WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA
As a social media staffer on The Muse, I wasn't sure what to expect this year. My first year as a staffer was during a pandemic, and things were entirely different. I communicated with my peers and editors online, and the way in which we could tackle stories also looked very different. Previously working as a multimedia staffer, I was nervous about what was to come. I now love my position on the staff. Social media is so prevalent, and it's an amazing medium. It's a great feeling to see people like and interact with the posts you've written captions for. I also have done some article writing, and although a challenge, I'm proud to see my work up on the Muse website and in a print issue.
Humans of Dreyfoos piece
When I was first assigned this piece, I was unsure of how I should tackle it. Once I learned about what it encompassed, I was excited to seek out a unique student to feature and interview. I knew it wouldn't be so easy just finding someone, so during my third period, I made an announcement to the class discussing what the post would be about and asked who thought they had something that was truly unique. A few students raised their hands, and I took portraits and interviewed each of them, but ultimately ended up choosing one.
Feature caption piece
With our school's up-and-coming show, Pride and Prejudice, I was assigned a social media post for it. I thought it would be a really interesting take to see what goes on behind the scenes, so I interviewed the costume crew heads, Kaytlin and Sabrina. I worked with them to get their photos for the post along with information and quotes via interviews. It wasn't easy work, as I had to stay with them after school and work with them during school hours as well. Although slightly untraditional in length, I was happy with how everything turned out.
OOTD piece
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I was unable to involve myself as much as I'd like for this piece since I was at home sick. Yet, thanks to the help of our team's photography editor [Natalie Dryer], we were able to get the interview and photos done. Natalie sent me the voice memo of the interview, and from there we worked together to transcribe it. I knew I was going to keep the caption simple, and so I took the best quote and worked from there to help feature Luxton's style.
From the Vault piece
Once assigned the From the Vault caption, I knew I wanted to take a look at some old art and feature it once again. I decided to bring back the collage created by alumni Kailyn Bryant and Sabre Stallings. I couldn't shake just how powerful the piece was, and I knew I wanted to post about it. I made sure to credit them in the caption and talk about the piece itself along with both its prevalence and its significance at the time it was posted.
Writing this article was a challenge, but I enjoyed the challenge. At the time I needed to make up some of my Muse hours, so I decided to take on live coverage for the first time. I was nervous due to my inexperience and the fact it was going to be at the college fair. I ended up interviewing 25+ people that day, and the article was able to go up without much problem (although later than expected). It was a great experience for me, as I got to revisit article writing and become more comfortable with interviewing people.
College Fair Live story piece
Senior vs. Freshmen spirit week expectations
When creating this piece, I was a little nervous going into it because I normally don't create graphics, and I wasn't sure what look I was going for. Once I gathered two senior and two freshmen interviews, I started brainstorming ideas. I decided I wanted to do a design that went along with the spirit week colors. I used canva to design the graphics, and I wanted to do a sort of gradient look. I had trouble finding a graphic that would coordinate for the sophomore's ninja turtle theme, so I settled for a turtle. The graphics went through all drafts without much change, and I was happy with how it turned out!
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Spirit week caption
For this caption, I needed to make sure I did a recap, as it was our last spirit week post. It was really based upon my own experience/memory, and my co-staffer Natalie helped out with the quotes. The caption only went through some small grammar/conciseness changes. I enjoyed writing this caption, as it felt like a strong way to end my spirit week experience, as I was the one to get to write the recap.
I first came up with the concept for this video while our team was just brainstorming. I thought since it was around the time of the new year, it would be interesting to see what people had to say, whether it be just general peices of advice, rather than directly ask them their resolutions. I worked on this with my co-staffer, Jasmine Mullings, and we went around with a piece of paper and got people to sign it. I edited the video (not without difficulty), but I loved how it turned out and I was happy to see people wrote more on the poster after it was hung up.
Looking into 2022 collab video
These graphics were made for an instagram story post that would lead to viewer interaction and also it worked as promo for my editor Sam's senioritis story. I used canva once again to create the graphics. Initially, they were blue and white based, but after some peer review, I decided to use black and gold, as it's our schools colors. The graphics did go through all drafts, but they unfortunately were not published/will likely not be published, as Sam's story never went out. Nonetheless, I enjoyed having another graphics experience.
Senioritis story graphic
Dress code caption
This was my first caption for my senior year, and making sure that it in itself was unique enough was definitely a challenge. I made sure to choose a powerful quote, and also encapsulate the important themes within the story. I had to keep the caption appropriate, while also doing justice to what it is that the story is about.
Poll graphic caption
This caption was fun to create, as I had to go in and do research myself. It was a bit tricky deciding what statistic to include, as i didn't just want to repeat information that was already in the infographic. At the end of the day I was able to write a concise caption that (hopefully) led to people wanting to check out the actually poll graphic.
Theisen caption
I really enjoyed writing this caption, as it was based on my own article. Considering I knew the article inside and out, the caption writing wasn't too difficult. I chose I quote that I though encapsulated what the article was about, and I also made sure to include the most important information about her experience in the beginning of the caption.
Theisen story
Taking on a print story was definitely nerve-wracking at the time, especially as I was working on a lot of social captions. I had to remind myself about a lot of AP style and basic writing, but as I got the hang of it, I began enjoying writing. The interview process was fairly easy, as Theisen was great to collaborate with. I was passionate about what it was I was writing about, which made the process all the more enjoyable. Seeing my work actually printed in the issue was incredibly awarding.
Teacher mental health caption
Writing this caption was a bit challenging, as it tackles a very serious topic that is being discussed. I wanted to make sure a powerful quote was included, but also that correct and relevant statistical information was included as well. I hope that the caption will grab readers attention (as it is yet to be uploaded), because the article the caption is promoting serves to be a very important read.
