University of Missouri Journalism students studying abroad at Leipzig University (Germany) are doing big things. Check out the article below to learn more.
"'Through the Looking Glass' - Media and Journalism in Germany"
University of Missouri Journalism students studying abroad at Leipzig University (Germany) are doing big things. Check out the article below to learn more. "'Through the Looking Glass' - Media and Journalism in Germany" It's not always the items on the itinerary or the carefully planned sightseeing trips that make a trip memorable. Often, it's chance encounters with strangers, people we’ve never met and know nothing about that impact us more greatly and teach us more about our humanity and ourselves. In the article below, readers submit personal stories about just such situations. From a New Yorker in Indonesia during 9/11 to comparing afros in Africa to helpful local farmers in India these stories remind us why the unexpected can sometimes be the highlight of the trip. Strategic communication student studying in Brussels says experiences surpassed expectations4/27/2011
By Erin Meyer
Upon completing the last week of her internship in the communications department at SWIFT, a large financial services company in Brussels, Katherine Stieren, a strategic communication student, reflects on her experiences during her time abroad. “I would just like to say that this experience has proved to be everything I expected and more,” said Stieren. “I think studying abroad is one of the most eye-opening, invigorating and amazing experiences a young person could ever have.” Stieren found adjusting to everyday life in a foreign country to be the most challenging part of living abroad. “Every day can be challenging, yet invigorating at the same time,” said Stieren. “From the foods at the grocery store to everyone around you speaking a foreign language, nearly every aspect of your life is different from the one you've always known, and you adapt and learn so much very quickly. Stieren credits her time abroad with expediting her learning. “I often tell people who ask me about it that I think I have learned about myself and the world in [the last] four months what would normally take someone five years,” said Stieren. Stieren spent her weekends traveling with friends to different cities including Athens, Dublin and Barcelona. She says she will most miss the constant excitement of traveling and exploring while living abroad. “There was not a moment when we weren't busy,” said Stieren. “At times it was exhausting, but in such a great way.” Stieren is spending the last week of her internship at SWIFT creating promotional items for an upcoming internal education event as well as spending time with her parents who are visiting. As the semester nears it's close study abroad students are wrapping up their classes and finishing work at their internships. Though they are happy to return to Columbia many of them will miss their time abroad. Read some of their reflections on their experience below:
Ben Wagner, Brussels Program "At this point, I feel completely comfortable in going out on a story on my own (with a cameraman), setting up interviews and finishing the story without any help from a senior producer. That day at Parliament was incredibly validating because I literally built the story from the ground up, communicated with the Paris and Berlin offices about sending video and scripts and finished the story in a timely manner. It’s times like these where I really wish this internship when just a bit longer. But in the end, I feel like I’ve gotten everything I could out of this experience at Reuters. I never held back; I pushed as many boundaries as possible and I always came in looking to do even more than I had the day before. Sure, I definitely got knocked down a fair share of times and even made a fool out of myself in front of heads of state. But I think that’s really the only way you can truly learn what you’re capable of, and it’s certainly the only way you’re going to get better. So as a result of the whole process, I will leave Reuters and Brussels with absolutely no regrets or unanswered questions about journalism, and more importantly – about myself. Ultimately, I think that’s the best I could have asked for from my time here." Emily Morris, London Program "I’m having a few mixed feelings about the end of the program, which is coming up in the imminent future. On one hand I feel as if I’ve come to the point when I’ve learned just about the most I can from my internship and I am ready to move on. On the other hand, it has been an incredible learning experience and it will feel strange to leave it. I’m hoping everything comes together well for our last issue, as my stories are more complex and involved than they have been before." Photo Courtesy of Caitlin Alexander MU Journalism students Caitlin Alexander and Emily Smoucha are doing big things while studying abroad in London. Alexander, who is interning with CBS, has been shooting stand-ups outside of Buckingham Palace and prepping for the royal wedding while Smoucha an intern with GreenWise, a resource for UK companies looking to decrease carbon consumption, was published in The Guardian (article here). Read what they have to say about their experiences in London below. Caitlin Alexander This week, the reality that little time remains between now, the royal wedding, and my departure from London became all too apparent. CBS has hired several new interns in preparation of the network's descent on the bureau in the upcoming weeks. As my supervisor jokes, it seems I've risen in seniority. But to some extent, this seems true. Coworkers have phoned me to help out more often, presumably because they trust me and my work ethic by now. I was sent on a shoot this week to help a producer interview the owner of a bakery manufacturing specialty royal wedding biscuits. I feel as though CBS has helped me think on my feet, because I was able to contemplate gaps in my coworker's questions, and I was allowed to pose a question or two after the formal interview. I'm enjoying spending time and growing with my kind and talented coworkers, and I look forward to cherishing the time I have left with them. On top of the wedding to-dos, I've been watching the wires and working on my news package. I shot a standup outside of Buckingham Palace! Emily Smoucha It felt surprisingly good to return to work after spring break. I dove back into things and wrote several stories this week. One story that I wrote was about how the Carbon Trust has launched a new guide for SMEs on how to make their businesses profitable by going green. The market is estimated to be worth £112 billion in the UK, so it's important for businesses to get involved. I'm particularly proud of this story because The Guardian picked it up and published it on its website. Another story that I'm particularly proud of is the story I wrote about the International Energy Agency's Clean Energy Progress Report. I was able to speak with the report's author, and he gave me a better perspective on what the UK specifically should be doing to reduce its carbon emissions in light of the findings of the report rather than a general overview of what needs to be done globally as stated in the report. It was great to get this unique angle on the story. I also wrote stories about a new recycling scheme that makes recycling thin plastic packaging easier for consumers, growing biomass crops on unused agricultural land to help meet energy targets, a new Scottish research center for developing methods to ensure food security through sustainable farming methods, and additional government funding for tidal energy generation projects. Photo Courtesy of Anna Smylie Strategic Communication Student Anna Smylie got hands-on experience this week hosting events for Johnson & Johnson and Samsung in Buenos Aires. Read a first hand account of her experiences in Argentina below and check out her blog Smylie Del Sur. Much of my experience in the journalism school at MU was reaffirmed by our media excursion to Bariloche this past week. We were fortunate enough to follow a reporter for a regional news station, Canal Seis, on a day’s work. He negotiated with all of his interviewees to allow us to sit-in on live interviews. We saw the reporter question politicians, an ombudsman, a police chief and the head of a regional electric corporation. Each interview revealed issues and progressive solutions occurring within Bariloche and Patagonia as a whole. Most interesting to me were the stories regarding a police scandal and their burnt building and the project regarding the villa renovation. Our group eventually returned to the broadcast station in order to see the stories aired on television during the 2 p.m. news segment. Each week Missouri School of Journalism students working at internships in international cities submit a report highlighting their work. For, Scott Kanowsky, a radio & television journalism student interning at Reuters Television in Brussels, this week was more exciting than most. Read his first hand account of protests that broke out prior to a European Union Leadership Conference below.
A Day at Reuters TV in Brussels By: Scott Kanowsky Last week was insanity for Reuters TV in Brussels. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday all saw stories breaking while we tried to assemble together every able bodied man, woman, and child for Summit coverage. Journalists went missing in Libya--reaction from Amnesty international was needed. Three European Parliament representatives were caught on tape by a British paper of taking money to influence legislation. We interviewed the Romanian MEP being investigated. During it all, cameraman filed in from Amsterdam and Brussels to prepare for the Summit. At first, I thought the amount of people we had working on the story was overkill. I was never so wrong. |
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