Leap of Faith

This week has been an interesting week for me. Spring semester began, and I've been focused on getting some paperwork in order for a GPA waiver to go through. The FIU School of Journalism requires its students to have a 3.0 GPA and have passed the CLAST exam, as well as take certain classes that they require. I've passed all the required classes, but even after my awesome fall semester, my GPA is just under the required GPA, at 2.96. In December, I took the CLAST and missed the passing score by one point (I know-- I wanted to cry). Anyway, on Tuesday I went to Miami Dade College to register for the next date, which I was told would be January 16 or 23 (the waiver application is due February 1). Unfortunately, when I got there, both dates were filled up, leaving only January 30 for me to take the test.

I was so frustrated, to say the least. This meant that I would have to wait until fall semester to be admitted to the school of journalism! I felt terrible. After some much needed prayer, I woke up the next day feeling content. Yes, bad things happen, but sometimes the worst situations turn into the best.

I've been wanting to go to UF for a long time now- at first I wanted to go straight out of high school, but my grades just weren't good enough at the time. Then I thought of going for grad school, but let's be honest, journalism isn't something you get a practical Masters' degree with. The other day, I decided to give it another shot. The deadline for fall admission to UF is March 1, which would give me plenty of time to submit my application, send my transcripts and finally pass the CLAST. Plus, I would have to wait until fall semester to be admitted to FIU, so why not apply to the school I prefer?


So today I started working on my application for UF. I'm excited. I don't know what the outcome will be, but I know that if it's meant to be, it'll happen. Your prayer and support is greatly appreciated! I need it.

But I have a good feeling about this. :)

Happy 2009!

It's been a while since I last wrote, and what a crazy month it has been! I was so happy to finish fall semester (finally). And I am very proud to say that I surprised even myself and earned straight A's! I wasn't expecting that result at all; I knew I was going to at least get two A's, and two B's. What a pleasant surprise! This is the first time I've received such good grades, and all the glory goes to God for helping me to focus and prioritize my studies. He showed me my potential in a time when I doubted my abilities and proved to me that I can really do anything through Christ who gives me strength.

I was, and am, so humbled by this, and I am so grateful for His faithfulness. :)

After school ended, I started looking for a part time job so that I could make some extra money over the holiday break. I ended up getting a job at Michael's through a friend of mine, Grace. And as much as I may moan and complain about my terrible hours, I realize that I'm lucky to even have a job, especially in these tough economic times. Besides, one of the bonuses at working at an arts & crafts store is that it's really inspired me to be more creative. Every night as I walk through the aisles I get another cute idea. I love it. :)

The holidays this year were especially enjoyable. For Christmas, I participated in MBC's annual Christmas Eve service, singing in the choir with Paula. After two months of rehearsals, I was happy to finally perform for my family and loved ones, and celebrate the birth of Christ. After the service, I made my way home, where we had some family over for Noche Buena. Later on, I went with Gabby to his church's Christmas Eve service.

Christmas morning was exhilarating! I felt like a little kid again. This year, I went to Gabby's house first, because my mom and brother wanted to sleep in a little, since we had gone to bed late the night before. I wanted to get to Gabby's house early, because all of us (his siblings, sister in law, and myself) had a surprise for his mom, and I wanted to be there for the big reveal. Early in December, we took some group pictures with Janet's cousin, Monica, who owns her own photography company. We took some pictures of all of us, put them in a collage frame, and presented it to Gabby's mom, who was caught totally off guard. She started crying, and was so happy that she finally had a professional picture of all her kids. I was glad to be a part of it. :)
Here's one of the pictures from that session:



After Christmas at the Medinas', I returned home and eagerly woke my mom and brother so we could open presents. I was pleased with my gifts this year, not that any of it is really that important or anything. My favorite gift of all though, is my new iPod Touch! My mom bought it because of my good grades. I was so surprised; if you know my mom, you know why. She is notorious for giving typical "mom" gifts, like socks, clothes, and other practical items. Never gadgets. She placed the iPod box in a Nine West shoebox, so I was already excited when I unwrapped it. New shoes! Yay! I opened the box, and I see this bag with an apple on it, and I was so stunned I didn't even know what to say! I thanked my mom a million times over. I was really grateful for all of my gifts, and I was grateful for spending time with family later on that day at my cousin's annual Christmas Day brunch. Her sister in law's son, Rocco, stole my heart. He has these huge grey eyes that are just going to break so many hearts someday. He was teething, so he put almost anything in his mouth. I think I'm in love with him. :)






The holiday break brought a new, albeit temporary, addition to my family: my uncle's
dog, Pisa, came to visit while he was out of town for 10 days. She's a trip. It was great to dogsit, and my uncle just came back and took her home. I told him he could leave her with us whenever he wants.




Finally, for New Years, we went to a party hosted by a family friend of Gabby's family. They have a humongous home, and went all out with the party. The theme was black and white, and I have to admit, I really wasn't looking forward to the party until the day of the event. I bought a white blouse and googled some cute hairstyles and makeup ideas. We had a wonderful time. I was so happy to be rid of 2008! It was a pretty bad year for me and my family overall. Hopefully, 2009 brings much more laughs and fun times than tears and grief. Also, I'm returning to Quick Weight Loss Centers tomorrow! I'm looking forward to what this year has to offer. I can't wait to see what God has in store! :)






Also, I must make this shameless plug for my new favorite show, LOST. Season 5 starts on January 21st! If you haven't watched it, watch it! It's amazing.

Casa Valentina

Every year at Christmas, my family gets together for a family "project" of sorts. Since my cousins have their children, and buying a gift for each cousin,her corresponding husband, and the kids would be pretty expensive, we collectively decided that, in lieu of buying gifts for each adult, we would contribute a certain amount to a charity of our choice, in order to help those in need.

This year, we decided on Casa Valentina , which is a non-profit organization that helps girls who age out of foster care gain independence. As you may or may not know, once a child turns 18, they "age out" of the foster care system, and are typically left to fend for themselves. Most of them, however, have never really learned how to live an independent life: they are not familiar with budgeting money, buying groceries, and the like. Casa Valentina offers young women the chance to gain independence and to make that transition from foster care to the real world. At the end of the holiday season, after the family has contributed their monies, my cousins go and buy gift cards from Publix and Target/Bed Bath & Beyond for the girls to use towards their new homes.

If you have any extra cash lying around this holiday season, or want to donate to a charity, give back to these young girls here.

Diary of an Indecisive, Frustrated Jouralism Student

The other day in my Intro to Journalism class, we had a guest speaker, Corinna Zarek, who is the Freedom of Information Director at the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press. What a mouthful. When I got the e-mail announcing our guest, I honestly wasn't really enthused with the selection. I had never heard of this woman or this organization, and for all I knew, this was going to be one boring lecture. But, points of discussion from this lecture will be on future quizzes and the final, so I decided it would behoove my grade to show up.

It was the best decision I made! I loved the subject matter. What the RCFP does is pretty much advocate on behalf of American journalists. They help journalists gain access to public record (such as court hearings, public documents, etc.), and fight on behalf of the journalist for the rights to access that record, as it is in the public's interest. There was a long discussion about a Federal Shield Law that is trying to be pushed through Congress, which would protect journalists from giving up their confidential sources. This is a pretty controversial subject, because in some cases, the reporter should be obliged under the law to reveal certain information. In any case, the topic completely fascinated me. I've never been so attentive in that class! The RCFP is doing something great: fighting on behalf of the little guy. I've always been pretty interested in political science and constitutional law, and while I never quite knew what I could do with that, I thought this would be a good start. In my mind, I thought: Law's really not that difficult, writing briefs and such, and arguing on one's behalf. I like arguing. It can't be that bad.... right?

I fool myself sometimes into thinking that I can be a lawyer, haha. :) But really, this part of law really interests me! So I'm definitely keeping my options open on that front. We'll have to see how the rest of college treats me first, then I can focus on bigger things, like law school and fighting for the underdog. This discussion was what I needed. It reignited my passion for journalism, something which has been missing all this time since high school.

In the meantime, I'm on the hunt for a good internship or scholarship opportunity with any news organization who will take me. It's incredibly difficult to get a start in this business! I checked out the website for the Radio-Television News Directors Association. In high school, I remembered there was this awesome scholarship that was offered every year. I wondered if some form of that scholarshp was available to undergrads, but alas, it's only available to undergrads who have an RTNDA chapter at their J-school. I checked out the list. Guess who doesn't have an RTNDA chapter.

Yep. I don't even have to say it. ;)

Apparently, the RTNDA only has chapters at schools which offer courses in radio and television journalism-- two of the very same forms of journalism which FIU decides not to teach in great detail. It's pretty--nay, very-- frustrating to think that your school only really recognizes one form of journalism as the "true" medium. I sit in class hearing people talk about margins and copy and all the while I'm thinking they're speaking Chinese. Talk to me about camera angles, headroom and lead-ins and we'll get along fine. But what makes it more difficult is the fact that, since FIU focuses mostly on print journalism, most of the scholarships and internships that they offer are through newspaper outlets. In fact, FIU just struck a deal with the three largest tri-county area papers: The Palm Beach Post, Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald, to establish a partnership between the three papers and the School of Journalism. Don't get me wrong, this is a great step for the SJMC! It's a great opportunity for a print major. But I'm feeling really left out here! Where are the opportunities for broadcast news majors? It seems like even Advertising and PR get more opportunities than we do! It's a really frustrating situation. Maybe I'm overreacting... hopefully the classes will get progressively more interesting as the semesters roll by, and as I get more involved in broadcasting and reporting classes.

Only time will tell, I guess. Here's to hoping for opportunity to come knocking. I'm ready!

Four down, 132,8475 to go!

I'm really tired.

This semester has really kicked my butt into high gear! Even though I had to drop a class (boo), I'm doing really well in my remaining 4 classes. All B's and A's for the most part. There are so many papers to write and quizzes to study for...I'm so ready for this semester to be OVER. Today I received my study guide for the final exam in my journalism class. I was so relieved. It's really almost over! Sure I still have a ton of papers to write, but I'm that much closer to being done with this crazy semester.

And then it will start again in January. Yay.

My enrollment appointment is not till Sunday, but I have a good idea of what classes I'm going to take. It looks like my semester will consist of Media Law and Ethics, Visual Design for Media, State Government and Politics, and Population & Society. It's a decent sized load, and I don't want to over-stress myself with 15 credits like I did this semester. I need to focus on getting my GPA up past a 3.0 and passing the CLAST test(I wish I could get exempt by working at the testing center, but alas, that is not the case).

As for the future, I'm thinking of doing a minor in Marketing. I know, I change my mind a lot, but I wanted to minor in PR and they wouldn't let me, so I have to find alternative things to do! I'm thinking marketing would be good because it (sort of) deals with communication, and would help me if I become a communications consultant or something one day. I'm not too worried, I still have like a million classes left to graduate! That's the thing about college. You get all excited because you're almost done with one semester... and you look at your planning sheet and realize that you still are nowhere near the finish line!

I'm just praying for the ability to focus on the remainder of this semester so that I can do well in it. I'm also praying for some guidance on my future! It would be awesome if you prayed for me too ;)

Election Day

Election Day is finally here!

Finally! No more annoying campaign ads, no more people pushing candidates on you, no more getting annoyed in general!

If you haven't already done so, go out and VOTE! It doesn't matter who you vote for (well, yes, it sort of does) but the important thing is that you let your voice be heard! :)

Family History

As many of you may (or may not) know, my grandmother passed away last week at the age of 90. I'm still getting used to the reality of it all, and trying to support my mom through this difficult time for her. She devoted a great deal of her life to caring for my grandmother, finding her a good place to live with people who loved her and cared for her as if she were one of their own. It will be the most difficult transition for her, so your continued prayers are greatly appreciated.

Although I knew that this was inevitable, it still feels very weird to me. I think back on the times I was with her, especially her last birthday. I made her a pretty fondant cake, which she loved. While she had become somewhat emotionless, her eyes lit up, and I knew she loved how it came out. She wasn't exactly the typical grandmother growing up; she never baked us cakes or gave us random hugs and kisses. She just wasn't that type of lady. She was feisty-- and in some cases she was just plain mean. Mean, but very, very funny. But over the past 2 or 3 years, as her health has deteriorated more and more, she became like a child again, and I think this will be the part of her that I will miss the most. Looking back, I know it will be difficult to let go of her memory, but she lived a long and healthy life, and I couldn't ask for anything more.

Anyway, my family held a mass in her memory on Saturday, and I volunteered to create a collage using pictures of her throughout her long life. I dug through old family albums and keepsakes, laughing to myself at how my grandfather never threw anything (and I do mean anything) away. As I searched through boxes, I found a letter that had been written to my grandfather in the 1960s from his uncle, Felix.
Felix was a playwright/poet/songwriter, and wrote the famous film El Derecho de Nacer, as well as a couple of popular Cuban songs. My great-great uncle Felix is still regarded as one of the great creative minds of Cuba, and "El Derecho de Nacer" set the standard for the telenovelas your abuelas (and admit it, you do too) enjoy today. ;)

Anywho, seeing all that history in my family, seeing the long life that my grandmother led, I felt proud of where I come from. Not only from my mother's family, but also from my father's as well. As I looked through old photos of my mom and dad in Cuba, and as I looked at all the great standards my great-great uncle set, I felt like just hopping on a plane and seeing this beautiful country that I have heard such amazing stories about since I was born. I feel like I'm missing a big part of my identity from not being able to visit, but hopefully (soon) I will be able to go and see the places my parents have told me about so many times before, and gain back a huge chunk of who I am as a Cuban.