale Messner, partner of Mind Over Media, and Joe Rovitto, news consultant from Clemenson Rovitto, Inc.

Listening to all the panelists made me realize just how challenging my field is. It’s going to take a lot of dedication, passion, and commitment to break into the industry. Moving far away from home, leaving a lot behind, and changing my appearance are all realities I’m going to have to face if I really want to make it as a broadcast journalist. It’s pretty overwhelming, but I know that I have fun doing this. I want to make it as an anchor someday. I think I might keep my mind open to other possibilities with this field though, such as breaking out of the news and possibly looking into the entertainment aspect of it all. Who knows…at least I’ve still got some time to figure it all out.
I do want to take a minute to congratulate Alissa Kelly on getting an internship with Fox News in New York City! I’m so excited for you Alissa and wish you the best of luck. Go get em’!
Last night, I went to the Martin Luther King Jr. Speaker Series to see Michele Matlock present “The Pride Project: The Evolution of African American Women.” Michele was wonderful and very entertaining. Her program looked at the “mammy” stereotype that’s associated with Aunt Jemima. Apparently, this stereotype is still around today, but Caucasians and African Americans hold very different feelings toward the label. IT was nice to see a topic that isn’t talked about much brought to our attention. I really enjoyed the program.

Tomorrow, I’m giving a persuasive speech in my Fundamentals of Speech class. I’ve been so busy this week, that I haven’t had much time to devote to it, but my topic is something I’m passionate about. I’m trying to convince my audience to use Shaklee products (the business that my mom and I are involved with) rather that other vitamin or household cleaning products from other distributors. I’m focusing on the environmental aspects and health benefits of Shaklee, so I think it’s something that people can benefit from hearing.
I can’t wait for tomorrow though, since I’m going home this weekend to see my high school winterguard perform at their championships. Their show is based off of the theme song from Halo, “Never Surrender.” I’m so excited to see them!
Well, I better get cracking on this speech! Have a wonderful night and enjoy this beautiful weather. =)

Finally Better!

So, it's been an extremely long time since I've posted, but with good reason I assure you.Just as I thought I was getting over the flu, things took a turn for the worse.

Over winter break, I started getting a really bad sore throat and I had an ear infection. My doctor prescribed Amoxicillin to get rid of the infections, and I was fine for the first five days of taking the medication. The night before break ended, I started developing a rash on my stomach. I didn't think much of it and I knew I had to come back up to college the next day.That

Sunday, my grandma had a sort of "goodbye" lunch for me. My aunts, uncles, and cousins were all there, and I haven't seen them for over a month. My one aunt was concerned that it was an allergic reaction to the medication I was taking, and noticed that it was starting to spread. I didn't know what else to do but stop taking the medication, so I did.

That night when I came back up to Clarion, my rash got even worse. It was all over my body, traveling up my arms, down my legs, and even through my scalp. The Health Center wasn't open, so my roommate drove me to the ER. They gave me an IV with Benadryl and other steroids to stop the inflammation and itch. What an experience. That was my first time, away from home, in a completely foreign hospital without my mom. Talk about growing up, haha.

My mom and dad were on vacation in Punta Cuna in the Dominican Republic when my rash developed and they just flew back in on Monday. My mom insisted on bringing me home that night so she could try to get me better again. So that night, she came up to Clarion to pick me up, and I spent Tuesday at home. She drove me back up Wednesday morning in time for my first class at 10 a.m.

Finally, I'm better. I'm so glad. These past three weeks have been rough, and I NEVER get sick, so this came out of nowhere. I'm just relieved that I'm back to my normal self.

On a lighter note, I've been helping my mom with her in-home business. She just set up her own website and I've been helping her reach out to other entrepreneurs that might be interested in the opportunity. My mom is a Shaklee Representative and sells vitamins, home care products, and skin care products. She's able to manage this job alongside of working as a Retail Specialist for the United States Postal Service in Pittsburgh.

If you get the chance, you should check out her website at http://www.vitaminaid.net/. I'm really excited about helping my mom grow her business. In August, we're going to a Shaklee convention in Nashville, Tennessee. I absolutely cannot wait!

Speaking of trips, this Saturday I'm going out to WQED-TV in Pittsburgh with some of the WCUB'ers for a convention on "How to Get Your First Job in TV." I'm really excited to hear advice from some of the region's leading TV professionals on this topic. Registration is at 9:30 that morning and it lasts until early afternoon. I'll make sure to post about the forum.

Enjoy the warm weather this week! I know we're getting hit with some rain, but at least the temperature's decent. =)