Life can be hard, but it is not impossible. Problems bring struggles, but we must go through them the best we can.
We are thrown from situation to situation, expected to succeed. To simply “get by”, wiggling is the way to go. If you struggle, you seem to accept the fate to are given. Wiggling out of situations leaves the spirit only slightly wounded.
There are bad situations, and then there are truly horrible situations. A murder is much worse than dropping a precious iPhone 7 in a toilet. While the water-logged phone is much more common amongst people, it holds no dramatic equivalence to murder. This situation is something you wiggle out of, murder is a struggle.
As a baby of a few months old, rather than crawl, I wiggled and rolled everywhere. Maybe it was my way of getting around the “normal baby milestones” every mother dreams about. My wiggling was easier for me, rather than struggling to crawl.
Life is only a struggle if you allow it to be. Wiggle on!
This camp and experience was incredible. Coming in with no prior journalism education, I have learned so much in many different fields.
After finding out I was accepted into the program, I was beyond excited. I was getting to kind of experience college life and learn the basics in all sorts of multimedia fields. To top it all off, I was getting to see lots of behind-the-scenes in so many different aspects of Pittsburgh. With the first day of camp fast approaching, the butterflies in my stomach kept growing. Things like living with a stranger and public showers started to terrify me. Shutting my suitcase Monday morning, I was just throwing myself into a completely new world.
Day one was nervously incredible. Getting to know my roommate, Emily, was a little terrifying. I am not a super social person, so living with a complete stranger was a new challenge on top of the camp. Luckily, we had common interests and got along really well.
From a learning perspective, we were thrown into it right away. I appreciated learning the basics, since I was walking into this without any experience. Taking the Duquesne Incline to take pictures was great. I am not one to take many, but I was able to really enjoy taking them. Turns out I am pretty good at it too.
A Gorgeous Day on Mt. Washington
Tuesday was even better than Monday. Touring PPG Paints was like a dream come true, as cheesy as that sounds. Seeing the behind the scenes was incredible, but hearing what it was like to work for the Penguins was just as eye-opening. I never knew how much went into the job, even when it is the offseason.
Here’s to Another Fifty
Day three, the longest day of the camp. Watching the twelve o’clock news at KDKA was so neat. There were so many aspects that goes into a news taping that I had never considered. Even something as simple as the background in the newsroom is made up of televisions that have been turned on their side. The cameras are robots controlled by someone in a booth.
On Set
The snack walk was deliciously disappointing. It was so cool to go see all of the different candies and have a genuine conversation with two workers at Katie’s Kandy. At our next stop, Prantl’s Bakery, I was a little disappointed. I bought an Oreo cake cup and a red velvet cake cup. The velvet tasted frozen and thawed, but the Oreo redeemed my happiness. The atmosphere also left me disheartened. The shop was small and not super well lit. Also there were only a few workers even at the store, with most working in the back.
The Oreo was Great, Red Velvet… Not as Much.
The Pirate game was a whole new thing. The tour had a great view, but it was only one stop. It felt like we were cheated out of a more interesting tour.
God I Love Pittsburgh.
Despite the extreme heat, the game was not too bad. Through playing softball since elementary school, baseball games have become more and more fun to watch. Most importantly, the food was delicious. The freeze pop was probably the highlight of the night. The orange was refreshing and helped beat the heat.
Best Way to Beat the Heat
I cannot believe this past four days have flown by so quickly. Doing this camp has left me with many things to think about in the next few years. So many things I had already made up in my mind have changed and left me confused. Most importantly, the skills that I learned from so many different media aspects will help me in high school journalism and beyond.
The City of Pittsburgh is so fortunate. We have teams with not two or three, but five or six titles each.
Fifth Times the Charm
Behind the success and the wins are the people that keep the fans up to date… People like Tom McMillan, the Vice President of Communications for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He does everything I want to do, but I had no clue that the job comes with a catch. He warned us that “[they] see less of the games than anyone”. Even the winning goal of the Stanley Cup Championship this year was watched from the television as they prepared for the impending media frenzy.
This truly put things into a different perspective. Even though working for the Penguins, a clearly successful organization, would be incredible, giving up the games might not be worth it. Honestly it probably would be, if in return you get a day with the cup and a giant ring to go with it.
A View I Could Get Used To
As much as I would love all of the behind the scenes, the outside media would not be too bad either. I could experience everything, plus other opportunities that have yet to be known. Going the traditional route does come with advantages like an incredible view of the ice and free food (and who does not want free food).
All of the things I have learned about the communication industry is sort of a whirlwind. There are so many routes and decisions to wade through in the upcoming years. Even though it seems overwhelming, I know this is the job route I want to explore. As long as I can write about or work for my Pittsburgh sports teams, the rest will figure itself out.
