portfolio
OLIVIA STICKEL
WINTER 2017
table of cont
2
essays: SA WHAT I’VE LEARNED
4
essays: R1 PICKING FAVORITES
6
tear sheets: intro //
8
tear sheets SEPTEMBER ; OCTOBER
ents
10 tear sheets NOVEMBER ; DECEMBER
self-analytical evalutation
A GIRL WITH A VISION
2
essays: SA
AFTER SO LITTLE YEARS, I never thought I would be
able to get as far as I have. This being my third year with newspaper and second with yearbook, I have met the most amazing people that have changed the way I am for the better. One of the ways my fellow journalism peers have helped me this semester in particular is learning how to be a leader. I feel as though one of the places I struggle is reigning in workers and trying to give them direction, mostly because I falter at my own decisions. In yearbook, all of my freinds are leaders as well, and they have shown me useful ways to guide a team my first year of yearbook leadership; the same situation is evident in newspaper in that all of my friends are among the leaders and have never failed at helping me with picking a direction and sticking with it. In newspaper, I also have to deal with students not completing their work more often than yearbook, because I find myself busy at my computer while the writers are supposed to be doing their work unlike yearbook when I’m involved with my team. I have learned to do daily checkups with the writers to ensure that their assigned work is getting done, and to constantly be editing their stories. Being a leader brings both pros and cons along with it, and this semester the pro has been the ability to have a vision and run with it, and have others bring that vision to fruition. It is an amazing feeling to be so passionate about a thought and have others be just as passionate as you and add to that thought. However, a con that I have found with leadership is when someone is not passionate about that vision I assign to them, which at that point it is impossible to try and get them to be even remotely close to how excited I am about the new project. This has been especially trying in yearbook, because I am extremely passionate about doing the best I can
to provide the highest quality possible lasting impression the book leaves in the lives of the students. As much as I try to rev up the writers interests’, sometimes it is more of a waste of time to do that than to just do it myself. With each deadline that passes, I learn more about prioritizing and how important it is in being able to finish everything on time. Since I lead such a stressful life, it has become virtually impossible to finish everything by the day it is set to be due, and therefore have to try and get what I know I can dne and knock down on the rest afterwards. If I try and do everthing all at once, I drown in other work and can never come back. Deadlines are important, but they are also just as relative as time. When it comes down to ethics in journalism, I feel as though this semester my classmates and I have learned how important it is to be objective when writing and how easy it is to write opinion as the mind runs free when typing an article. Almost every article that I have read through for my page has had some form of opinion in it, even if small. It can ruin an entire article, making it feel as though it could even be fake news. I have definitely learned to raise awareness of how to avoid being subjective, and to not let it slide. Hardships and all, this semester has been a sesmester of growth and thinking outside the box. I have learned leadership in both yearbook and newspaper, and overall have widened my view of design and of writing, all thanks to my peers.
essays: SA
3
4
essays: R1
reflection one
NOTHING IS EVER PERFECT.
LIFE
When it comes down to my own work, I am very skeptical of myself, and always believe I can imporve. However, I do take pride in what I do and therefore have an inner unmatchable appreciation for every article, spread, and page design I complete. So far this year, my favorite features spread was undoubtedly my unsolved mysteries spread in the october issue. Not only was the theme something I have a deep rooted excitement for, but it has also ben the most cohesive design I have done to date. The choice of drop caps for each story drew in readers, and the articles’ short lengths was a good choice to keep students’ eyes on the page. I also love how with every ministory followed a matching picture, which added depth and realness to each article. There were some mental barriers I had to overcome to create this page, each helped me and develop my design skill set. The biggest obstacle was figuring out just how to assign the page. I knew I wanted it to be about murder mysteries or anything unsolved for that matter but normally a page is to have a sidebar of some sort, a graphic, maybe an opinion, and a few long articles. Howeve, I knew that this issue was the time to try something different; I decided to assign many small articles and nothing else. Although only having written a few articles this semester, I have been lucky enough to secure a column-”Stickel Says”. It is the most amazing opportunity to be able to have a piece of the newspaper every month dedicated to something you care so much writing about. With every issue, I improve on my opinion writing and movie
critiquing skills through this fortunate and gratuitous decision by the staff to run my column. My favorite “Stickel Says” that has been published was my review of Blade Runner: 2049. It was the second addition to the column, and I really buckled down and gave critique writing my best shot. Little did I know how much the class would love it, and how well everyone percieved it. The article gave me the much needed confidence that I was doing the right thing by having a column, and that these articles meant something. Even though this was my favorite article, it was anything but easy to write. I have an issue where I have meaning for every cross for a T and dot for an I, and when one simple word or phrase is taken out I feel as though something is not right or that the article just is not the same. I found myself rising above word count by 200 words at least, and every time I would make a cut, I would add more to suffice for the erased words.This article taught me to live with the loss, and that sometimes cutting the parts you think are the best is what saves the article. I am always learning new ways to improve my own work, and this semester I have actually learned from myself and others, rather than just others. Being assigned a column and a two page spread with each issue, I can focus on different problems in both design and writing to grow upon.
LESSONS essays: R1
5
T A A
6
E R R
tear sheets: intro
SS E T
H E SS tear sheets: introo
7
8
tear sheets
P T E M B E RS E P T E M B E RS E P
O C T O B E RO C T O B E RO C T O B E R
9
tear sheets
10
tear sheets
V E M B E R N O V E M B E RN O V E
C E M B E R D E C E M B E RD E C E M B
11
tear sheets
9 // 10 // 11 // 12 2017