New puppet theater opens on Columbia Street
In one sense, it's big because it's 442 words, by far the longest story I've had in the paper so far. Also, my editor said more than once that it was a big story. He trusted me with it and helped me turn it into something well done. (He even emailed me after I had already left the newsroom to point out something he liked about it.)
The topic is interesting, for sure. When you think of puppets, you probably think of Lamb Chop or Big Bird. But this new puppeteer in town, Jonathan Edward Cross a.k.a. Johnny Clockworks, has a different philosophy. For the kids, instead of only doing shows he also does workshops and teaches kids to do their own puppetry. And he also does shows for adults, and uses puppet plays that deal with some pretty deep topics. And from what I've seen, the word that keeps popping into my head to describe the puppets themselves is "mesmerizing."
Anyway, not that I'm an expert on puppetry now or that I want to take it on as my new hobby. Just wanted to explain that this story is more serious than you might think at first glance.
Oh, and the first comment on the story made me laugh. (Context: Brooklyn makes up Kings County in New York state.)
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And I helped out a little bit with this story:
West Street becomes home to genuine trailer trash
I was the one who took the photos. Basically, this street in Greenpoint is taken over by a construction crew, leaving their equipment all over and blocking fences and streets.
The neighbor I met with for the photo shoot, Jon Kosar, was a real nice guy. We even talked about Utah a little bit - turns out he lived in Ogden for a short time. For some reason it seemed funny to find a former Utahan in the middle of Brooklyn.
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Things are going pretty well here. I'm not close to mastering anything, but I am learning a lot and gaining a lot of experience, that's for sure. I loved working at The Daily Universe, but it's great to work at a nitty gritty city newspaper. Even if I don't end up with a career in journalism, I'll always be able to brag that I was a Brooklyn reporter.
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Speaking of where I end up, that's the big question weighing on me and Erin. Before coming to New York, whenever anyone asked me what we would do after graduating from BYU, I told them that I would know after my internship. Well, now I'm here, and it's time to start deciding what to do.
We long ago narrowed it down to me either going to grad school/law school or starting my way to a career. As you can see, that's not very narrow, haha. We're trying to think and study it out, we're praying about it and going to the temple.
Any advice or suggestions?
Seeing as how I'm a journalism student who fled the industry after graduation who's now married to a veteran journalist-turned-law student who heavily considered a journalism master's degree, I've got about all angles covered for advice I could give you.
ReplyDeleteFirst, don't go to law school unless at one point in your life you really want to actually practice law. The cost of law school at most top programs will mean that you'll probably have to work at a firm/practice law to make enough money to pay off all of your loans. Also, they are three tough, grueling, hard years to go through if you don't really want to be a lawyer. You could get just as much out of a master's degree without as much of the work if you don't love the law.
For journalism grad schools, unless you go to one where you'll be able to get a ton of practical skills, it probably won't really be worth your while. Rather than a straight journalism program, try to get an expertise in something along with it so that you're more marketable. And with how rapidly the industry is changing, adjusting and growing, you can't really learn everything you need in school anyway.
But if at all possible, get practical experience before you do any of this. Even if you just do something for a year while considering grad schools, etc., it'll help you to narrow your focus more to actually know what you want to get out of a post-grad degree.