Karen Jaen Portfolio 2012 by Renee Burke

May 14, 2012 Madam or Sir Universal Studios Orlando 6000 Universal Blvd Orlando, Florida 32819 (407) 363-8000 Dear Madam or Sir, With my ability to multi-task, organize and communicate well with others I feel I am qualified to apply as an Universal employee at the Universal Studios Orlando. My quick grasp at different tasks allows me to become proficient in any task I am assigned, which can be of much value to the tourism of the theme park. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m writing because I am very interested in working in a theme park. As the current Front Desk manager at Kumon Learning Center I have learned how to manage a job and my personal life simultaneously which will help me in the hectic setting of a theme park. I joined the William R. Boone High School Hi-Lights Newspaper Staff in 2008. The staff has helped me develop organization skills and fluent communication skills. I have held an editor position for three years and have earned these positions because of my ability to grasp skills quickly as well as my leadership qualities. Through the interviewing process, required by every article written in the paper, I have learned how to communicate well with others and really understand what others are trying to communicate to me; I feel this skill would be effective in trying to grasp the concept of working at a theme park. Although the accompanying resume illustrates my background well, I feel a personal interview would better demonstrate my knowledge and abilities. An interview would also give us the opportunity to become familiar with each other. I would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you at convenient time. Thank you for your review and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Respectfully yours,

Karen Jaen Enclosed: resume

4503 Fontana Street Orlando, FL 32807 (407)-600-1893 - karenjaen10@gmail.com karenjaen.wordpress.com @kjaen15

OBJECTIVE To enhance my knowledge in theme park administration through constant daily practice. EDUCATION Completed four years at William R. Boone High School Graduation Date: June 2, 2012 GPA: 3.97 EXPERIENCE Hi-lights Newspaper Staff Member, William R. Boone High School

•August 2011-June 2012. Editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper.

• August 2010- present. Campus and Local editor of the campus newspaper.

• August 2009-June 2010. Entertainment editor of the campus newspaper. • August 2008- July 2009. Researched information for news articles using Web sources. Composed and edited information articles, editorials, features stories and reviews. Kumon Learning Center, 1700 N. Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida, 32804

• October 2009- present. Front desk manager and instructor at the center. Managing work received and given while instructing children ages three to fourteen in both math and reading.

RELEVANT HIGH SCHOOL STUDIES Journalism I, II, and III; Multimedia Technologies; Mass Media. These classes provide knowledge of Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop CS5, Wordpress and other Web software. In pursuit of gaining Adobe Photoshop CS5 Certification. HONORS, AWARDS, AND MEMBERSHIPS • 2012 Columbia Press Association Journalism Honor Roll

•Florida Scholastic Press Association Excellent Award

• 2010 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Silver Crown for Hi-Lights Newspaper One of three schools awarded in the state of Florida • 2009 Columbia Scholastic Press Association for Silver Crown for Hi- Lights Newspaper • Florida Scholastic Press Association Honorable Mention 4503 Fontana Street Orlando, FL 32807 (407)-600-1893 - karenjaen10@gmail.com karenjaen.wordpress.com @kjaen15

Hi-lights Newspaper

4503 Fontana Street Orlando, FL 32807 (407)600-1893 karenjaen10@gmail.com karenjaen.wordpress.com @kjaen15

Hi-lights Newspaper

4503 Fontana Street Orlando, FL 32807 (407)600-1893 karenjaen10@gmail.com karenjaen.wordpress.com @kjaen15

Editor-in-Chief

Personal Essay I think my feelings about journalism have grown in a positive way since my first experience with it my freshman year. Before I joined staff, I really did not pay attention to the amount of work it took for a newspaper or any sort of journalistic piece to come together, now that I am experienced in what goes into journalism I have come to greatly appreciate it. My choice to start in journalism was spontaneous, it was never something I had really taken interest in until I was introduced to Hi-Lights. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even know I had the opportunity to join a publication like the newspaper throughout my high school career, it was a choice I made because for some reason it was calling to me. Although my first year on staff was not ideal, it was a learning experience and I believe the experience helped me grow. All the rules to remember about newspaper writing were overwhelming, I did not realize that writing for the paper would be so involved. However, after my freshman year I realized I was capable of remembering all the rules and I also learned what area of school I had the most passion for. Being on the newspaper is something that is rewarding and it has greatly influenced me on the career path I want to embark on. Throughout my four years on staff I was able to acquire more and more skills that helped me gain higher positions every year. My sophomore year, I gained an editor position which put a lot more responsibility on my plate, but it was a great experience. Through being an editor I realized how much I loved designing; I am a creative person and I thoroughly enjoyed having the privilege to design an entire section of the paper. My junior year I was also an editor and was able to express my ideas through design again, however, that is when I realized I wanted to and felt able to obtain a higher leadership position. I wanted to be able to share and help others with any problems they might be having while writing or designing a story. Consequently, when I applied for Editor-in-Chief, I was also thinking about how the position could help me with my communication skills. It was a position I felt I was qualified to obtain because of the contributions I made to the paper. As far as contribution to journalism, I feel like I have given my best skills in design and writing. I try to make sure to always write interesting stories and to bring attention to those stories in a creative manner. I also feel like I have contributed a well-rounded opinion to those who need some help capturing an angle for a story. I also think that joining hilights.org was also a great decision because it opened my eyes to a brand new market for journalism. The Web site gave me knowledge as to how journalism is developing and allowed me to gain new skills. Journalism has definitely influenced my future. I am planning on double majoring in Graphic Design and Communications at Florida State University. I want to be able to express my journalism skills in a creative manner, whether it be through a career in advertising design or as a graphic designer.

Self-analytical evaluation The most valuable skill I have acquired this year is definitely communication. I have been able to understand peers and be able to share ideas in a responsible manner with others. As far as production skills, I feel like I have developed an effective routine for completing all pending tasks on time. I don’t think I struggled at all with deadlines this year as far as my own stories go, instead I found myself completing most of my work at home so that I would be available to help others during the limited class time. I got a feel for this routine during the first issue when I found my name being constantly called for help, I figured it would be easiest to focus on my writing at home where I wasn’t being called repeatedly. I also had to meet deadline constantly because I have to set an example for others because I am in a leadership position, if I slacked off it might have compelled other staffers to do the same. I also learned to give up some sleep every deadline and make it my responsibility to spell check and compile the paper when the time came to complete it. Since the time I joined staff, I believe trouble with teamwork was never a problem for me. I always get along with others and try to make new staffers as comfortable as possible. When I had the chance, I let them know that I was always available for help. I made myself available in and out of the classroom, staffers would sometimes text me or email me with questions they had with their stories, which I think made communicating easy. I also tried to reason through confusion while editing stories by confronting the staffer and letting him know why I was confused and letting him explain what he meant to say then working together to come up with a solution to the problem. I felt like I always kept an open mind to my peer’s ideas and always helped when I felt like they needed or asked for input. As far as advertising goes, I definitely could’ve done better. This is a problem I could’ve resolved if I had cleared more time to sell advertisements, however, I do not feel like that is an excuse. Throughout the year I think I learned how important it is to have an understanding on the importance of journalism ethics. I think ethics is an essential aspect to understand when writing a credible and factual story. I learned that because we are such a large voice on campus, it is important to have credible information so that no misleading information is presented. This also goes for something as simple as misquoting someone which can change the whole angle of a story and could lead to offending someone. I think that my passion for writing and designing constantly fueled my dedication. I never complained about the extra hours or the extra work handed to me. As a leader I didn’t expect anything less and dedication was the most important factor in completing the product. Dedication also meant having patience to help others; the paper is a team effort and cannot be done alone.

Reflection 1 Since the idea rose about writing about the homeless population, I had a deep interest in writing the story. The angle seemed so involved in the beginning and that was what interested me the most. The initial purpose of the story was to write about someone who was suffering from being homeless and his opinion on the growing population in Central Florida.. However, when Molly and I went on a search for a homeless person to talk to, we ran into someone who instead of suffering from being homeless, was enjoying it. The angle of the story completely changed after we interviewed the stranger at Lake Eola. When both of us first sat down to determine how we were going to approach a homeless person, we had no idea that we would an encounter such an easy going person. Molly and I had prepared for every type of encounter we would have except for the one this man gave us. The fact that he was so open about his lifestyle made it extremely easy to complete our purpose. We interviewed this man for about an hour and a half and it was less formal than interview, it was much more like a interesting conversation which allowed us to get a good feel for who he was and what message he wanted to convey through the story. The face to face conversation made writing the story easy because we understood exactly what we wanted to put in the story and how we should approach it. The interview basically wrote the story for us. The hardest part about writing the story was probably choosing the write words to convey our angle and to interpret what this man was really like. Other than what words to put it in, it was a simple process. From sitting with this man at the park, I also knew how I wanted to show him in the story. I wanted readers to see him for who he really was which is why I designed the page the way it is. The first draft is not much different from the final draft except for the amount of detail in the story. The final piece is much more involved and allows the reader to really understand the two men we interviewed (the second who was a spontaneous addition to our journey). The first draft, however, had much of the basis of the story which is still in the final draft of the story. The most significant difference in the first and final draft is the design, the final draft is put together and I think the design is creative and original. My favorite part about this story is the way we wrote the story because it allowed his voice to really shine through. The story didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sound boring and it really gave the reader a personal look on the lifestyle this man practiced.

Reflection 2 I chose this piece as the story that still needs work because I feel like I needed to add more of my own voice into the story. I think what influenced this was that it was my first time writing a story that addressed the reader so directly. I also didn’t know how to put the story together because it is supposed to introduce the stories in the paper. From the first draft I feel like I didn’t really convey my voice, I didn’t think the story was as personal as should be. In the final piece I still don’t think that my voice as a writer was there as much as it should have been. I don’t think the story was badly written but I do think that it lacks that personal touch. The story sounds like it much more of a list then a story that should be introducing the paper. While writing this piece, I learned that I can still add a personal touch to my writing without making something sound too biased. Even though this story is an editorial, I felt like I still needed to sound mature on the topics I voiced my opinion on. I also learned how to get a clearer focus on how to write an editorial and how to voice my opinion on some matters. However, when I was writing this piece I felt some pressure as to how to say certain things because my Letter from the Editor is an introduction to the paper, I did not want my readers to be off put by the angle I was focusing on and not continue to read the paper. However, the final piece still came out well-written and although it was not a personal as I would have liked it to be, I still feel like it was safe. I also feel like the work gave me a foundation as to how I could further improve on my writing, especially on this particular piece.

Reflection 3

The depth of this picture is what makes me the most proud. The way she is positioned over her chalk art and the titled angle in which the photograph is in gives emphasis on the meaning behind the picture. The picture shows how concentrated the subject is on the chalk art and the endurance she has when assuming that position to finish whatever task she is performing. The girl is the center of visual interest, her face is also visible which makes the picture have more emotion. The picture also follows the rules of thirds, she is not exactly in the middle and she is also positioned in a abstract angle.

Art Festival 3-9_Karen027.jpg

Reflection 3 cont.

The most compelling part of this picture is the emotion captured in the subjectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s face. She is running to get to third base and the way her body is positioned and the angle the photo is captured in shows her rush to reach the base. This picture follows the rule of thirds because the subject is on the left side of the picture and also exhibits depth of field; only the subject is in focus while the rest of the picture is blurred which increases the focus on the emotions of the girl.

Softball vs Mandarin 5-1_Karen_o26.jpg

Reflection 3 cont.

My favorite part about this picture is that the attention of the players is so clearly captured; they are running to get the ball which lies on the floor. The ball is in a position where it is not usually seen., on the floor. I love that although discreet, the ball is the center of visual attention because every single playerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s head is turned in itsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; direction. The picture follows the rule of thirds by having no subject in the middle of the picture and also parallelism because there are two players from opposing teams on the left and right sides of the picture.

Boys Lacrosse 2-24-KarenJaen_023.jpg

Reflection 4 I feel like I was a great asset to the 2012 Hi-Lights staff. As far as my commitment goes, I feel like I constantly proved my dedication to the newspaper. I am always willing to take advice and criticism from others on an article or design and I am also willing to do the same for others. I spent mornings and afternoon in the newspaper room trying to get everything adjusted so that the paper could go to press without any errors because even though the paper is read over and over, there are always last minute errors to correct and I spent my time putting it together. There were also times where I helped others and gave them advice over their story and how they could better approach the angle they were trying to achieve. I felt like I was such a great asset to the staff because I tried my best to make everyone feel comfortable enough to not be intimidated to ask questions about their stories. Being comfortable with everyone also makes a stressful environment a little easier to deal with. Getting to know my staffers was the most important part of the year. As far as hilights.org, I feel like I was also a tremendous asset to the Web site. Since becoming a little more organized this year, I have grown to like writing for the Web. I also feel like hilights.org gave me initiative to get out there and take pictures for sporting events, which I found was something that I really loved doing. Although I have no had much practice with the camera, the photo galleries I completed had a collection of some great pictures. I also think that as far as stepping up and giving ideas for the Web site, I have done my job well. I constantly give input in the classroom when we are brainstorming for ideas to improve the site. I think that my input in the class allows others to grow on an idea. I was also an asset to the online staff because whenever I signed up for a story, I always completed it; I ended up writing more than I should have, which I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mind because writing for the Web is simple and direct. I think I constantly took the initiative to keep adding on to the Web site and to our social networking sites. When I was taking pictures for boys lacrosse, I realized there was enough downtime in the game to tweet updates, I learned how to have direct tweets and gave the class some tips from what I learned that night. I felt like I was always on top of trying to bring new ideas to both publications while still being able to get my work done on deadline and helping others.

Reflection 5 I think the biggest problem I faced this year was handling my stress. As a leader, I felt like it was my responsibility to make sure everything is getting done and even if that means taking over someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work. The stress the came from the amount of work I did for the paper took a toll on what was going on outside of the classroom. There were many times where I just came home and was too tired to even touch any other homework I had. Keeping my stress at a minimum is definitely something I tried my hardest to handle so that it would not have such an impact on me. I also think that I also have a hard time controlling my patience with others. Although I never really had a problem with others on staff, I always felt somewhat frustrated when certain people were not doing what they were supposed to be doing. I had to take many deep breaths before I felt like I was ready to handle a situation without overreacting. I also think that my handling of my patience was affected by the stress that I felt come deadline time. I learned how to manage these two frustrations by trying to not to handle all those tasks on my own. I was used to not asking others for help to complete something as simple as reading over, but I learned it was much easier to let others to take over some easy responsibilities I had. I just felt like as a leader I needed to handle certain things and felt like I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t completing my duties as Editor-in-chief if I let others do some of my work for me. I also learned that by communicating with others, much of the confusion and problems that arose in the final stages of putting the paper together were cleared up and I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to deal with the added stress. There were several instances where my name was being called over and over again and it kept me from my work which also frustrated me. However, I learned that by doing my writing and other work at home, especially for the Web site, I could handle this repeated occurrence.

Reflection 6 At the midterm, I said that keeping my stress at a minimum was my greatest weakness. I also said it was difficult for me to not take out the stress I felt on the staffers, especially because most of them were so new to writing for the paper. I felt like I improved on my weakness by realizing I could control my stress by taking deep breaths and through communication with others. I always feel like I take on a lot of responsibilities when it comes to publications and sometimes that becomes overwhelming. The environment becomes especially difficult when staffers are calling my name for help while I am trying to finish my work. However, I learned how to manage my time so that I would not feel so much pressure in the classroom. I learned that by writing and doing my own work at home, I had enough free time to help others in class. I realized that class time is limited and it is when staffers take their chance to get help on their stories which is what also influenced my decision to do all of my work at home. I also learned that through communication many of the problems I encountered while compiling the paper could be resolved. If I wrote a list of all the tasks and errors needed to be fixed I could tell those who wrote the stories what needed to be done before the paper was ready to be sent to the press. Although not directly addressed in the Mass Media midterm exam, I felt like my greatest weakness was trying to find an interesting angle for a story that I could still keep brief. I felt like I accomplished this weakness by including the most important details in the story that way the reader could get more direct information, this made the purpose of the story much easier to come across. I also felt like another weakness I had was the lack of news stories I wrote for the Web. I felt like I improved on this issue by taking on stories like my All Star Weekend story and my softball wrap up. I also think that I got a better grasp on how to write for the Web.

Reflection 7 N12. Personality profile. “Homeless men forage unique paths” page 10, May 11, 2012. I would like this piece to represent me because I feel like it is not a story a reader comes across everyday. It is a story with an interesting angle and I feel like the story captures the two men’s life in an impressive manner. I feel like the reader gets to know the men who are featured in the story, the reader also has a clear understanding of the type of lifestyle the two men practice.

DM-30. Photography portfolio of work. http://hilights.smugmug.com/Sports/2011-12BHS-Hi-Lights/Boys-Lacrosse-2-24/ I would like these photographs to represent me because I feel like each picture captures each player’s emotion well. This gallery includes pictures that have depth of field and follow the rule of thirds. The action captured in these shots are also something I would like to represent in my photography skills.

Reflection 7 cont. DM3. News writing. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Orlando succeeds in hosting All Star Weekendâ&#x20AC;? http://hilights.org/archives/6062 I would like this piece to represent me because I feel like it captures all the events that occurred during the All Star Weekend in a detailed manner while still maintaining the brevity of a Web story. I also think that this piece is well written and gives the reader all the information he needs to know about what happened at this event. The story also gives the opinion of two students on the event and their experience at the NBA All Star Game.

Reflection 8 I think my portfolios have always had a similar element as far as design goes; however, I feel like that same element is just my personal creative touch. Compared to my previous portfolios, I feel like this one is much more professional and organized. This organization is accredited to the quick set of skills I learned are very effective in InDesign. My design for this portfolio is also more developed than in my past portfolios. I feel like I really expanded on my skills in illustrator, making my vectors flow better into the design I wanted to achieve. Each year, I feel like I made subtle improvements in my design and organization of my portfolios. In my first portfolio, I did not have a good grasp on InDesign which made it difficult to put the portfolio together. I did not know how important missing links were or how to just simply paste objects in place. These little tricks I learned in InDesign have helped me have a more focused and mature design. Only last year I began to play with Illustrator and I found that I really loved it because I could draw anything I wanted and use it on my portfolio. I used Illustrator to voice a much more creative design in my portfolio which also helped me come up with a clear and concise look. I like simplicity but I also will not diminish any creative elements that may accent the creativity of my portfolio. Consequently, I feel like this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s portfolio design allowed me to combine all my skills from the Adobe programs I have mastered. This year I was able to make the vectors I wanted in Illustrator, add effects to them in Photoshop and make them all come together in InDesign. I was able to achieve the quirky chalkboard look effectively. As far as writing, I feel like I now know how to express myself clearly. I know how to keep my ideas short, sweet and to the point. I felt like in my first portfolio I added too much fluff and I was too repetitive in the ideas I wanted to present. I feel like this year I have learned how to put my words together in a clear and mature manner which allows my ideas to be presented clearly. The overall quality of my work has improved so greatly compared to last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s portfolio. I feel like I was missing something to tie everything together in my portfolio last year. But this year, I tried my hardest to make sure all my fonts and my vectors came together perfectly to create the chalkboard theme I wanted to accomplish.

Designs

Secondary coverage Campus and local, page 9, Oct. 7, 2011

Page design Sports, page 20, October 7, 2011

Illustration Entertainment, page 21, Feb. 10, 2012

Illustration Special, page 14 and 15, March 16, 2012

Portfolio DPS design

Hi-Lights

October

Editorials, page 4, Oct. 7, 2011

November

Editorials, page 4, Nov. 6, 2011

December

Editorials, page 4, Dec. 14, 2011

Campus and local, page 9, Dec. 14, 2011

February

Editorials, page 4, Feb. 10, 2012

March

Editorials, page 4, March 16, 2012

May

Editorials, page 4, May 11, 2012

Editorials, page 10, May 11, 2012

hilights.org

http://hilights.org/archives/3823

http://hilights.org/archives/4142

http://hilights.org/archives/4372

http://hilights.org/archives/4545

http://hilights.org/archives/4849

http://hilights.org/archives/5386

http://hilights.org/archives/6062

http://hilights.org/archives/6834

http://hilights.org/archives/6927

http://hilights.org/archives/6996

photo galleries

http://hilights.smugmug.com/Sports/2011-12-BHS-Hi-Lights/Boys-Lacrosse-2-24/

http://hilights.smugmug.com/Events/2011-12-BHS-Hi-Lights/Art-Festival-3-9/

http://hilights.smugmug.com/Sports/2011-12-BHS-Hi-Lights/Girls-Lacrosse-4-4/

http://hilights.smugmug.com/Sports/2011-12-BHS-Hi-Lights/Softball-5-1/