It's Been A While...

Well, hello there! It's been a while since I've been on here and shared some of my weekly struggles and successes. But I'll just get right to the point like I've done before... this summer was a whirlwind!

For the month of May, I participated in UF's College of Journalism and Communications Study Abroad Program in Italy. Then from June to August, I was an intern for News Channel 8 in Tampa, Florida. To say my summer was a lot of fun and jammed pack is an understatement. It was a time for personal growth, adventure and a time to truly absorb as much as I could.

To kick things off, I'll start with my time studying abroad in Italy. I left with a group of over 100 UF students and went on a 28-day adventure. We all got to live and experience what it was like as a true Italian by living in the city in an apartment and had to go grocery shopping in the markets. It was a big adjustment at first due to the language barrier, currency differences and of course the time change but I really enjoyed it. Also during my time there, I took a class called Ethical Issues in Telecommunications with a professor from UF. Not only did this count towards my degree audit but we only had to meet up 9 times during the whole trip. I wish all classes were like that!

Aside from learning how to be and live like a true Italian in my home base of Florence, I also got to travel around the country and visited a handful of other cities. Some of the places I visited included Venice, Pisa, Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri, Positano, Siena, Cinque Terre, San Gimignano and Rome.

My time there was absolutely amazing. Of course, I got homesick at times but at the end of the day I met some amazing people and gained a lot of new friends from the trip that I will forever be thankful for.

Below are some of the pictures I took during my trip in Italy.

One of many Piazza (plaza) views in Italy looking at the Duomo in Florence, Italy. 

Me on top of the Duomo in Florence, Italy, overlooking the city. 

                      

Me on a gondola ride in Venice, Italy. 

 

Me holding up the Tower of Pisa in Pisa, Italy.

Once I got back to the states, I started my time with WFLA News Channel 8 as an intern. Being back in Tampa, Florida, which is my hometown, was amazing and to spend time at a news station that I have watched since I was a little girl was even better! I was so blessed to have received the opportunity and definitely took the time given to learn and grow during the internship.

During the majority of my time at News Channel 8, I spent my time with the web and social media team. Here I met Tim Price, a graphic designer and content creator for WFLA.com, and Lila Gross, WFLA’s social media reporter. With Tim, I learned how to use coding for websites and certain techniques that go along with that, different graphics skills as well as tips on how to
structure a web article for their website. I helped Tim build interactive maps and graphics that were attached to reporter’s stories, like one for the second anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando and a diagram of how red tide is formed. Additionally, I helped him with editing pictures for a social media campaign called Takeover Tuesday. For this, a different reporter each Tuesday would take over the station's social media accounts to help show what a day in the life for them is like. And I also helped Tim update a segment on the website called Restaurant Ratings. For this, I gathered data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation to find the top eight locations in our district that were found to have the most violations in their restaurant.

With Lila, I got to go out and help her during numerous shoots around the Tampa Bay area for her Hot Spots segment. Her segment features either up-and-coming or popular restaurants, bars, shops or places in the area. By going out with her, I was able to meet so many great people in the Tampa community. Plus, I have also was able to film my own content while out with her, which have been edited and will eventually be used to update my reel.

In addition to going out with Lila, I have also gone out with Corey Davis, one of WFLA’s daytime reporters. We covered stories like a teen death in Hernando, Florida, at a diving site, a breaking news story on a shooting at a smoke shop also in Hernando and a hearing that released an update on the Seminole Heights serial killer trial. Although each of those stories varied in topic and prominence, they all allowed me to have an insight into Corey’s typical day as a reporter and all the chaos that comes with it.

My time with WFLA went by so fast but I have built so many connections and friendships that I wouldn't have found anywhere else.

Below are some of the pictures I took during my time with News Channel 8.

I got to spend time with the News Channel 8 team both
 inside and outside of the office. Here I helped out at Nexstar's Founders Day
event for our station which was at Feeding Tampa Bay. 

During my internship, I got the chance to go up in News Channel 8s
helicopter called the Eagle. I got a chance to see Tampa and
 St. Petersburg from a view I haven't really had the chance to see before.

Here is Lila Gross and I at one of the Tampa Bay Bucs Training Camp days. 

On my last day at the station, my only request was to get a picture behind the news desk.
I succeed! 

To close my time as an intern, I wanted to take a picture of my ID outside of the station.

While this pretty much sums up my summer, I have so much in store that I can't wait to show you and talk about during my last year at UF. I hope you're ready, cause I sure am!