Improvement is key

By Jon Sarver Jr.

On my first blog post, I said that I wanted to become a better journalist and gain more experience on this trip, and I feel that is happening on multiple fronts. The first sign of improvement for me was political event coverage. I have experience with sporting event coverage from my work with Elon News Network, and I wasn’t sure how the process for reporting on political events actually worked. I was expecting to have to learn quite a bit, and I did, but the learning curve was not as steep as I was expecting. I felt that I was able to pick it up quick enough to the point where I felt comfortable writing the event coverage articles for the Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang. While I still have a passion for sports, I want to become more involved with political coverage with ENN once this trip is over. 

The second aspect that I gained experience in was photography. I have never been a very tech savvy person, and it usually takes a lot of practice for me to become proficient with various software and equipment. I have gotten practice with photography in a classroom setting, and coming into the school year I wanted to work on applying my practice. I am very excited that I was able to take photographs at Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg rallies on this trip, and I was also excited to see some of my photos (including the one at the top of this post) published in The Pendulum back at Elon. I really hope that I can continue this in the upcoming spring semester. 

To wrap up this post, I wanted to talk about the overall theme of the trip for me. Before going on this trip, my class discussed the Global Engagement Student Goals. I truly believe that the third goal on the list most aligns with what I wish to gain in Iowa. The goal is: “Problem-solving and function within an unfamiliar context.” I feel that I have been presented with a rare opportunity to get out of the Elon bubble and improve my skills and experience as a journalist at the same time. Because of this, I am very grateful to have been a part of this course in Iowa.