On Friday, Corry Beavers in the Newspaper and Global Media classes headed to New York State to visit St. Bonaventure University’s CommDay for the third year in a row.
According to the press release from St. Bonaventure, the day offers students a free breakfast, a keynote by a retired senior vice president of ESPN, two workshop sessions, lunch at the Bonnies dining hall, and a stop at the campus bookstore .
As a student in my second year taking the class, I got to experience the field trip last year. Overall, my experience was amazing, but I can’t speak for everyone, so I asked two other students that attended last year’s trip.
Kenzie Knight had this to say about the field trip, “It was a very fun time last year and I [was] excited to go again this year.”
Mac Ricketts added, “I had a really fun time [last year]. It was an amazing learning experience for me.”
This year was just as fun. Keynote speaker Chris LaPlaca was amazing and really helped me understand what writing for a big news anchor like ESPN can be like. Other speakers at the workshops included Rick Karnath in What it Takes to Broadcast Sports. He was very intelligent and you could feel his experience when he talked.
Dr. Tara Walker presented What Does Media Do to Us and What Do We Do to Media? She offered a very intriguing way to look at media and made you think about how we truly take it in.
There was also Lian Bunny with Photojournalism: How to Take Better Photos. I did not attend this workshop, however, from other students, I heard that it provided a lot of good information. Overall, the workshops, and the people who ran them, were amazing.
After the workshop, students got to experience a college atmosphere with lunch at the cafeteria and then a self-guided tour around the campus.
Sophomore Joseph Gradler had this to say about the field trip: “It was a great trip and I would do it again,” Gradler said. “The speakers were great and the food was also very good. I got to make a basketball shot on their court and I caught a good time with my buddies.”
The Bonnies give away four awards in their CommDay CommPetition, which are Best Photography, Video, Writing, and best overall. Beaver Tales writer Hailee Allen won the award for Best Writing, which was an exciting moment to see for everyone who attended.
Overall this experience is something that Beaver Tales is grateful to get invited to and is a great experience for students who want to learn more about journalism from professionals. Thank you again to St. Bonaventure for allowing us to attend this amazing experience.
