Week 1 - Clark

My name is Kathryn Clark and this is currently my first year at Washburn University.  I'm from the Kansas City area but as my roommate constantly reminds me, I'm technically from Shawnee. (a suburb outside of KC.) I am technically am a sophomore by credits, but am straight out of high school. As of today, my plans are to major in Mass Media with an emphasis on Public Relations. I'm hoping on the fact that I know myself pretty well and that I won't change my major a million times even though I can be pretty indecisive.

I've always loved media and since one fateful day in the third grade, I knew that media was the route for me. It was career day and we took a field trip to Springfield, Missouri's (I lived there for seven years) local news station. We had to sign up for a position we would like to learn a little more about and I was surprisingly the only one who chose anchoring! It was an amazing experience and I learned that my love for writing, as well as telling stories could be combined to do another passion of mine, inform and help people.

I'm looking forward to this class and anticipate learning some pretty interesting and fun things! Here's to a good semester! :)

Week 1- Wagers

Hey everyone,

My name is Kelsey and I am a sophomore, majoring in Mass Media with an emphasis in either Public Relations or Advertising (I have not quite decided yet), and minoring in Graphic Design. I have lived here in T-town my entire life and graduated from Washburn Rural in 2011.

At Washburn Rural, I was an editor on The Blue Streak (the newspaper) for three years, first the Photography Editor, then Feature Editor: designing the layout of the newspaper. That is why I chose to major in Mass Media: I love doing the design aspect, but I also want to learn the business of the industry. I love photography and graphic design and one day I would like to work for a company designing ads, layouts, etc, or perhaps own my own small business.

I am super excited to get the semester going and to get to know all of you!

Week 1- Oubaid

I am really excited to be learning more about Mass Media. I started my first year of college last semester not really knowing what I wanted to study. My first priority was writing. I love to write different types of works. I wrote my first book when I was thirteen for an English project which we had to write a children‘s book. It took me a total of thirty minutes to complete. My teacher was really impressed with my work and encouraged me to take creative writing classes in high school, which I did. With those classes I wrote my first script and explored all the different types of writing. Learning about Mass Media last semester made me realize that is where I want to be. On another note, I am half Syrian from my dad’s side and half white from my mom’s side. My whole family is Muslim, except my mom’s side. I was born in Chicago and dragged to Topeka by my parents when I was four years old and I've lived here ever since. I would like to eventually move out of Kansas. It’s a wonderful state to raise kids but I would like to be in a bigger city experiencing varieties of culture especially my own. Having a mixed cultural knowledge in my opinion is truly the best kind of knowledge a person can have.

Week 1- Whightsil

Hello friends,

My name is Nichelle Whightsil and I am currently a junior here at Washburn University. I was born and raised here in this oh so wonderful city of Topeka. I love dancing as well as anything to do with music. A lot of people could also classify me as an “Art Freak”, loving anything and everything that has to do with art. Here at WU I have danced on the dance team for the past 3 years, as well as participating in Greek life. I am the current Vice President of Membership Recruitment for Alpha Phi. For those of you who read that and think I am speaking a different language, it basically means I am in charge of any and all recruiting done for the sorority house, mainly the formal recruitment process.

I came to WU with an idea of getting a degree as a PTA, Physical Therapist Assistant; I soon changed my major to Athletic Training. I ended up not enjoying either, so this semester I decided to change my major and declared Mass Media with an emphasis on Creative Advertising. As I said earlier, I am a huge art fan, with that being said I am doubling up with a second major in art. My goal in the future is to be able to partake in some design work for several different companies and to also work with marketing a bit.

I am super excited to get to know all of you and cannot wait to dive into this course! 

Week1-Li

Holle everyone.
My name is Qiujie. Li, I am a sophomore, mass media major in Washburn University. I originally started my journey as an exchange student from China for one year. After one year, I felt I like Washburn very much, so I decided to stay here emphasis in mass media, PR.

I am the only child in my family, but I still have many cousins. My parents are all businessmen, but they always share time with me. My mom can do so many kinds of traditional food made me want stay at home forever. My dream is do something on PR near my hometown to serve people solve some problems.

I have had taken some mass media courses in China before I came here, and I found that the ways professor taught are quite different here. We don't need to express our opinions in China so I always felt shy to give my opinion here. But I found it's not so hard just say what you think is fine. Maybe the biggest   problem for me is English. So I need to learn more about English and work hard for my dream.

I hope we will have nice time in the coming semester!
Thanks!
Qiujie Li

Week 1 - Willis

Howdy, class!

My name is Carly Willis, and I'm a freshman here at Washburn University. I'm a Mass Media major with an emphasis in Contemporary Journalism. Translated, I want to do TV News Reporting. The two most common responses I get when I say this are as following:

1.       Is that even a major?

2.       Oh, like Ron Burgundy? (Of the movie Anchorman, in case you didn’t catch that.)

I’m from the small town of Newton, Kansas which is about 30min north of Wichita. My father is the Deputy Chief of the Fire/EMS station, and my mother works at the elementary school. Translated, they know everyone from every corner of town. Growing up I could never get away with anything because Dad would hear about it by the time I got home. The one and only time I’ve ever been pulled over by a cop, he came alongside my car and without even looking into the car, said, “Good evening, Miss Willis.”

I came to Washburn University specifically for the Mass Media department and also because I fell in love with the campus. Since arriving, I have gotten involved in my sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, Bod Squad, the Future Alumni Network (FAN) and the Washburn University Leadership Institute.

Most of all, I'm just happy to be here. Have a wonderful day. :)

Week 1 - Funk

Hello everyone. My name is Jennifer Funk and right now I am currently a freshman here at Washburn. I graduated from Hoisington High School and decided to come up to Topeka because of their Mass Media program. While in high school I enjoyed going to sporting events and I played tennis and softball. I decided to go into Mass Media because we had a class at my high school where the community gave us projects to do such as, fliers, invitations, brochures, programs, signs, and posters. The freedom to be creative and do a variety of different jobs is what I enjoy. Coming to Topeka was a big change for me because I've never lived in a city before. My home is about 30 minutes from Hoisington. I basically live in the middle of nowhere in the country which is about three hours away from here. I have a sister and a brother that are both a lot older than me. Despite the age difference we are still close. My sister is actually currently pregnant too so I am going to be an aunt soon. Although it is hard not being able to go home very often I do enjoy Washburn and am planning on staying here and graduating.