Oh, dear Blogger.

The semester is coming to a close, and therefore, my official posts at nlevins.blogspot.com will most likely be terminating shortly. But it's been a lovely ride, hasn't it?

I suppose I'll use this entry to do a little reminiscing about the progress I've made, future-career-wise, in the last three months or so.

Let's see...Back in September, when I started this blog, I was pretty confused as to what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I've always wanted to write, but the question of in what capacity was up in the air. Upon further consideration, I decided that I was most comfortable with magazine writing, but the field seemed too...above me, I guess. But I eventually made contact with a TCNJ graduate who has a great job at my favorite magazine ever, and she gave me hope that I could someday be in her place.

I also became involved with "unbound," which has been an awesome experience. I'm really impressed with the content of our election issue, and I look forward to seeing what we can put together next semester. Additionally, I'm going to be running for some section editor positions, and I'm excited for that as well.

Over the winter break, I'm going to be working on my JANE internship application. Fairchild finally got back to me, and though most positions are already filled for the upcoming spring semester, I can still try to get in for the summer or fall. Hopefully, my new buddy at JANE can help me out in that department. (That would be freakin' awesome.)

But what I'm worried about is my insecurity. Lately especially, I haven't felt as though I'm good enough for anything, much less to be employed by a major magazine. I mean, sure, my friends say that I'm a good writer, but what do they really know about good writing? (No offense to them- I adore them all, but they're not editors of major magazines or anything.) And what if I am good? Am I good enough? How many students at how many universities have the same goals that I have, want to do the same thing that I want to do, and are good writers to boot? Sometimes I wonder if I'm being too naïve, thinking that I'm any different from any other aspiring writer. Or maybe I'm just disgustingly pessimistic because I've been having such a rough time with personal issues lately.

Anyway, I suck right now, and once I get back to normal, I'll be just as cocky and confident as I once was, and nothing's going to stop me from getting what I want and where I want to be in life.

So the future's not necessarily as dismal as I had thought it would be. As long as I keep up my hard work and persistence, there's a decent chance that I'll be working my dream job. Hopefully.

Keep your fingers crossed that you'll see "Nicole L----s" on a masthead someday.

I feel a little bit cool...

...And this is why.

I e-mailed Annemarie Conte my phone number, and she called me on Tuesday evening. She gave me a lot of hope that I could someday end up with a sweet job like hers.

She got her internship at JANE during her sophomore year of college...aaaand she didn't have a ton of prior experience. (Me too!) She worked for the copy department, and managed to work her way into writing from there. (She suggested that I do the same.) After graduation, she got hired full-time by JANE, and she said that they usually hire a lot of interns. (Weeee!) And! Her only internship was with JANE, though she knows a lot of people who had several internships at different publications.

So I e-mailed the internship department at Fairchild, but I haven't heard anything back yet. Why do internship people hate me?

I'll send my (not totally impressive) resume there. Annemarie said it's easier to get in during the school year, "because anyone can move to New York during the summer". (Well, anyone with money, I guess.)

So yeah. I guess we'll see how that goes.

I love JANE magazine.

Yay.

Nope, I haven't heard back from the Courier-Post yet. I think I'm going to e-mail that first guy again, since he got back to me almost immediately. Whatever. All I want is a nice little copy-editing internship for the summer. Is that too much to ask for?

But in more positive news, I finally e-mailed Annemarie Conte at JANE, asking her about how she ended up with only the best job ever. I got a response literally immediately from her, and she told me to give her a call sometime or send her my number (in a non-pick-up type way, of course). Eeeee! That's exciting. I've got to get together a list of questions for her. What an awesome opportunity.

And so that was the highlight of my month, most likely.

The end.

Hello again.

Don't hate me because I haven't updated in ages. I intended on updating two weeks ago, but this stupid blogger site refused to post and lost my entry. I quit in frustration.

Yesterday, I gave it another try. The site wouldn't let me post anything. It sucks.

So here I am today. If this thing doesn't work, I'm going to fight someone.

I e-mailed that guy from the Courier-Post on November 21 or 22. Still no word. I'm getting super frustrated. I'll e-mail him again soon though. I suppose I've got to be annoyingly persistent. That's the way I am anyway. I usually get what I want, and if I don't, it's very ugly.

Also though, my friend goes to school in New York, and she's keeping her apartment over the summer. Maybe I could get something in the New York area and live with her. That'd be glorious. I'm just afraid that I don't have enough experience. We'll see.

I'm extremely overwhelmed by life in general right now. I need a break.

Internship search, cont'd.

I sent out a second e-mail to the Courier Post, but I have yet to receive a response. I think I'll give it until the end of the week, and then I'll send another e-mail. I don't want to be a pest, but I want my internship. Waiting until Friday or so is almost two weeks, which I think is a reasonable amount of time.

Also, I've applied to be a teen correspondent for the Courier Post. Hopefully, I'll hear back about that soon, since I'm only going to be a teenager for about six more months.

I need to get involved with the Signal. I should go get an article tonight, but I'm kind of going through some heavy emotional stuff right now and I can't even eat or sleep, so I don't think I can take on an assignment this week. Not to mention the fact that I have two big projects due next Monday, and Paige and I are going to get our website/digital story up and running soon. I need to stop making excuses and do something with myself, but on top of everything else, I can't do an article.

Feel sorry for me. I had a really shitty week, and this one won't be any better.

Internship search!

After meeting with Professor Pearson on Friday afternoon to discuss my schedule for next semester, I determined that it was time to really get on my internship search for summer 2005.

Since I'm more interested in magazine writing than newspaper journalism, I'd really prefer to intern for a magazine, but my home is in south Jersey- a commute to New York would take at least two hours. Also, since this will be my first real internship, it may be better to start smaller, and then use this experience to help me get a bigger internship at a major magazine.

I did a general search of New Jersey internships, and stumbled upon a site that listed all the newspapers in the state that offer summer internships for students. I've already been in contact with the Gloucester County Times, my local paper. But Professor Pearson suggested that I look at the Courier Post, a larger paper with a much larger circulation. On this site, I found an e-mail address, and contacted one of the editors, requesting information about how to apply for an internship. (According to the website, the Courier Post offers seven internships in different departments; I'm most interested in copy editing.) The editor responded to my e-mail almost immediately, and suggested that I contact a different editor.

So those are the results of my internship search so far. I'll e-mail editor #2 sometime today, so that he'll get my e-mail tomorrow. Hopefully after I hear back from him, I'll have some more solid information about the internship application process.

Eeeeeelection time!

I'm getting pretty nervous about the upcoming election. It's so soon, and so important. I have mini-anxiety attacks every time I think about it.

What could potentially happen if George W. Bush is re-elected? Armageddon.

This country needs to start over. We need a leader who can help our country regain the massive amounts of respect that it has lost in the past four years. We need a leader who can do something about this ridiculous budget deficit. We need a leader who cares about me and you and the majority of the country, not just that miniscule percentage of this nation who make more than $200,000 a year. We need a leader who will get our troops out of Iraq as soon and as safely as possible.

We need John Kerry as the next president of the United States.

For more on this, check out my blog in the recent election issues of "unbound", which you can find here.

Hopefully, by the time you read it, my latest posts regarding my trip to the Kerry-Clinton rally in Philadelphia last Monday will be online.

Oh man...Indecision 2004.

(In reference to the title of this entry- "The Daily Show" is amazing, and if anyone at CNN ever picks on Jon Stewart again, I will destroy them. Hear that, Tucker Carlson?)

A suggested topic for this week's blog entry related to the presidential election, and since I'm pretty passionate about politics, I think I'm going to run with this one. I know a lot more about politics than I'll probably ever know about HTML and digital storytelling, so hopefully this entry will be more interesting and make a lot more sense than my last few posts.

Frankly, I'm very worried about what's going to happen on November 2. To me, it's blatantly obvious that Senator John Kerry is the better man for the job. (Did you see the debates? Did you know that being the president of the most powerful nation in the world "is a hard job"? Because with President Bush's excessive repetition of that phrase during the first debate, that's the only thing I can remember him saying.) But the polls show that the candidates are (shockingly) close, and that makes me extremely nervous. I'm genuinely worried about what could potentially happen with Bush in office for another four years.

Well, at least we're definitely rid of him by 2008.

Anyway, I'm going to lead this brief election nugget into the realm of "shameless plug."

For about a month, I've been blogging the presidential election from a Democratic perspective for TCNJ's online magazine, "unbound." It's finally due tomorrow (!!) and I'm really excited and a little worried that the Republican blog's going to be better, but whatever. It'll be online soon, and I'll be sure to post the link when it's available.

Another digital storytelling-related question.

How does the inclusion of relationship elements engage the reader?

Naturally, everyone wants to be a part of something. We all like to think that certain things are created solely for our own use and benefit. If a reader has personal interest invested in a piece- or a "relationship" with it, if you will- then the reader will automatically become more involved in the piece. The reader will be more inclined to read it, finish it, and share it with others if it's something that really affects him or her and strikes a note within that reader's mind.

Interrelated stories create a sense of continuity. Theoretically, an interrelated, interlocking story never has to end. One story may branch off into other, creating a series of spinoffs which will keep the reader's attention for a long time.

(Once again, I'm writing to the best of my ability about concepts that I don't fully understand.)

Digital storytelling?

Homework question: "Is this understanding used in professional writing? How does this serve narrative functions such as scene-setting and character development?"

In all honesty, I don't think I can really answer this question. My knowledge of digital storytelling is extremely limited. I read "Elements of Digital Storytelling," but the concept is still not very clear to me. We touched on the subject only briefly in class, and I'm not quite sure exactly what digital storytelling entails. But I'll try to get through this the best that I can, though my answer may not make any sense at all. You've been duly warned.

I've just checked out this really cool website that was mentioned on the syllabus. It tells the stories of things related to apples (oddly enough) in wild, visually intriguing manner, with a blend of graphics, sounds, narrative, and other effects. I'm assuming that these effects are the "concepts" that I should have an "understanding" of, and I'll answer the questions as such.

In order to grab and maintain a reader's attention, a piece must have some special quality that makes it desirable to read. A professional writer uses various devices (language, style, format, etc.) to make the piece come alive, and in that way, yes- the concepts of digital storytelling are used in professional writing.

To answer the second question, the elements of digital storytelling- the visuals, the sounds, the text, and whatever else I may be missing- serve narrative functions because these elements are the vehicle that's telling the story. They are the narrative functions.

Another homework question: "How does action function as part of the narrative? Can it be likened to the function of transitions in a linear print narrative?"

Action is what keeps a narrative moving. I can't think of any story in which absolutely nothing happens. If one actually does exist, I bet it's really boring, and also really short. In digital storytelling, the action can be shown through various graphic tools and images, which assists in getting the story's message across to the reader. I suppose it could be likened to the function of transitions in a linear print narrative in that after an action has taken place, the story usually moves on to a new scene, and a transition moves a story onto a new scene as well.

(Note: I think all my answers to these questions are pretty lame, but I'm trying my hardest.)

I want to work for JANE so badly.

I went home this weekend to do some work for my local Democratic club. While I'm at school, my mother keeps the mail I receive at home in a pile on my dresser, and every time I head back to Pitman, I practically race past my parents in order to see if I got any of my magazines.

"Yeah, Mom, I haven't seen you in two weeks. But I haven't gotten a new 'Cosmo' in over a month!"

Anyway, on this visit, there was no "Cosmopolitan" waiting for me. (Despite the fact that I've been a subscriber for almost four years, I always seem to get my issue weeks after ShopRite and WaWa.) But I didn't mind that much, because the newest issue of "JANE" was waiting for me. It had slipped off of the dresser and was laying haphazardly on the floor, half on top of some old sneakers. The plastic cover looked a little beat. But it was still a glorious site to me. If I was forced to have only one magazine subscription, I'd give up "Cosmo" in a second.

I know I've said it before, but working for "JANE" is my ultimate career goal. It's fun, it's witty, it attacks serious subjects in a not-so-serious way. The articles are cleverly written, and the writers really interact with their subjects and inject a lot of their personal humor and style into everything they write.

I can't imagine doing straight journalism. I don't like the "no-nonsense, no-frills, just news" attitude. There's so much more I'd like to write about.

Test!

Check me out- got it on my second try.

The College of New Jersey

I own HTML.

Or maybe not. I'm learning though.

Sooo...welcome to my weblog!

Hello. My name is Nicole, and this is my first "serious" weblog post. (Actually, I attempted my first "serious" post a few hours ago, but accidentally lost it somehow, and am now trying to recreate the glory of my original entry.) I've been keeping a personal weblog for almost a year, but I doubt that professors and potential employers care about my weekend activities and what hot boys I've been kissing.

I'm a sophomore at the College of New Jersey. I created this weblog for my Introduction to Professional Writing class- a requirement for my major, which coincidentally, is professional writing/journalism. (I'm also pursuing a minor in women's and gender studies, if you're interested.) I'm just now getting my act together regarding my prospective career options.

I'm afraid that it's too late to start getting serious about my future. In class last week, Professor Kim Pearson told us about two TCNJ graduates who now work for "Elle" and "Jane", respectively- two of my absolute favorite magazines. (Annemarie Conte has my dream job.) It's nice to know that my TCNJ degree won't necessarily resign me to a lifetime at the "Gloucester County Times". But I need to get some internships and some real experience if I want to make it in my chosen field. I can't write about local farmstands and edit the most ignorant, infuriating pro-Bush "letters to the editor" for the rest of my life. Or for five seconds.