Category: Vlogs

And so here we are at the end of the road. Congratulations! You have made it to my last post on this site featuring my last project – at least for now.

This one was a gem. In my interactive timeline, I track the origins of my spoken word poetry career, following my growth from high school until now. I must admit it was a little emotional looking through old videos and photos and seeing all the people I have come to love like family and who have molded me into the poet I am today.

Call it happenstance. Call it God. But I find it beautiful that I am making this project as a sophomore in college when I began my spoken word poetry career as a sophomore in high school. It is as if I am coming full circle in a sense.

Join me as I reflect on how I ended up being the nationally recognized, award-winning poet that I am today. You can view my timeline here.

This class has been incredibly fulfilling. I have learned more in this one semester than both my years as a journalism student at Howard. I am excited to take these skills and apply them to my journalism career and future endeavors.

I cannot thank Dr. P enough for blessing us with her infinite knowledge and grace.

And to anyone still reading, I hope you took away something from this blog as well. If not, go back to the beginning and read it all over again.

Featured image via dreamstime.com

In this vlog, I discuss my recent learnings on all things infographics. Although I was familiar with infographics before, my latest assignment of making an infographic from scratch taught me more about the ins and outs of infographic making.

For example, I learned that you want your visuals to be as aesthetically appealing as possible, so that you can lure audiences into reading more. In making my own infographic, this was definitely the hardest part for me as I had to figure out how to relay so much information in a way that was not confusing or visually overwhelming.

This week’s assignment was a treat, hopefully for both me as the creator and you guys as the audience. The task was to make a video out of still photos using the platform Animoto. Although I have done this sort of thing before in a previous course, this time around felt like a whole new experience.

I worked to create a story out of only twelve images, which is a lot harder than you may think. The narrative I chose to tell was a video diary of my visits to my dad’s house, who lives an hour and half away from my mom, where I mainly stay.

My parents are divorced. So, I thought it would be interesting to show that experience from the child’s perspective. As much as I am accustomed to it now, I recognize that traveling almost two hours to visit your dad is not normal for everyone.

Thus, I decided to shed a little light on my personal situation while also relating to children of divorced parents everywhere. You can watch my video below:

In this Animoto video, I use pictures to document my trip from my mom’s house to my dad’s house.

I hope you enjoyed watching my video as much as I enjoyed making it. As I said in my vlog, I encourage you to try it out for yourselves. Take a couple pictures, add some text & audio, and see what magic you can come up with.

Featured image via CNET.com

To vlog or not to vlog? That is the question.

Seriously, though, I’ve had a lot of questions about the wondrous world of vlogging, or video-logging, for those who need a refresher on their internet lingo. It’s not that I don’t know what they are – I do. I just didn’t quite see the intrigue behind them, likely because my image of them was corrupted by YouTubers who documented literally every second of their day. That just doesn’t excite me.

However, as I am becoming a better-informed journalist, I am starting to see the appeal in vlogging. They provide yet another platform for storytellers to appeal to a new audience and express their thoughts on camera. Thus, I am embarking on this vlogging journey with a positive mindset.

While in the past, I might have answered not to vlog, these days I am hopping aboard the vlogging train. What’s the worst that could happen.

Thank you for tuning in to my first vlog. I hope you stick around.