Gotta Love the YouTube!

I must say I absolutely LOVE YouTube. The website gives people the opportunity to be seen and heard, and most importantly, it gives journalism students like myself the opportunity to share their work online. YouTube has also been - and still is - used by family members to share their memories online. At some times, these memories become unintentionally YouTube hits. One example is a Swedish couple's video that they put up of their one-year-old baby laughing. The video was intended to be shared among their family, but as the word spread about the video, it became an instant YouTube-hit and has had over 35 million views so far. If you want to share a laugh with this adorable Swedish baby, click here.

I've been writing for the university's newspaper since 2005. Thanks to YouTube, I've had the opportunity also to work as an online reporter for the newspaper's website, the BelmontVision.
One recent video that I produced and edited is about the annual "Disco is Dead?" party which I covered. The party was hosted by fraternity Alpha Tau Omega and the video includes cool outfits and groovin' dance moves. Enjoy! :)

mtvU Internship in Wonderful NYC

This past summer I had the opportunity to intern with MTV Networks in NYC; more specifically, I worked for mtvU Productions. I, together with a few other interns worked with mtvU's producers on field and studio shoots. We also assisted in the pre- and post production process, we performed research on mtvU's artists, contributed our ideas during brainstorm sessions, organized and filed tapes to mtvU's library system, as well as logged and dubbed footage.

I believe the internship was an extremely valuable experience - not only because I was able to be a part of a global company such as MTV Networks, but I also became more independent and I gained a lot of confidence. On the other hand, living in a city far away from home is nothing new to me; I moved at the age of 18 all the way from Sweden to a different continent by myself. I had to learn independence at a young age, however, nothing comes close to my New York experience. The city is absolutely amazing and I fully agree with people when they say that "if you can survive in New York, you can survive anywhere." The subway system was a little bit confusing in the beginning, but after about a week I got a good hang of it.

Besides all the great memories I have from my internship and the city itself, I must say I was extremely lucky with with the people I got to work and live with. My three roommates were the coolest and sweetest girls I've met; we even went to the Live Earth Concert together. Additionally, the other interns were very easy to get along with. I left New York with a bunch of new friends who I still keep in touch with via Facebook.

The MTV internship also gave me the opportunity to be on-air a few times. I attended miTRL and got to meet Beyonce; I was interviewed for different mtvU shows, and I attended a casting for the show opening to the new "SexCred with Dr. Ruth." To my surprise, I was chosen and can therefore be seen for about one second each time the show is about to start. It might seem funny that they would have a casting for people who they're just going to show for such a short time; however, I guess that makes you understand how much hard work it requires to make the TV industry as good as it is.

My local TV debut

Two summers ago I had the honor to intern for Talk of the Town, Nashville's top rated entertainment show at NewsChannel 5. For those of you who don't know, NewsChannel 5 is where Oprah Winfrey started her career. Apparently she still comes and visits the station when she's in town, however, unfortunately I did not get to meet her during my two months as an intern.

My first experience at the news channel was absolutely awesome. I got to work with great reporters and producers who I still keep in touch with. Most importantly, I learned about my profession and gained valuable experience that I believe will help me in the future. Some of my daily work included helping out with pre- and post production, managing studio guest visits such as celebrities like David Lee Roth, and writing "Daily Hotlines," namely summaries about the shows which were posted online the same day.

I also had the opportunity to be on camera. My first local TV debut included hosting a live segment of "Pet of the Week." The segment runs every Friday and the idea is to encourage viewers to adopt pets who are in need of a new home. It is funny to look back on this segment, because I can tell that my English wasn't near as good as it is today. I'm glad I'm making progress though :)



My second appearance took place during the yearly CMA Festival in Nashville. It's a festival where country music fans enjoy each others company and listen to their favorite music artists perform live. What's so amazing with this day is that I ran into a famous Swedish country music singer! Her name is Jill Johnson, and no, she's not famous in America, but she has a great voice and records great music so all credit should go to her! Anyways, I had never met Jill before, but my dad had always joked around saying that I might meet her in Nashville since she spends a lot of time there. I was extremely excited to meet her and I even arranged an interview for her with Talk of the Town!

After Jill's interview, reporter Harry Chapman decided that it was time for my second television appearance. It had been a long and extremely hot day, but I think I did pretty good considering the circumstances.

It's Nashville! It's "Music City USA!"

Nashville should actually be called "Country Music City USA," but I'll just go with what everyone else calls it. What's fun about living in a music city is that you're close to the industry and you meet famous - and sometimes not so famous - country music artists. I had the opportunity to be a part of Flynnville Train's music video "Last Good Time." I went with three of my closest girlfriends and we had a blast!
If you don't know much about Flynnville Train, here's some quick facts that I found on wikipedia.org:

"Flynnville Train is an American country music band signed to Show Dog Nashville. Their self-titled debut album was released on September 11, 2007; it produced two singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. The band is composed of lead vocalist Brian Flynn, lead guitarist Brent Flynn, bass guitarist Tim Beeler, rhythm guitarist Jeremy Pattesron, and drummer Tommy Bales."

The shoot turned into a too long night that ended up with painful blisters on my feet because of all the dancing in high heels. But I'm not complaining; I got a good spot right behind the artists so you can see glimpses of me throughout the video. Even if you don't like country music, you should at least take a look at this video to see if you find me.
Hint: I'm wearing a pink dress combined with a pink cowboy hat :)

VIDEO: I'm A Bruin!

My three and a half years at college have just flown by; I can't believe I'm a senior who's about to graduate soon. During my years at Belmont, I've dedicated countless of hours sweating, running, and fighting on the tennis court. Tennis has always been a big part of my life, but I know my career will be over as soon as I graduate. However, I will never forget the wonderful memories I shared with my teammates and my coach.

Besides the memories, another great thing about being a college athlete is the publicity you get. I've attached Belmont's General Athletics Ad, which I'm featured in. Appearantly it has been shown on ESPN2 a few times which I think is pretty cool!

Enjoy the ad!

Remembering the Civil Rights Movement

Yesterday was a day of remembrance; remembrance of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But I want to dedicate this blog post to everyone who was a part of the Civil Rights Movement and who, just like King, had to face constant abuse, rejection, and death-threats because of the truth they believed in. These people never got - and still don’t get - as much recognition as they deserve. Don’t get me wrong, I believe King is worthy of all the respect and acknowledgements he has gotten – but I think it’s time to remember other people who risked their lives for a dream they shared with so many other Americans.
I don’t want to entirely exclude Dr. King in this post, however. I believe Oprah posted a wonderful and personal YouTube piece about King and her thoughts on how he contributed to the change in the American society and how he changed the future for so many Americans. I really encourage you to take a look at it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRUUq9QoKms.

But let’s move on to a few people that I would like to recognize.

Ella Baker (1903-1986): a civil rights leader who was instrumental in the founding of The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. She taught people not to be ashamed of their race and she pushed African Americans to keep their faith in freedom going. She advised African American women to take up their struggle for equality, and she was convinced that “ordinary” people had the ability to become political leaders.

Septima Poinsette Clark (1898-1987): an American educator and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People activist. Known as the “Queen Mother” or “Grandmother of the American Civil Rights Movement;” she fought for equal access to education and civil rights for African Americans long before the nation had turned its attention to racial equality.

Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977): an American voting rights activist who was influential in organizing Mississippi’s “Freedom Summer” for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She later became the Vice-Chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. In 1962, she was beaten and jailed in for trying to register to vote. During her lifetime, she worked on many projects including grassroots-level Head Start programs, the Freedom Farm Cooperative in Sunflower County, and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign.

These women are just a few out of many who risked their lives for a dream that till this day hasn't fully come true. We've come a long way, but we're not there yet.

I'm going to end with a quote by Vashti Murphy McKenzie, the keynote speaker at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta where civil rights and political leaders gathered yesterday to honor Dr. King's legacy. McKenzie, who is the first female bishop in the 213-year history of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, said "The dream is still yet coming. There are challenges before us. The tragedy of injustice still stains the mural of American life."

I agree. So let's work on making some changes.