Second year: Don't quit, even if it hurts.
I don't even want to tell you how busy I was my senior year of high school. I took my first-ever reporting class in the spring, and it was definitely the hardest class I'd ever taken. I realized that, to be a journalist, you have to talk to people! I don't know why I'd never realized that. Because I'm a naturally shy person who hates telephone conversations with a passion, I had trouble screwing up the courage to go interview people, and it got the better of me on my second story. I was so overwhelmed I just wanted to stay at home in bed. But my mom made me tackle it head-on anyway. I don't know if I've ever been prouder of a grade than I was of the A I earned in that class.

Sophomore year: B's don't mean you're bad.
I've never been fond of math, but I found myself taking Statistics -- along with 15 other hours-worth of courses. Try as I might, I couldn't remember the formulas I needed whenever we had tests. And I'm pretty sure my calculator hated me as much as I hated it. So I didn't escape with a spotless GPA that year, but I did get my Associate's degree, so who was I to complain?

Junior year: Yes, Amelia, you can drive a car by yourself. Also, you can survive courses at a University, not just a junior college.
This may sound funny, but up 'til two weeks before the fall 2006 term started, I didn't have a driver's license. I hadn't needed one until then. The first day I drove myself to school was the day before my mom went into the hospital to have major surgery. Nervous, anyone?
I also survived J415 while taking graduate-level history and English courses. It was an enjoyable year, if a little nightmarish at times.

Senior year: Deal with the unexpected.
I didn't expect to get home at two o'clock in the morning after a late night at the Kansan. I didn't expect to spend my Friday nights alone in a mostly-empty newsroom, even if it is set up for multimedia. I didn't expect to get pneumonia. I didn't expect KU to do so well in football or basketball (although my mom predicted the championship victory way back last August). I didn't expect to have the privilege of going to the ACES conference in Denver on the J-School's dime. There are lots of things, good and bad, that I didn't expect, but if I've learned anything in my five years of college, it's to be flexible and get back up if you get knocked down (metaphorically or physically).

The happy almost-graduate
Photo: Amelia Freidline

So farewell, KU -- it's been nice knowin' you. And I'll probably be back.

I came in to college feeling like I was mature for my age. I didn't get involved with drama and I felt like I had a grip on where my life was going. I had my majors figured out and my classes mapped out for four years. I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

With three weeks left in college I feel like I am the least prepared person to ever graduate from the university. I am graduating with degrees in two majors, one of which is extremely respectable in journalism and one of which is easy in communication studies. I am not sure if either of these majors will help me greatly in the profession I choose. I am planning on working at my current job for another six months and try to see if I can move up and make a career out of it. If that doesn't work out I can try to find a new job or go to graduate school for sports management. Either way, I am extremely confused about my future and very stressed out over it.

That leaves me with one thing left to do. Have fun. This experience at KU will go down as the greatest time of my life. I was constantly broke, made hundreds of new friends, lived through some great parties and forgot some epic nights. I have learned many lessons in the classroom and many more outside the classroom. Through it all I have grown as a person and am leaving more prepared for adult life than when I came. I love this school and would not go anywhere else in the world. My senior year has seen an Orange Bowl victory in football, a National Championship in basketball and a torn ACL over Christmas Break. All three of these events will never be forgotten in my lifetime.

Now I'm off to finish up my college career in all its glory. I loved it, I'll miss it and I would do it again in a second.

In general, as life would have it, the past four years have been a balance of the blissful the wonderfully shitty, with a heap of the mundane somewhere in the middle. This being my last semester, I'm graduating in my fourth year, making this the first thing I've ever done on time.

I've also learned that when Seniors in the university scoffed at me as a Freshman, it wasn't uncalled for. All freshman truly are transparently awkward and deserve to be hit when they don't cross the street at a crosswalk. Unfortunately I've not yet grown out of this phase.

The last lesson I learned (though I didn't mean for this to turn into happy hour at Mr. Roger's neighborhood) is perhaps the most important. Playing on your Wii, feeding your addiction to facebook, watching porn, and/or drinking excessively are in no way, healthy ways to relax or productive "break time activities." This I DO speak of from personal experience.

See ya later, blog!

There is plenty to talk about in the so-called farewell blog; how I ended up at KU from Arizona, why I switched from pre-med to journalism, the countless tailgates and parties (and the stories that came from them), and plenty of other stuff that only my friends and I would find entertaining.

1. Check, Double Check, and Triple Check the ARTS Form - If I've learned one thing, especially this year, it's that the ARTS form does not lie. It tells you exactly how many hours you have and how many you need. It shows the classes you need. It's not exactly a substitute for an advisor, but it's a great way to plan your life (or schedule).

2. Study Abroad - How does leaving KU for a semester help you graduate on time? Simple – you go on a program that fills at least 12 hours of required courses. And don't pull the excuse that you don't have the money. Take out a friggin loan. Being $7,000 in debt for the trip of a lifetime is not a big deal.

3. Don't declare a major until you have to - Save yourself the hassle of switching majors by not declaring until after sophomore year. Just make sure that in those first couple of years you take plenty of gen eds to fill those basic requirements, then you won't be screwed if you do switch from political science to business.

I loved almost every part of my four years at KU. Sure I was stressed out at times and had the occasional fight with friends and roommates, but all those experiences taught me how to deal with life. Oh yeah, one more piece of advice before I go, find a way to make KU pay for your trip to the Final Four. Yes, it was fun, but it also showed that a little hard work pays off in the end.

Much of my homework and reporting will be saved online until the apocalypse and/or a server crash. Bonus!

Ah yes, deferred graduation. Intention: graduate in December. Walked down the hill early. Not doing it again.

The curse: After graduation, I'll become a ghost of the newsroom. People tell me it's no biggie - it happens all the time. You graduate, you're forgotten. Ta-da! Like magic.

And so, upon this cognizance, how could one take pride in guile? Sure, I got bookish in school and even won a few writing thingies. But all that doesn't really matter. Seems like it's time to impose a legacy upon an education system seen as (somewhat) flawed.

Amidst personal dismay, I feel lucky for a couple of things:

1) Deferred graduation. Stayed in school an extra six months. Crashed into the wall during my victory lap. Did some fun things with media while my car burned up. Shameless banana link. Hearst dealie.

2) Ginormous class project. Cool chance to prompt convergence and alter curriculum. Time to practice what we preach and wed our media. (I can legally do this - after all, I'm adept at the art of officiation.)

Call me a University Daily Curmudgeon, but convergence is so totally downright in every way passé (hey!). Wasn't "convurrrgence" all hyped-up back in the day? Don't we just need some good 'ole cooperation?

Indeed, dudes: with a little teamwork, the times shall be a-changin'. Better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone!

And while we're at it, something seemingly unrelated:

Eek. That looks awkward. OK, so long!

Ok, so I'm checking out. I'd like to use this final post to extol and deprecate things like the University, the journalism school and J-694, but since this post is on the public Internet, I am forced to bowdlerize my published opinions.

@#$% it. Here goes. BTW, I'm going to stream-of-consciousness this thing.

KU: The first year was fluff, then it got harder. I wish I could have had five years to do it, but my financial backing is limited. I've grown a lot, so that's good. But, I've had a lot of stress, and I wish I would've got more practical knowledge and learned more vocational skills. The university system is unnecessarily ridged as far as curriculums go, but I've found that everything is negotiable. I've spent too much time in humanities-based classes that are far removed from my core reason for being here. I'd rather be employable than well rounded.

That said, I'm glad things worked out as well as they did. Time and money well spent, but not excellently spent.

J-School: As many seniors, and apparently some faculty, have come to realize, the school needs to change in order to stay relevant. I think it's very important that the school develop a culture of constant change. It needs vision and alignment. (Professor Gentry taught me those words.) The faculty is (are?) A+. As far as I'm concerned, the best group of professors on campus. Rick, I would follow you into battle.

J-694: Great group of students, but I'm a bit iffy on the professor. He was too quiet. Too motionless. He needed to add an element of performance into his teaching style. You know, to keep me engaged and looking at his nose. At least I learned how to Photoshop heads onto things. Thanks, Bryan.

"True goodbyes are the ones never said or explained." –Unknown.

--Signing off,
Nathan Gill

Only time will tell if I become the next best blogger. Photo by Bryan Wilcox

This girl came to one of my honors classes to talk about her work in Uganda. She told us about how she started blogging about the government and Ugandan life. Now she's going to grad school to study the effects of blogging on political action. And it hit me.

Maybe this whole blogging thing is more than narcissism and celebrity gossip. Maybe my voice does matter in the blogosphere.

I've realized that blogging exercises the most important component of the first amendment. It combines freedom of speech with accountability.

Blogging provides the next step in communication. In an age where governments can censor media and people would rather watch The Colbert Report than actual news, we need something to keep us civically engaged. The blogosphere allows us to reevaluate society, and hopefully change it for the better, while also providing us with occasional entertainment.

Sometimes blogging makes me want to bang my head against the keyboard, but perhaps that's a good thing. Sometimes you have to piss people off and make them uncomfortable to get them to think. Just look at Freud and Nietzsche.

So, will I continue this adventure of blogging now that this class is almost done? I'm not sure. I know I will never have the shock value of Kyle Gray, or the wit of Amelia Freidline, but the truth is, I've kind of grown to enjoy this whole blogging thing.

So I won't say goodbye to blogging just yet. I have things to say, dammit.

I will walk down the Hill in a few weeks, leaving the University behind. What I won't leave behind are the courses, friendships and experiences that have developed me into a better student, friend and person.

The walk down the Hill will be my last time before becoming an official gradate.
Photo: The University of Kansas

J694 has not only allowed me to use skills gained in the past three years, but has brought out new skills. I can say this about every course taken at the University.

I was recently going through all of the regrets I have throughout my college career in my mind...and for some sad reason, there seemed to be a lot of them. And to say that I enjoyed all of my time spent here might be a fabrication. There were definitely those dreaded papers, exams and projects that required several all-nighters. There were those certain professors that got on my last nerve. There were times when I have never felt more stressed.

But if I dwell on all of the things I COULD/SHOULD have done and all of the negatives, then I haven't learned anything in my time here. For every negative experience, I have twice as many positive ones. And for every regret, I have twice as many non-regrets.

Going to school at the University was one of the best decisions I made. And even though I might be leaving for good, I will always take what I gained at the University with me proudly where ever I go. There is not one regret I have with the School of Journalism, the University and with being a Jayhawk.

It was a cool spring night. As I headed out my door, I took the same route I've taken every day for the last two years to campus. Past the wooden Buddha, past the Chi Omega fountain where a group of kids were playing in the water. Past the Campanille tower, whose white top seemed to match the moon.

And then I realized...I'm actually, really, 100%, going to graduate. And the next time I come to campus, I won't be a student. I won't be a high school kid going on a campus tour and I won't be a second grader going on a field trip to the Natural History museum.

Bye bye birdman!

Nope. I'll be a wistful KU graduate, and I'll probably feel like a ghost, as Uncle Rick puts it.

It's kind of overwhelming having to cram all of my valuable lessons, nutty experiences and stories from these past five years into 300 words.

I've learned to love transitions. During my favorite year, I went from living in a boarding house full of girls and lounging on the beach all summer in Brazil to living in a sorority for a semester, and then went from the sorority a house full of boys, then from the house full of boys to a residence hall in Argentina.

I've also learned to love the unexpected. I survived a microburst, danced in funk parades, came close to death on a dirt road in Bolivia when our jeep nearly flipped over, got hissed at by a penguin, saw a penguin on a beach in the summertime (which totally turned my world upside down), and pet fuzzy alpacas on Machu Picchu (I later found they were installed there on purpose so dopes like me would take pictures). And not too long ago, I saw Mass. Street overflow with 50,000 fans after we won the national championship.

It seems like there shouId be some kind of culminating moment after these five years. But I kinda already "fake graduated" last May so I could walk down the Hill with my friends. So this year, there will be no fancy processions, no cap and gown, and no teary goodbyes.

I guess I'll just take a late-night jaunt past the wooden Buddha, past the fountain, past the Campanille, down the road I know, for one last time.

I somewhat feel that after all these years and extra time in school that I should be graduating with a law degree. But I'm not – it's my first degree and it's a degree I'm proud has taken this long to achieve.

It hasn't taken me this long because I lost focus "partying too much" or because I was a slacker - I was always a diligent student. No, I had to take a break because I let life happen.

I'm not going to bother anyone with the details, it's not that important. But what I will share is that I have learned not to regret anything. I, like every other human being, made mistakes. But I learned from them, and it made me stronger.

Maybe the greatest knowledge I gained throughout the last couple of years is that everything happens for a reason. Had I continued with my education when I first came to KU in 2001, I envision I would probably be working as a frenzied news producer in a medium-sized market. Not that there is anything wrong with this profession, but my prolonged graduation has given me the opportunity to become so much more.

Granted I never had the desire to report or anchor, but the skills that I have learned from a converged curriculum have helped me realize I can do whatever I want. Not only that, but I could transpose copy from medium to medium in a matter of minutes.

But becoming a versatile journalist does have its faults. There were times I lost sleep, lost my sanity, almost lost my job, and lost close relationships along the way because of the hours required to put together a multi-media masterpiece. But looking back now, it was all worth it.

Fate, it sure is a mysterious thing. It has a way of turning our lives upside down, yet still finding a way to put it back together again. Now, with graduation only a few weeks away, I just hope fate is still on my side.

He was a change man and I want to be a change woman. He broke the rules and made his own way. His approach to objectivity may have been questionable to professional journalists, but it brings up an interesting perspective of truth. He once said, "Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism." I agree with him truth is relative and there is rarely one true version.

Beyond his unique philosophy, Thompson was just an all around cool guy. He even had a cartoon character modeled after him. He earned a unique niche in the journalistic vacuum. While I don't want to re-carve his niche and I definitely don't plan to follow his ethics, I hope to inspire change in my own way. Maybe when I go they will call me the godmother of sneff journalism, whatever that turns out to be.

Allow me to explain my platonic heterosexual man-crush on e-celeb Ze Frank.

Ze: a handsome duder. Creepily intense eyes. Bizarro appeal. Probably best-known for "The Show," a conversation between the moving computer image (Ze) and the cultish follower (sportsracer).

(Perhaps also known through Jonathan Coulton covers or a cameo on "All My Exes" with Chelsea Peretti.)

The Eyetrack roadmap: people first see the title of Ze's page. Then they see the link to his videoblog. After that, they see all of the random crap he's created. Next, they see his blog. The last thing the user sees are irrelevant text items.

"The Show" was only recorded for a year, but the classics live on: austrian arrows, snakes & cages, and who could forget work this?

(Brain crack addiction, anyone?)

Friggin' Genius or too much friggin' time on his hands? Not sure, but he definitely has a cool kitty.

Ze's business model: Consider Poynter Eyetrack III. Mashing up Ze's homepage and the homepage roadmap from the study brings either a freaky coincidence or a goddamn brilliant page layout.

So, according to Eyetrack, his page is laid out from most important to least important. And how did he make money while recording episodes of "The Show" every day? Duh - donations!

Check all the lil' duckies on this episode! Please note: the little squares are $10, the little duckies are $20, the big duckies are $50 and the blingin' duckies are $who knows. So, he made more than $7,000 on that episode alone. Good lord, man!

Ze and I: Well, here I am:

I don't read any particular blog religiously. I don't watch Anderson Cooper or Jon Stewart every night. I don't dig through the archives of the online newspaper just to read an article written by a specific writer. The only journalism-related thing that I do every single day is watch ESPN.

He's awesome, baby, with a capital A!

Yes, his constant ranting about Duke and North Carolina drives me nuts, but I have never seen anyone with a greater passion for a sport than this guy. If we could all be that passionate about our jobs then life would be much simpler. Just seeing the response that he gets from fans makes me want to work hard to get a reception like that.

Nobody gets to sit at the front of press row without working hard first. You have to take what you're given and make it work, and Dickie V has done exactly that. From being let go by the Detroit Pistons to being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame shows just how you can take a bad situation and turn it into a positive one.

"I can't run, I can't jump, I can't shoot," Vitale said in his hall of fame acceptance speech. "But I've just had, I like to think, a tremendous impact on the game."

It's true. Who else can say that they have given a sport its own lingo? PTP'er, diaper dandy, All-Windex Team, they're all part of the game when Dick Vitale is announcing. So, even if you think it's cheesy, Dick Vitale is my journalism hero, not just because he gets those front row seats that I'm jealous for, but because he respects the game and works hard to earn respect from the fans.

The Trumpet of the Swan is about a cygnet named Louis, who tragically was born without a voice, making him a failure in the swan world. But with the help of a boy named Sam, he learns to read, write, and play some smooth jazz on the trumpet. 



White also wrote classics such as Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little. Even George Bush thinks you should know about good ol' E.B. The man is, in short, a big freaking deal. 



Most recently, E.B. has popped up on my required reading list for editing in The Elements of Style. But why is this man my journalistic hero?

 Well, besides the fact that he can write anything from witty perspectives on life for the New Yorker to entertaining children's literature, his work continues to encourage the precision and clarity of language.

White may not have lived to see the iGeneration, but children and adults still look to his writings for inspiration. 

Any writer whose work encourages a child to pick up a real book instead of reading it on a laptop or listening to someone else read it on their iPod is a hero in my opinion.

Writers like White keep children, and adults for that matter, interested in reading and using their imagination to form ideas and images when they could be staring mindlessly at YouTube.



So, E.B., you've kept me hooked for more than 10 years now. You helped form my consciousness and my imagination. If you weren't dead I'd give you a hug…but, you are. So this blog is dedicated to you, essayist, grammarian and swan trumpeter of genius.