Rieck 2011 portfolio

CHRISTIE RIECK

PORTFOLIO2011

Cover letter

Christie Rieck4910 Simmons rd.Orlando FL, 32812

Cell: (407)-451-8313Email: [email protected]

May 23, 2011

Angel Tommy OrtizYouth MinisterBlessed Trinity Catholic Church4545 Anderson RoadOrlando, FL 32812

Dear Angel Ortiz,

I have been an avid member of our youth ministry for the past three years now. I have been in-volved with confirmation, on multiple retreats and mission trips, and this past year I was a member of our peer ministry. I have heard that you are looking for a personal secretary and with the experi-ence I have from this past years yearbook class (such as computer programing, professional email-ing, and sales) I believe I could properly fill the position.

Throughout the years I have been involved in our youth ministry I have witnessed your tasks that you are engaged in everyday and the yearly events that you pull together and organize. Having the knowledge of these activities, festivities and gatherings is a great advantage for a new secre-tary. For knowing these events prior to the job, I already am prepared to help tend these events. Along with that, if I were your secretary I could help you contact the peer ministers, priests, the bishop and anyone that is needed to be contacted; through phone calls, emails or faxing.

Aside with being your secretary, I could also be your treasurer. As I have attended the Chatta-nooga, Tn. mission trip last year, and now working toward going to the Atlanta, Ga. mission trip this summer, along with the National Catholic Youth Conference in November, I understood the costs that must be collected in order for us to go. If I were secretary and your treasurer, I could be trusted to count the money after fund-raisers, calculate what money is needed, cashed checks, deposit money, and any other tasks that is needed to be done.

All in all, I believe I am qualified though being a yearbook staffer and a part of our youth ministry to be your personal secretary. I hope that you consider this application and contact me when ap-plicable. Thank you for your time.

Respectfully yours,

Christie Rieck Enclosed: Resume

Resume

Christie Rieck4910 Simmons rd.Orlando FL, 32812

Cell: (407)-451-8313Email: [email protected]

Objective:I plan on becoming a published author along with majoring in public relations in college with a minor of journalism and/or creative writing.

Education:William R. Boone High School 2008-2011

Unweighted GPA: 3.4High school courses: Spanish I, II; English Honors I, II, III; Global Studies, World History Honors, American History Honors; Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II; Integrated Sience, Bio, Chemistry; Early Childhood I; Hope; Journalism I, II; Drama I; Art 2-D

Experience:PUBLICATION William R. Boone High School- 2010-2011-Being a staffer on the award winning Legend yearbook, has allowed me to learn Adobe programs and professional journalist writing and realtions skills.PEER MINISTRY- 2010-2011-Being a peer minister at my Catholic church, Blessed Trinity, I was certified during a weekend retreat to be a leader to youth like myself, and how to properly guide and associate with teens.

Volunteer Work:-Alive in You 2010 Mission TripI attended and worked at a week mission trip in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the summer of 2010. I painted and cleaned the inside of a elementary school to freshen up the school for the following year. -SPCA Humane Society Ever since third grade I have been a certified volunteer at the SPCA Humane Society. Within those eight years I have collected a large number of hours cleaning, caring for, and helping adopt animals at the Shelter.

Activities/Awards:-Confirmation-Peer Ministry Certificate-Red Ribbon Poster Award Reference:Renee Burke: journalism advisor and Orange County Public School Teach of the [email protected] Tommy Ortiz: Youth Minister at Blessed Trinity Catholic [email protected]

PersonalEssay

Throughout the past two years I have taken journalism, it has not only become my life, but it has become my passion. When I first got into high school my mom thought that since I had always been a strong writer that I should pursue it in some way in high school. We both looked into the classes that I would be able to take my up-coming high school years and in the end we decided I should take journalism while I’m a sophomore. Although it was my mom’s idea for me to take journalism, it ended up becoming the best decision I have ever made. Journalism 1 alone has affected my life by teach-ing me and showing me different ways that I could express my skills in writing and express myself in the process. But when I took the next step of applying for yearbook and getting accepted into year-book, it only continued to influence my passion for journalism. Throughout the past year of being a staffer, I have learned so much and I have grown extensively. I went from not knowing where to start, to writing an entire issues page story that I’ve been complimented on multiple times. The feeling I get when someone goes out of their way to tell me, my story was amazing, it’s sim-ply indescribable. In the beginning of this year, the editors told us when the yearbook is published and people tell you what a good job you did on your pages, that it makes up for the stress, the pres-sure, and the time that you put into your spreads. And to be hon-est, I didn’t exactly understand what they were talking about, be-cause I had never experienced it before. But now, months later from that talk they gave us, I do. And they couldn’t be more right. In order for me to get where I am today, I had a lot of help. If it weren’t for the guidance of Mrs. Burke and Vivien Quattrone I would be five steps back from where I am today. Mrs. Burke has always been there to help us and answer any questions that we have. When she explains something or is teaching us something new, she breaks it down for us that makes it easy to do and remember. She goes above and beyond to help us reach our goal which is one reason why I wasn’t surprised at all when she was named Orange County Teacher of the Year. Other than Mrs. Burke, Vivien Quattrone has helped me on a whole other level. She was like my personal helper and whenever I had a question that might seem like it would have an obvious answer, or if I needed advice on anything, she was always the first person I went to. Since the majority of my deadlines were with her, she has helped me evolve almost as much as Mrs. Burke did. Not only would she always be there to help me perfect our spread, she would be there to help me, or any staffer not stress out and to just keep calm. She would always assure us that we would make our deadline and everything would work out. Vivien has been the most impacting editor on the 2011 Legend yearbook for me personally and I couldn’t thank her enough for all of her effort she put into her work. Overall, yearbook has had an overwhelming impact on my life for the past two years. It has enhanced my writing abil-ity and creativity, it has given me confidence in my writing and it has given me a home away from home. I can only imagine what it has in store for me for my next and final year at Boone High School. Next year, I will be the next Index editor . I must say, I am not Amy, but my goal and hope is, that I make her proud.

Self-Analytical Evaluation

Yearbook isn’t just students putting a year’s memories together, yearbook is so much more. Yearbook helps us with our future and prepares us for what lies ahead; for our careers and for our personal being. This past year in Room 224, I have been taught multiple life lessons, such as true dedication and time management. In yearbook, dedication is key. It is what you need in order to create a quality spread and it is also what you need to be capable of turning everything in on time. In order for you to reach your deadline you have to be dedicated and committed to your work. Yearbook is a team effort; therefore if one person slacks and loses their motivation, it can bring the entire class down. That is something that I learned in the beginning of this year. It was when there were multiple people not dedicated to staff as they should be, and they were dragging us down with them. At that time, the editors spoke to us explaining how we are a part of an award winning yearbook, and if we continue to slack off and not give them the 100% of our efforts, that this honorable year-book, could turn into nothing. At that point, I realized how important this all is to not only me, not only the editors, but to the entire school. Who wants to see and remember stories that are poorly written, or pictures that aren’t of fine quality? No one does, and that’s why we are here, giving it all or nothing; staying dedicated. Another lesson I will be able to take away with me once I graduate next year would be time management. Time management is something we all need to be able to develop into our lives. So much of your future and your ca-reer will revolve around time management. Wether you’re a house mom, an author, a journalist, or the president; you need to be able to arrange your time accordingly in order for you to get everything that needs to be done, completed. In yearbook this came into effect when I would have multiple commitments. I was a part of my churches peer min-istry which requires a handful of time throughout the year. We usually have weekly meetings, and weekend events. Between that and yearbook, I had to be able to organize my time in order to pursue peer ministry and keep my spreads updated. This was a skill that I worked on through time and now, at the end of the year, I have conquered. Overall, I have learned multiple life lessons through yearbook, but dedication and time man-agement have stuck with me the most. Because of yearbook, I was able to develop them now, and will be able to bring these taught traits with me as I go through college, my career and the rest of my life.

REFLECTION 1

My most significant piece of writing throughout the year would be my issues arti-cle The Hit of a Lifetime. I wrote this piece with my focus being the journey that a senior boy had to go through while living in a life of drug addiction. In this article he ends up having the at-tend, and live in, a drug rehabilitation program. It goes into details about his journey to reach a sober lifestyle, which ended up taking seven months in rehab. Within those seven months I explained how he reached soberness through trials and gains; from relapse’s to sober tweaking. My purpose for this feature was to show and explain the effects one has to go through from drug abuse. Overall this was a very time consuming yet doable piece. I had multiple interviews which were taken place in and outside of school. I would spend hours with this senior, talking about his story and also allowed me to read his personal journals he wrote while being in rehab. Now throughout my time of writing this piece, I had great growth. Vivien really was able to direct me toward creating the emo-tional piece I wanted to write and throughout the critique from the editors I believe I reached that goal. Like you can see, I started off the piece with a visual but in the first draft it was much more vague then my final draft. In my final draft, my opening is much more vivid and detailed allowing the reader to be able to visualize what it was like to be in his shoes. Along with my starting point, I feel like in the end and after re-editing my piece multiple times, I was able to give a finished piece that was organized from the events that occurred and also had the most important and hi-lighted quotes throughout our interviews. I believe this could have been a very difficult piece to write if I hadn’t spent a multitude of hours learning his story. But I have learned that you can only reach your goal or your standard of something, by the effort you put into it. Now because of the background information I did learn from him, I was able to put everything I had into this piece and make it one that people have told me has “gives them goose bumps”. Another purpose that this was my most significant article was the fact I had fun writing it. Sto-ries that move or inspire people are my favorite to write because I’ve always made it a personal initia-tive to change a life, or even save one. With writing pieces like this, it reaches out to the soul and heart of a person, instead of the mind of one. It can give them hope for an issue that they can relate to, or it can influence them to help someone they know that might be in a position that relates to the story. So writing The Hit of a Lifetime has really been an enjoyable time. I know people can see all my ef-fort I put into it with the positive feedback I have received. And because of that, it was all worth it.

REFLECTION2

Surviving The Bust was my second deadline, yet my first deadline alone. I wrote a story for the page explaining a student’s experience of losing her house to foreclosure and her parents losing income from loss of jobs. I feel like this was a pretty good piece for it being my second deadline as a staffer, but when I look back and reread it, I think it still could use some work. When I wrote this piece, I depended on Sehar a lot. I didn’t exactly know where to start when I wrote an issue’s type story like this, or how to make it flow when I put everything together. So with her being Copy editor, she went out of her way and helped me tremendously. We worked together to critic my piece but as we con-tinued to write, she would tend to take over. I am very thankful and greatly appreciate the help Sehar has given me, but I think if I could go back and write this story again, I would put more of my own words in there instead of hers. Now that I know what I am doing when I write n article, I would like to make it more of my own. Because of that, this deadline was a big learning experience for me. I learned how to format articles, how to make them flow in the ways that they should and I learned how to connect all the pieces of the story together with their quotes. But despite that, I still be-lieve that Surviving the Bust, is an overall great story, just needs a little more ‘Christie’ into it.

REFLECTION 3

Throughout all seven deadlines I have taken over two thousand pictures. The one picture that has stood out to me the most throughout the year would be my picture of junior Megan Lawhorne trying on clothes at Platos Closet for my recession page. I feel like this picture has a good center of visual interest along with working with the rule of thirds well. It’s very eye drawing by the focus of the image being Lawhorne’s reflection in the mirror opposed to the usual straight forward body shot. The focus isn’t placed directly in the center of the photo and the focuses are based onto the sides. The fact that this is a more unique picture, instead of the typical posing image, is what drew my attention.

REFLECTION 4 This year, being a Legend staffer, I think I was a positive asset to accomplishing and creating our Legend year-book that we are all proud of. Throughout the deadlines, I have made it either on time or one day afterwards. I have truly put effort into my pages, my stories, my pictures, and the spread. For my layout Musical Students, I personally took all of the pictures on the page, as well as found the people that would be able to come with me to the locations that had deals. It took away my entire Sunday, along with all my energy, from going all over town and picking up four different people who were in different grades, and different races. It was the most stressful day throughout the year for me, but I feel like the page came together great and the ending result was worth the stress and the commitment. Along with commitment I can say I have put all of my capability into putting my pages together. I tried very hard with whatever topic I was doing; such as retrieving and reminding stu-dents to bring in their cultural pictures for my culture page, by going on multiple interviews with both issue’s pages I wrote, and by going to multiple regattas and a practice to get picture of the students on the Hit List. I feel overall I was a well rounded staffer because of my commitment, my time management, and my dedication.

REFLECTION 5

This year I faced the challenges I’m sure all first year staffer’s experience. I went through the awkward interviews with people that don’t care about what I’m asking or what their answers are, having to depend on people in order for you to get done what you need to, the difficult hours of writing a sports story about a sport you know not much about and the challenge of getting everything together and in by deadline. Personally, the most difficult situation I experienced through-out the year would be, having to depend on others to reach the goal of meeting deadline. For my first deadline that I shared with Holly, the culture page, we had to depend on seven different people to make our deadline on time. We had to remind seven students a multitude of times to bring in pictures of them in their ethnic backgrounds. We had to ask them so constantly that we were not only bothering them, but their teachers as well. Then we also had to collect the pictures of the students in their cultural countries from them and if they contin-ued to forget, we had to resort to Facebook in hopes that they visited recently and posted pictures up.. This was very difficult since no one really understands what reaching deadline means to us.. It’s hard to complete a task yourself when the people you need in order to reach your goal, don’t care like you do, or not at all. But in the end, I realized you have to work with what you have. In the end I was able to find three pictures on the page through Facebook and I was lucky enough to have a high enough resolution for them. I did have to stress about the other four we had to wait on but in the end it all worked out. Next year, because of this learning experience, I will handle the situation a bit differently. If I would have to collect anything from a student for my page, I would get the phone numbers of all the students I need and then I would be able to remind them to bring me whatever I was asking for the next day. In the end, when I look back at my first deadline, I remember it being the most stressful deadline of all of them, but I believe I handled it pretty well. I did stress but I was calm and collective when I would approach the situations to the students, or to my section editor. I acted confident in order to get my job done; which I believe that I did.

REFLECTION 6

On my midterm, the three goals that I made for myself were to start off every deadline strong, to stay organized and to stay motivated even with all of the pressure on you. These were very strong goals for me to set for myself. I believe that now, at the end of the year, I can look back and see that they are goals I have accomplished. For the rest of the year, I met deadline along with finishing off strong. I stayed on task start-ing from the beginning and it helped me smoothly reach deadline on time. Then along with having a good start, I continued to stay organized and together. When Holly and I started both deadline five and seven, we wrote down lists of what was needed to be done and what people we needed for our spreads. This really helped us stay organized and kept us from getting overly stressed. This benefited us by giving us concrete dates and times to figure out how we will accomplish everything and on time. Finally, I feel like I was able to stay motivated through not only after mid-term when I set this goal, but before then. Throughout this whole year I kept motivated to do the best that I could do and it is shown through my work. Overall, these are not only good goals for yearbook but for life in general. I will continue to follow these guidelines for myself in my future.

REFLECTION 7

Y1: FEATURE WRITING STUDENT LIFEPage 040-041I would like for my issues article, The Hit of a lifetime, to represent me. I believe it is a well-written piece that clearly expresses an emotional rehab story about a student at our school. It displays the tragic experience in rehab, the lead up to his breaking point and the outcome for a hopeful future. Along with an emotional story, this article displays multiple statistics on drug addiction, rehab population and relapse percentages. I think this is an over-all well structured article that gives the reader the heart pounding this story deserves..

Y7 SIDEBAR WRITINGPage 024-025Tour Your Dreams was one of my favorite sidebar stories. It displayed the efforts of a small lo-cal band, Before You Exit, that had expanded over the past few years and was allowed and paid to go on tour with the students long time idol. Although this is a short article, I believe it gives enough information to express the story of the band and the steps that they took in order to reach their goals of becoming a famous and popular artists.

Y8: HEADLINE WRITINGPage 040-041, 030-031The Hit of a lifetime and Campus Melting Pot are headlines that I have came up with that I consider to be a relevant and creative way to draw the reader’s attention to the story, along with tying together the spread. Both of these titles find ways to bring the story, the pictures, and the theme of the page together and connect all of the aspects of the page.

Y1 Y8Y8

Y7

RAINSUNSHIN EMake your own

when life pours

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