Adri Leyba
Journalism Portfolio
Personal Essay I am really grateful for taking journalism this year. Ever since I was really little I developed a passion for communications and writing, specially about sports. This class introduced me to a more formal and professional way of being a ‘journalist’ and I gained a lot of knowledge from it. I learned a lot of journalistic and design skills. I started working with InDesign and Photoshop, which is what real journalists use today. I grew a lot as a writer and was able to step out of my comfort zone. Before this year I would usually write using passive voice or in an essay format, now instead I sound more professional when narrating a story or news event. It was difficult at the beginning changing my way of writing, but as I gained more practice I improved. In this class we also worked with cameras and photography. I discovered how much I love editing and taking pictures; the scavenger hunt was probably my favorite activity this whole year. It involved creativity and having fun with the camera; I love the idea of being able to capture a happy moment and being able to share it with everybody. I also gained a lot of designing skills this year. When doing projects like the Magazine Spread or when working on the Lit Mag. I plan on doing yearbook next year and probably pursuing journalism when I graduate. I plan on utilizing this skills when creating spreads or writing a breaking news story. However, there’s still much left to learn. For the following years I have to polish my InDesign skills and improve how neat I do my spreads. I believe there’s always room for improvement even in my writing. I am really excited for the next year’s doing journalism and I hope the next yearbooks are the best to come.
My Reflection venezuela article
This is my favorite piece. It was not only published in the Raider Voice, which meant a lot to me, but I also put a lot of emotion in it. As a Venezuelan being able to write about my own country and experience felt really good. I was able to share my opinion regarding some things that were happening at the moment while also informing people about what was going on there.
I love this picture because it was not posed and it captures a real emotion and action that person was doing at the time. The camera angle was situated in a place where it shows the hug the person was gonna give her. You can see the other person’s arms extending towards her and I think that makes the picture interesting.
This is one of my favorite pictures because of its composition. The leading lines help it a lot and the fact that my mom was in the center of it just makes it better.
Writing
Opiniated Piece Written by Adriana Leyba
Many students feel forced to choose homework and getting schoolwork done over their mental health. A study made by Bercham Kamber says 85% percent of students felt extremely overwhelmed by the amount of work they had to do at one point of the year; causing them to suffer from anxiety and in some cases depression. It is understandable that homework is needed to make sure students learn and review the topics they are seeing at school. However, many research shows that the exaggeration of work sent home can affect students negatively and even affect their grades. In a Stanford study, many students said that they thought a big majority of the “homework” they did was pointless and “mindless.” Instead of sending so much work every night, teachers should focus more on the quality of the work instead of the quantity. It is obvious that studying and practice is needed for students to progress and expand their learning. Eliminating homeworks from schools completely is not only unrealistic, but I don’t believe is the best option. Because, like Richard Gollner said in a news release, “homework is not only relevant for school performance, but also for personality development—provided that students put a lot of effort into their assignments.” Like I said before my opinion doesn’t stand on one side or another, I’m more towards the middle. There’s research and many studies that support both sides and show how homework can have a positive or negative effect on its students. Students should be able to focus on themselves, their happiness, and their mental health, but they also need practice to help them understand the subject more. The school system is clearly flawed and can have a lot of improvement done to it, but it is also a system that has been working on many students for decades now; we don’t need to change it we just need to make some corrections to it.
Raider Voice Venezuela Article
eating from the trash was a normal thing to be seen in the streets of my city. Not to mention Caracas became one of the cities with the highest homicide rate in the world according to the Research Council of Safety. I became so concerned with the country’s insecurity that I started suffering from anxiety; I could barely sleep at night with the thought of my parents being murdered in the streets barely let me sleep at night. Maduro’s government has been linked with drug trafficking and corruption. Venezuelans decided to show their discontent protesting in the streets; where more than 100 people were killed and thousands were unfairly imprisoned by the armed force. As the years passed, my hope began to fade. Even though we never really stopped fighting for the country we deserved, it felt like we were trapped in our own nightmare. For a leader like Guaido to step up meant something for the Venezuelan people. I lost the opportunity to grow up in my country. I had to escape my own home because there was no future at only eleven years old. The only thing I could worry about was my safety. All these years living abroad I’ve imagined my life all around the world, but not Venezuela. Last Wednesday for the first time in years I saw a future there. The possibility to be able to claim what was once taken away from me. This is only the beginning of the end of the nightmare. We still haven’t won anything, and the only way to kick Maduro out of power is for the protests to continue. Through peaceful demonstrations and showing support to our interim president, Juan Guaido, Venezuelan will gain the freedom we have been craving for the past 20 years.
Raider Voice Venezuela Article
eating from the trash was a normal thing to be seen in the streets of my city. Not to mention Caracas became one of the cities with the highest homicide rate in the world according to the Research Council of Safety. I became so concerned with the country’s insecurity that I started suffering from anxiety; I could barely sleep at night with the thought of my parents being murdered in the streets barely let me sleep at night. Maduro’s government has been linked with drug trafficking and corruption. Venezuelans decided to show their discontent protesting in the streets; where more than 100 people were killed and thousands were unfairly imprisoned by the armed force. As the years passed, my hope began to fade. Even though we never really stopped fighting for the country we deserved, it felt like we were trapped in our own nightmare. For a leader like Guaido to step up meant something for the Venezuelan people. I lost the opportunity to grow up in my country. I had to escape my own home because there was no future at only eleven years old. The only thing I could worry about was my safety. All these years living abroad I’ve imagined my life all around the world, but not Venezuela. Last Wednesday for the first time in years I saw a future there. The possibility to be able to claim what was once taken away from me. This is only the beginning of the end of the nightmare. We still haven’t won anything, and the only way to kick Maduro out of power is for the protests to continue. Through peaceful demonstrations and showing support to our interim president, Juan Guaido, Venezuelan will gain the freedom we have been craving for the past 20 years.
Photoshop and Photography For this project students were make to go on a ‘scavenger hunt’ for pictures and get the most creative shots.
Design
Alone
By Elizabeth Perez
I am alone in this world, I fear I am alone in this world without anyone that holds me dear I scream out but I am deafened by what I hear Not from what is near But from what is in here In this head of mine, it doesn’t feel mine It doesn’t feel right To be screaming inside I do as I am told, I am the grand jester I smile but I’m not sold that I am happy inside I laugh and behold What you see isn’t real I am not real I am a fixture of your imagination Imagining that I am not constrained by you Imagining that I am happy inside When really, I want to die
Doll
by Ana Carina Villanola
Plastic fair skin Paired with pink rosy cheeks Seeming as though The sunlight it never got to meet Scent of fresh roses With her now it always seems to go As if that was not her least favorite flower Before she started to grow Wavy blond curls Carefully tied with red lace The new product of what used to be Her choppy brown locks strewn across her face Bright emerald eyes Now faded to a dull swampy color Thick makeup covering all those features Once belonging to her mother Rainbow tie dye shirts Traded in for dark designer clothes Who cares what you like? It’s all about how you pose
Art by Samuel Starke
Cherry red lips Sewn into an everlasting smile Hiding the fact from the world that she Feels so much more than is written on her file That flawless prima donna Every girl wants to be But deep inside that dolled up masquerade Tears and self loathing constantly proceed Crying herself to sleep When no one can see Not wanting her reputation destroyed By one comment mean She pictures herself as that puppet up there Displayed on a silver shelf Acting and lying and smiling while dying Inside where that broken doll hides itself
Art by Samuel Starke
Lit Mag Spreads
Extras
This is not directly involved with journalism, but as I mentioned before I have a tremendous passion for sports specially soccer. i owe a soccer instagram account where I like to post news, opinions, etc. This accound has about 7,000 followers and I put a lot of work into it. Some of my best pictures and opinions have rached 10,000 likes.
More about Me
LOYALTY