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Taken By Surprise

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

The title is also the name of my band by the way… http://www.myspace.com/takenbysurprisenj

ANYWAYSS

This week, as my title suggests, was surprising. I’ve never been surrounded by so many people that were so eager to meet each other. I guess New Jersey isn’t a very friendly place? But I have not found a person here I do not like or a person who has not interested me.

I am also very surprised at the level of commitment that my fellow correspondents have to learn. Most people I talk to have a major reluctance to do this, but I think almost everyone here has gained something from the conference. I don’t mean to brown-nose, but it’s true.

I think this week may have been one of the most rewarding of my life. I made connections with some amazing people with whom I hope I will be in contact with for years after this, especially when it comes time to enter the “real world.”

I think the most profound moment of my experience here was at last nights concurrent session. I shook hands with Kathy Orton, a Washington Post sports writer, whom I told of my interest in photojournalism and especially in sports photography. She told me to send her an e-mail and she would put me in contact with Washington Post staff photographers. Opportunities like that don’t happen every day, and I think this conference has opened up a lot of doors.

Unfortunately none of these doors have good food or bedding behind them. Or a good night’s rest.

Peace,

Bri Guy

Is this what college will be like?

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

Coming in, I at first thought I was the lonely Jersey boy- I didn’t know anyone and my parents seemed to be the last to leave, thus alienating me from the rest of the group. But as the day went on, and as I met the myriad of characters here at the Conference, I feel much more comfortable around everyone. Everyone seems to have a shared abandon to create connections with the other students.

I know I want to do something in communications, where I can use my imaginative nature to help others convey new and interesting ideas.  I also have a passion for photography and I live to be creative, through both music (I play the drums and have for 6 years, and I love it more than anything) and through art. I figured that photojournalism would be a great way to do something like this. With photography, I can capture the beautiful things that help the world proceed into the future.

So, I came to the conference to discover whether or not journalism is right for me. I said something similar on stage today, during our first presentation, and I received laughter. But as other volunteers said the same thing after me, I think more people began to realize that this may have been true for themselves.

Something I noticed about my fellow youth correspondents is that many of them have a guided hunger, a determination to achieve a goal that they have established and will stop at nothing to accomplish. I am both fascinated and humbled by this trait. I hope once I know what I want to do that I can share this unfettered purposefulness.

One of the most important things I noticed today was the nature of the friendships I have made. Back home, I’m friends with some pretty stupid kids, but my class standing has me interact with the so-called “higher orders” of intelligence. I value my relationships with both of these groups for their own reasons. However, when I started making friends here, I noticed that I was making friends who had the best of both worlds. I was having a conversation about why I thought Bill Clinton was the greatest president of the 20th century, (despite my devotion to conservatism), with the same person with whom I was discussing cars and relating stories of all the crazy things we’ve done; and I can’t help but to wonder if this is what my relationships in college will be like – and if so, I can’t wait.

Hello world!

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

My name’s Brian Girer and I’m from Cherry Hill, NJ, right outside of good ol’ Philly.  People call me Bri Guy. I play volleyball and drums; I’m a photographer and I’m a lifeguard. I don’t really know anyone here at WJMC but I’m meeting them. I came here to do Photojournalism but I left my camera at home, not the best idea I’ve ever had. Maybe I’ll just learn how to do regular journalism to pass the time. Dinner’s soon so I gottta peace.

Peace,

Bri Guy