Final Draft, Final Story

Molly O’Neill

December 10, 2015

Profile

            Jazmine Dirks is twenty-three year old who has a busy life, but always makes sure she has time for a little fun.

Dirks graduated from Morningside College in 2014 with a B.S. in Corporate Communications, a B.A. in photography, and a minor in Studio Arts. She is currently working on getting her certification in Art Education and M.A. in Art Education at the University of Iowa.

While at Iowa Dirks is also a teaching assistant for an art class, which she teaches students who attend the University of Iowa.

While at Morningside Dirks was very involved. She was on the soccer team for a few years, was in the art club, and played a huge role in photography club. She also worked at her campus coffee shop, the Spoonholder.

When asked about extra curricular activity at Iowa, Dirks said, “ I was very much involved at Morningside, however, graduate school is a different ball game. If I’m not in class, I am doing homework, teaching or grading.”

Dirks seems to be all work and no play. She is very focused on her schoolwork and her teaching. She loves teaching, but did not always want to do it for the rest of her life.

It wasn’t until her last semester at Morningside that she truly realized what she wanted to do for a career, which is to be a teaching artist. She realized this after taking an education course that had a practicum component built in.

She got to experience sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classrooms. For the class they had to spend at least twenty hours or practicum hours, Dirks ended up spending around sixty hours in her classrooms.

Dirks said that she had never felt this way about a career before and she knew she had to look more into it even thought she was ready to be done with school.

Now that she has to go to school longer Dirks is happy with the decision she had made. She said, “ It is a great feeling to be so passionate about something and feel so reassured that I am heading in the right direction with my career choice every time I teach.”

Dirks talked about how she always finds herself in stressful situations. She’s either stressed about school, work, or sometimes just everyday life things.

After a major snowstorm Dirks was sent out to her family’s local grocery store to get some coffee for everyone.

This does not seem to be a big deal to most people, but to Jazmine it was a little nerve racking.

Dirks had to drive a car that was a stick shift, a car that she is not used to driving, because it was the only one that could get out of the driveway. The grocery store was only a few blocks away but that did not calm her down at all.

She made it out of the driveway and was off to a good start. The whole way there she was worried about sliding on ice or getting into an accident. Slowly but surely Dirks made it to the grocery store with no problems.

Dirks was relieved and started to calm down a bit, but shortly realized she had to get back into the car and do it all over again, but this time she had seven cups of coffee with her that she did not have the first time.

Once Dirks got back into the car she started to get nervous again. She was also angry with her family for sending her to do this task.

Once again, Dirks made it to where she needed to be with only a few drops of coffee being spilled.

Dirks said, “This story may be silly to others, but to me it is a snapshot of my life. I let my nerves get the best of me sometimes and I just needed to take time to relax and be calm, so I can save myself the stress and worry!”

Even though Dirks is very busy with her schoolwork, she makes sure to have fun every now and then.

Some of Dirks hobbies consist of; running, reading, movies, and one of her favorites, discovering new craft beers and wine.

Dirks has also done a lot of traveling in the past and plans to continue as her life goes on.

A lot of the travels that she was a part of have been with Morningside professor Dolie Thompson. She has traveled to Las Vegas, New York, and Chicago that were all for photography conferences.

She was lucky enough to be invited by Thompson to go on a three-week trip to Europe to do a research study of the culture through a photographic lens.

Thompson has always be one of Jazmines favorite professors from Morningside. When asked what she thought of Dirks when she was a student Thompson said, “She had a lot of curiosity as a student, and she always went above and beyond when it came to her school work and always did more than what was required.”

Samantha Clark recently met Dirks, her first impression of her was that she was very friendly and outgoing. After seeing Dirks pictures from her Europe trip Clark had this to say, I feel like you can see what she felt through her pictures, you see her perspective and feel the emotions”

Dirks is a very busy girl that spends most of her days feeling stressed out. In the end she thinks that all the stress and hard work will pay off. She is very excited to start student teaching next year because that is one step closer to where she needs to be.jazmine

First Draft

Molly O’Neill

December 3, 2015

Profile

            Jazmine Dirks is twenty-three year old who has a busy life, but makes sure she makes time for a little fun.

Dirks graduated from Morninside College in 2014 with a B.S. in Corporate Communications, a B.A. in photography, and a minor in Studio Arts. She is currently working on getting her Certification in Art Education and M.A. in Art Education at the University of Iowa.

While at Iowa Dirks is also a T.A. for an art class which she teacher’s students that attend the University of Iowa.

While at Morningside Dirks was very involved. She was on the soccer team for a few years, was in the art club, and played a huge role in Photography Club her junior and senior year. She also worked at her campus coffee shop, the Spoonholder.

When asked about extra curricular activity at Iowa, Dirks said, “ I was very much involved at Morningside, however, graduate school is a different ball game. If I’m not in class, I am doing homework, teaching or grading.”

Dirks seems to be all work and no play. She is very focused on her schoolwork and her teaching. She loves teaching, but did not always want to do it for the rest of her life.

It wasn’t until her last semester at Morningside that she truly realized what she wanted to do for a career, which is to be a teaching artist. She realized this after taking an education course that had a practicum component built in.

She got to experience sixth, seventh, and eighth grade classrooms. For the class they had to spend at least twenty hours or practicum hours, Dirks ended up spending around sixty hours in her classrooms.

Dirks said that she had never felt this way about a career before and she knew she had to look more into it even thought she was ready to be done with school.

Now that she has to go to school longer Dirks is happy with the decision she had made. She said, “ It is a great feeling to be so passionate about something and feel so reassured that I am heading in the right direction with my career choice every time I teach.”

Dirks talked about how she always finds herself in a stressful situations. She’s either stressed about school, work, or sometimes just everyday life things.

***Anecdote****

Even though Dirks is very busy with her schoolwork, she makes sure to have fun every now and then.

Some of Dirks hobbies consist of; running, reading, movies, and one of her favorites, discovering new craft beers and wine.

Dirks has also done a lot of traveling in the past and plans to continue as her life goes on.

A lot of the travels that she was a part of have been with Morningside professor Dolie Thompson. She has traveled to Las Vegas, New York, and Chicago that were all for photography conferences.

She was lucky enough to be invited by Thompson to go on a three-week trip Europe to do a research study of the culture through a photographic lens.

When asked what she thought of Jazmine, Dolie Thompson had this to say,”…………..(still need to interview)……”

Dirks is a very busy girl that spends most of her days feeling stressed out. In the end she thinks that all the stress and hard work will pay off. She is very excited to start student teaching next year because that is one step closer to where she needs to be.

Anecdote

Jazmine Dirks is all about facing her fears when it comes to being under pressure.

After a major snow storm Jazmine Dirks was sent out to her families local grocery store to get some coffee for everyone.

This does not seem to be a big deal to most people, but to Jazmine it was a little nerve racking.

Dirks had to drive a car that was a stick shift, a car that she is not used to driving, because it was the only one that could get out of the driveway. The grocery store was only a few blocks away but that did not calm Dirks down at all.

She made it out of the driveway and was off to a good start. The whole way there she was worried about sliding on ice or getting into an accident. Slowly but surely Dirks made it to the grocery store with no problems.

Dirks was relieved and started to calm down a bit, but shortly realized she had to get back into the car and do it all over agin, but this time she had seven cups of coffee with her that she did not have the first time.

Once Dirks got back into the car she started to get nervous again. She was also angry at her family for sending her to do this task.

Once again, Dirks made it to where she needed to be with only a few drops of coffee being spilled.

After getting settled in at home, she realized that this was a situation wasn’t as serious as she thought it was at the time, but she is happy that she was able to overcome her fears in a scary situation.

Dirks said, “This story may be silly to others, but to me it is a snapshot of my life. I let my nerves get the best of  me sometimes and I just needed to take time to relax and be calm, so I can save myself the stress and worry!”

 

Story Three

Molly O’Neill

November 17, 2015

Nursing Students

A lot of college students go through periods where they are stressed and overwhelmed, but for nursing students it seems like that is a part of their everyday lives.

Students that are majoring in nursing can expect their lives to be very busy. Some characteristics of a nursing student are long hours, busy schedules, and a lot of late night studying . When asking Sara Desy, a third year nursing student, what that hardest thing about being a nursing major is, she responded, “Everything about it is hard.”

A typical week for Desy consists of going to classes from eight in the morning and finishing around noon everyday, with clinical hours twice a week. On Monday’s she is at the hospital from two until ten-thirty, and Thursdays from six in the morning until two-thirty.

Desy admitted that everything about being a nursing student is hard. She said, “I have no time for a social life, if I am not at class then I am doing my clinical hours, if I am not doing clinical hours then I am at class or spending my free time studying and working on homework assignments.”

Nursing students have a lot of responsibilities and they need to make sure they are always doing their best. It is not easy being a nursing student but it is possible.

Every student at Morningside College is required to take a May term before they graduate. May terms can consist of traveling to many different places or just taking a class on campus.

A May term usually last three weeks but could differ on the type of class that the students choose to take and it is a requirement for all students to take one before they graduate.

When it comes to taking a May term many students are not very happy about it. It can be fun for the ones that chose to travel, but for the students that decide to stay on campus seem to not enjoy it as much.

Anna Shanafelt is a junior here at Morningside and plans on taking her May term this up and coming May. Her thoughts about having to take a May term were, “I get the whole idea on why we have to take it because we go to a liberal arts school, but do I think it’s a waste of time and money? Yeah.”

Anna has the opportunity to travel to many different places but is deciding to stay on campus to complete her class. When asked why she didn’t want to travel she said, “I would love to travel but I can’t afford it at the moment ”

It seems that May term can be a different experience for all students. It all depends on what class they decide to take, and how they feel about having to take one.

One of the biggest contrives that is happening in the United States right now is that Starbucks is now anti Christmas.

Every year starting in November Starbucks uses their infamous holiday cups, that are usually red with some type of Holiday decoration.

This year, the cups are only just the color red with no design. People all around the world have been complaining about this issue and think that Starbucks is anti Christmas, and does not want to spread holiday cheer.

This topic has been has been heard all around that even president candidate Donald Trump had something to say about it.

Trump suggested that people should boycott Starbucks and if he is elected president he will make sure that everyone will be saying Merry Christmas again.

There are people that have been offended by these red cups, and there are many people that think this issue has been blown out of proportion.

Sam Clark a barista at Starbucks had this to say when it came to the controversy with the red cups, “I think it is inconsiderate that people only take Christianity as a serious religion, considering Starbucks doesn’t even have to change the color of their cups for the holiday season”

Clark was not very pleased with Trump talking about this issue either. Her thoughts, “Trump shouldn’t even be concerned about this topic, he has bigger things to worry about and should be focusing on the bigger issues.”

Even though that Starbucks is not anti Christmas people continue to buy their coffee and beverages from them. Its going to take more than the color of a cup to stop people from going to Starbucks.

Shooting

Man shoots wife after only being married for three hours.

Richard and Laurette Brunson got married Saturday on the front porch of their home at two o’clock.

About thirty relatives and friends attended the wedding, along with Laurette’s three children.

Richard Brunson shot his wife at five o’clock shortly after their wedding ceremony, with a .22- calibre hand gun.

Neighbors contacted the police but once they arrived Richard Brunson was already gone.

Laurette Brunson is currently as St. Lukes with Richard Brunson’s whereabouts still unknown.

Chuck Todd

Chuck Todd explains how voters have been voting for the candidates that they see the most change in.

Chuck Todd spoke at Morningside College in Eppley Auditorium at the annual Waitt Lecture Tuesday October 22. People will recognize Todd as the host of Meet the Press and a T.V. political director on NBC News.

Todd was able to keep the audience’s attention and kept them entertained by throwing in a few comments that made the audience laugh. “I think there are more zombies on the debate stage than there is on the Walking Dead.” The audience gave Todd an applause for this statement, and most laughed and shook their heads in agreement.

Todd informed the audience that when it comes to voting, most people vote for where they see the most change. He said that for the past twelve years voters have voted for change, but there still hasn’t been any, and that we are still heading in the wrong direction.

He went on by saying if people were asked if their children will be better off than we were today, most Americans say no.

Todd used his family as an example. He said, “My family is better today than they were ten years ago, but they cannot spend the money like they did ten years ago.”

He explained that people are going to vote for the leaders that have the most potenital in changing how this country is ran but he stated that, “No matter how red or blue the state is, of we want to change the parties has to prove otherwise.” Meaning that the parties need to be able to prove that they can promise and go through with the changes they say they will make.

 

News Story Final Draft

Molly O’Neill

October 22, 2015

Being a Nursing Student

            A lot of college students go through periods where they are stressed and overwhelmed, but for nursing students it seems like that is a part of their everyday lives.

Students that are majoring in nursing can expect their lives to be very busy. Some characteristics of a nursing student are long hours, busy schedules, and a lot of late night studying. When asking Sara Desy, a third year nursing student, what that hardest thing about being a nursing major is, she responded, “Everything about it is hard.”

A typical week for Desy consists of going to classes from eight in the morning and finishing around noon everyday, with clinical hours twice a week. On Monday’s she is at the hospital from two until ten-thirty, and Thursdays from six in the morning until two-thirty.

Desy admitted that everything about being a nursing student is hard. She said, “I have no time for a social life, if I am not at class then I am doing my clinical hours, if I am not doing clinical hours then I am at class or spending my free time studying and working on homework assignments.”

For nursing majors, they need to maintain a 2.75 GPA and get above a 78% for it to be considered a passing grade. Some may think that that is a little harsh, and is one of the main complaints from nursing students.

Mary Kovarna has been a nursing educator at Morningside College for twenty years now. She has been a nurse since 1980 and first started out at St. Lukes.

When asked, why the grading scale was made like that, Kovarna response was, “For students that hover below that 78 percentile range are not learning what they need to know. People do not want a nurse that only knows three fourths of what they should know.” Overall she does not think it is harsh, it is what is expected from the students and it is what will make them a better nurse in the future.

Being in the nursing department is not only stressful on the students. It is also stressful on the professors as well. Kovarna admitted that the job gets stressful for herself at times as well. Some of the things that cause the professors stress are the demands on being a better school than others, and being judged on the board passing rates. The professors need to make sure their passing rates on their boards stay where they are supposed to be otherwise it can affect their job and the school.

Nursing school takes a lot of time an commitment, and a lot of students feel like giving up. Nurses today are a big help to nursing students. They can encourage them to keep working hard because it will pay off.

Megan Meyer is a nurse at St. Lukes Wagner ENT. She has only been a nurse for two years, but has loved being one so far.

When asked what were some of the struggles Meyer’s faced during school, her answers were similar to Desy’s. She said she never had a social life, and when it came to doing her clinical hours she felt like it was work without being paid.

Even though Meyer’s went through most of the common struggles nursing majors faced, she made through it. Meyer’s stated, “In the end it is all worth it. All of the clinical hours made me a well rounded nurse, and made me the nurse that I am today.”

Meyer’s also said that she gained a lot of good life long friends that she met because of the nursing program. It is easy to meet new friends because you are always with the same group of people, and you are with people that are going through all of the hard times as you are.

Even though being a nursing student can be stressful at times and very time consuming, it is possible to get through it. In the end all the long hours and hard obstacles nursing students go through will only help them at becoming a better nurse.

News comment #8

For this weeks weekly news comment I decided to write about the former NBA player Lamar Odom was found unconscious and is left in critical conditions after a drug overdose.

I think this story is news worthy because Lamar Odom is a popular name in sports. He has struggled with a drug addiction for some time now and most people are aware of that.

The audience for this article would be anyone that is a fan of Lamar Odom.  Or a sports fan in general.

I think the lead is effective because they state what happened right away and gave the details through out the whole article. The article is very informative and lets fans and readers know what is happening with the situation.

I don’t think that anything is missing from this article and would not change anything.

https://wordpress.morningside.edu/mro005/wp-admin/post-new.php

Story #2 Rough Draft

Molly O’Neill

October 15, 2015

Being a Nursing Student

            A lot of college students go through periods where they are stressed and overwhelmed, but for nursing students it seems like that is apart of their everyday lives.

Students that are majoring in nursing can expect their lives to be very busy. Some characteristics of a nursing student are long hours, busy schedules, and a lot of late night studying. When asking Sara Desy, a third year nursing student, what that hardest thing about being a nursing major is, she responded, “Everything about it is hard.”

A typical week for Desy consists of going to classes from eight in the morning and finishing around noon everyday, with clinical hours twice a week. On Monday’s she is at the hospital from two until ten-thirty, and Thursdays from six in the morning until two-thirty.

Desy admitted that everything about being a nursing student is hard. She said, “I have no time for a social life, if I am not at class then I am doing my clinical hours, if I am not doing clinical hours then I am at class or spending my free time studying and working on homework assignments.”

After talking to a nursing student, some input from a nursing professor was needed.

Mary Kovarna has been a nursing educator at Morningside College for twenty years now. She has been a nurse since 1980 and first started out at St. Lukes.

For nursing majors, they need to maintain a 2.75 GPA and get about a 78% for it to be considered a passing grade. Some may think that that is a little harsh, and is one of the main complaints from nursing students.

I asked Kovarna why the grading scale was made like that, and what her thoughts were when it came to hearing that people think it is harsh. Her response was, “For students that hover below that 78 percentile range are not learning what they need to know. People do not want a nurse that only knows three fourths of what they should know.” Overall she does not think it is harsh, it is what is expected from the students and it is what will make them a better nurse in the future.

Being in the nursing department is not only stressful on the students. It is also stressful on the professors as well. Kovarna admitted that the job gets stressful for herself at times as well. Some of the things that cause the professors stress are the demands on being a better school than others, and being judged on the board passing rates. The professors need to make sure their passing rates on their boards stay where they are supposed to be otherwise it can affect their job and the school.

After hearing from a student and a professor, I wanted to see if all the long hours and struggles are worth it.

Megan Meyer is a nurse at St. Lukes Wagner ENT. She has only been a nurse for two years, but has loved being one so far.

When I asked Meyer’s what were some of the struggles she faced during school, her answers were similar to Desy’s. She said she never had a social life, and when it came to doing her clinical hours she felt like it was work without being paid.

Even though Meyer’s went through most of the common struggles nursing majors faced, she made through it. Meyer’s stated, “In the end it is all worth it. All of the clinical hours made me a well rounded nurse, and made me the nurse that I am today.”

Meyer’s also said that she gained a lot of good life long friends that she meant because of the nursing program. It is easy to meet new friends because you are always with the same group of people, and you are with people that are going through all of the hard times as you are.

Even though being a nursing student can be stressful at times and very time consuming, it is possible to get through it. In the end all the long hours and hard obstacles nursing students go through will only help them at becoming a better nurse.

Stuart Scott

Stuart Scott encourages people to always fight, and to never give up.

Stuart Scott a sports anchor for ESPN received the Jimmy V Award last night at the ESPN ESPY Awards. Scott has been battling with cancer and is continuing to fight.

The main message that Scott was trying to say last night is that no matter what you are going through keep fighting, because we have a responsibility to never give up.

He said himself, “When you get to tired to fight, lie down, take a rest, and let someone fight for you.” He told the audience that he has many people that are helping him with his fight, such as friends, family, co-workers, doctors, but most importantly his daughters.

His daughters are his heartbeat and the reason he keeps on fighting. He invited his youngest daughter up on stage with him to share this special moment.

He also told the audience that if we die from cancer it is not a loss, he said, “You beat cancer on the way that you lived your life.” Encouraging people to live their lives to the fullest and to always remember to never stop fighting.

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