My First Apartment

          When I was in High School, I had it all figured out. I’d have my first apartment when I was about 20-22 years old. It would be a studio apartment with a giant rollup door and would have a single window overlooking a brightly lit city. I’d have a red futon and a matching rug. There would be matching pots and pans in the kitchen space and I’d have a little patio with potted plants. It would be my very own space.

            I am 22 years old and I live in an apartment. Ok, so it’s not only mine, I actually share with four other people; I just rent a room, and even the room I share.

            I don’t have a red futon; actually my furniture consists of an air mattress and a fold up desk from Wal-Mart.

            I have curtains, they’re green, and they match my comforter. I hung them myself, I was really happy when I got them. 

            I have a single window, although I can’t open it because little bugs begin to crawl in through the screen.

            I live in a brightly lit city, however I now know that cities = smog. Somehow that little detail slipped through my vision when I was in High School.

            Half of the appliances in the apartment don’t work properly, so I have a portable microwave, fridge and freezer in my room and in the living room. 

            The trashcan in the kitchen is a 40-gallon trash bin, because as I mentioned before I live with four other people. This trash bin however is always overflowing because; those four other people are all guys.

            We have no living room, so to say, because the only furniture out there is a bed in the corner where one of the guys sleeps almost every moment of the day.

            One of the guys has a cat named Basil. Although we all think he's the cat from hell, he’s cute when he’s asleep, but he sleeps in the living room, which means; me being allergic to cats, stay locked up in my room every moment I’m at home. 

            It’s not what I imagined at all. Not only am I the only girl, only one of the guys speaks to me, between the other three and I, only a dozen words have been exchanged all year.

            But the rent is cheap, I have a walk-in closet, a bathtub and I can say I live in an apartment.

            Come July 1st, I am even taking a big step forward and moving out into a new apartment. Granted it still will not be only mine.

            This time, I am moving in with two roommates, but at least we are all friends and actually talk to each other and now I will no longer be the only girl.  Instead it seems it will be more of an abstract imitation of the show Three’s Company, only in the sense of there being one male and two females in one apartment.

            We will have a couch, actually we’ll have two; they are beige and blue. And we have a patio on the second floor. I’m going to buy a plant to keep it company.

            I will have a room all to myself. I have a single window that overlooks other apartment buildings that are in the brightly lit city. I still don’t have a futon, but I will have a real bed, mattress and all!

            The way I see it, sure; had finances allowed, I could have gone right out and gotten my very own apartment the first time, but where’s the fun in that? What kind of a blog post would that be?! Instead I’m taking things in a gradual progression; I’ve gone from four roommates to two roommates, which means my own place is coming soon enough.

            For now, I’m just happy that I have what I have, and I’m taking the time to enjoy the journey. 

Climbing Like a Rockstar

The excitement of a repel, the thrill of the heights and the adventure of the climb. I always looked forward to trying it, as a matter of fact it made it on to my bucket list and now I can say I have not only done it, but I loved it!

For the first time ever, I went out yesterday and went rock climbing. On the drive up I was a little nervous but the minute we started hiking out to the location I was so excited, that any and all fear left immediately.

Since this was my first new outdoor adventure I not only took a massive amount of photos, but I did my parents a favor as well and did not tell them about my outing until I was back at home and the photos were posted online for them to see. (My way of saving them from a few hours of constant worrying - they appreciated that).

Our climb was up at Red Rock National Park, so what was great was not only did I go rock climbing but there were great views every step of the way.

As I was being strapped into my harness and took my first step (which in my opinion is the hardest part) the excitement took over. As I made my way up the wall there were times I would catch a glimpse of the ground, which was a very good distance below me and I would grip the wall so tight my fingers would refuse to let go to find a new grab.

Regardless of the height, my mind was completely free of all thoughts and I was able to just take in every moment of the climb.

The first wall I climbed was a 5-6 and the second wall was a 5-8, to be perfectly honest, these numbers mean absolutely nothing to me. Having no knowledge of rock climbing I am assuming these are beginner walls but either way, I was incredibly proud of myself for making it to the top of both, rather quickly and for not slipping or falling even once.

Now with one more item checked off of my bucket list, and a ton of excitement built up I can plan out my next big adventure.

IRE Finale

After five days of intensive learning, mingling and having fun, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Convention has finally reached an end.

The amount of information and resources I learned is unbelievable and the amount of fun, excitement and inspiration I got is is overwhelming. Not only did I learn and get inspired, I was able to meet some of those journalists and individuals I have only read about and never imagined meeting, more-or-less exchanging business cards with. The experience was very rewarding and I am grateful I was able to attend and blog for the IRE website.

Along with a mention of my gratitude, here is the last article I wrote regarding the IRE conference. Rather than a typical recap of the conference I decided to include some personal background, on the street interviews and some self reflecting, hope you enjoy.

Pieces to a Prizing Puzzle

By Nikki Villoria

To some people, being star-struck means shaking the hands of celebrities like Brittney Spears and Brad Pitt. For me it’s meeting Pulitzer Prize winners.

As a young girl I was always attracted to the prestigious Pulitzer Prizes. Now as a 22-year-old journalism student I find myself guilty of Twitter-stalking winners of the prestigious award. That said; bring me to an IRE convention and throw me into a room full of dozens of Pulitzer Prize winners and I am in my glory.

With overwhelming excitement and exhilaration, I set out on a weekend venture to find out one thing - how do you win a Pulitzer Prize?

Pacing the hallways of the conference I scrounged the seminars for Pulitzer winners. As I randomly stopped winners in the hallways to speak with them I slowly made my way to finding out my answer, but first I had to know; what is it like to win a Pulitzer Prize?

“It was a really big surprise. All my friends and people around me asked if I had been notified before it was announced and the answer: no, none. The day it was announced was the first time I had heard of it. It was a complete surprise,” said Daniel Gilbert, 2010 winner for public service.

“I was hugely surprised.  It was unbelievable, it still is, I still don’t believe I won it,” said Raquel Rutledge, 2010 winner for local reporting.

After the movie-like haze wore off…OK, who am I trying to kid? It never wore off. But once my heart rate returned to normal, I continued asking questions to get an answer to my overwhelming question. I began acquiring background information about the journalists who had won the Pulitzer Prize and asked them for advice.

“Curiosity is your greatest tool, just keep asking questions until you feel you got the right answer,” Rutledge said. “That natural curiosity will lead you.”

“In regards to where I get my stories, I get my story ideas from being a close observer of the world around me. I look for things that aren’t right and raise questions. I look through other stories and see what they didn’t follow up on and from over the years I also get some ideas from sources I have gained over the years,” said Walt Bogdanich, 2008 winner for investigative reporting, 2005 winner for national reporting and 1988 winner for specialized reporting. “You have to discover if you want it badly enough to be successful. You have to really want it and you have to be motivated by wrongdoings. You have to have a low threshold of indignation.”

Eventually after meeting and talking with multiple Pulitzer Prize winners I sprang the question. How do you win a Pulitzer Prize?

“You never set out to win a Pulitzer Prize, it is a byproduct of what we do,” Rutledge said.

“If people knew the answer to that, they’d win them all the time. I honestly have no idea what it takes, but if you want to be a great journalist, you have to find what about the field you like, what kind of reporting you like and what you are good at. Then you have to take all that and find the opportunities that fit within all that and take a job that offers those opportunities, wherever it is,” Gilbert said.

After a weekend full of talking and meeting with Pulitzer Prize winning journalists I began to see a pattern. I’m not left with an unrequited question, but rather a new question. The question isn’t, “How do you win a Pulitzer Prize?” The correct question is, “How do you become a great journalist?”

Now with my energy, inspiration and encouragement levels brimming, I’ve set out to do just that—become a great journalist.

Tweeting My Way @ #IRE

Today was the first big day of seminars and convention-going for the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference at Paris, Las Vegas. Talk about a busy day!

It started off great, was only running fifteen minutes late to the first seminar. As I entered the convention center wing I looked through the schedule to see which ballroom was hosting the first seminar I wanted to attend, then I noticed something. On Wednesday night when I set my alarm to plan my day I happened to browse the wrong days' schedule. Sure enough I was at the convention today an entire two hours earlier than the seminars even began starting, a slight damper on my morning but with an Einsten Bagel and some fresh orange juice, I managed to get over it rather quickly.

Once the convention actually started, I began the morning with a session on Social Media tools to use when conducting research. (Here is the seminar recap I wrote that was published on the IRE website: IRE: Social Media 24/7 By Nicole Villoria )

Next I spent some time poking in and out of various seminars, and took a two hour break to drive to campus for class and then return back and hit the seminars some more. The second time back today I started off with Digging Deeper on the Web (The article I wrote for this seminar will be up shortly, stay tuned!).  Then I finished off the day with some Math For Journalists, which had some great equations to know! So much for that journalism myth that no math is involved.

Once the final seminars broke, a large group of the convention journalism posse headed over to the Mirage to enjoy a Mix and Mingle: Blues Bash at BB King's Blues Club. It took all my effort to restrain myself from jumping up and dancing around to the blues, but I managed to contain myself.

Tomorrow will be another long day, as a matter of fact it will be significantly more busy and with any luck, just as fun and informing.

Another Day, Another Opportunity

After being referred to the event by a professor and then being sponsored to attend by my University, all this week I will be wandering around the Paris convention center attending the Investigative Reporters and Editors Conference. (For those of you who see that location and get super excited, let me clarify...Paris Hotel in Vegas, not Paris the city, I wish though.)

This whole week is going to be so much fun and I will have a great opportunity to learn from tons of professionals everything you don't learn in school, which is usually always the very valuable information to know.

Along with attending the seminars I was also signed up for a mentor/mentee program and was assigned a mentor who is a professional investigative reporter. So you can bet all week long I will be picking his brain to learn everything I can.

While I was excited enough just to attend, I was also given the opportunity to photograph the event and write articles and reviews of the seminars to be published on the IRE website! That's just one more professional publication I can add to my belt :) This is the site where updates and articles will be posted: http://www.ire.org/IREConference2010/

The conference seminars run from Wednesday until Sunday. With short breaks in the middle of the day to go to class at school, I will be spending every other waking moment attending the conference.
I will post links to my articles on the IRE site under the 'Creations and Publications' tab on my blog site as well as random updates with little overviews and insights to what I'm learning and doing.
Until then... submitting my first article to the IRE site and reviewing the conference schedule to pick out everything I want to go to.

Calling Out...

In elementary school I remember having to bring a doctor's note to the front office whenever I was sick for more than three days. Now at age 22 I find myself required to follow the same practices.

Here I sit, sick in bed with a common cold; sniffles, a cough, scratchy voice, fever; you get the picture. I call work to let them know I won't be able to make it to work in this condition, and find out that work requires a doctor's note in order to call in for any sick days. At least in elementary school you had to provide a note for an absence of three or more days, in work however; one single sick day requires a doctor's note.

I can understand this practice if one person in particular was calling off from work, sick every weekend. Or even if a single person was out sick for an extended period of time, but for one single day?!

Luckily as a college student I have access to the student wellness center and can schedule an appointment with a doctor for a free checkup, but then it got me thinking; what about those who don't have that option?

I know for a fact that if I was not a student and I got a cold, there is no way I would drop $100 on a doctor's visit for something that a couple days of rest and chicken noodle soup would cure, and in the difficult economic times we are all faced with, I believe many would agree.

A doctor's note in order to call in sick to work!? I want to hear what you think of this. As a grown adult should you be required to bring a doctor's note to work whenever you call in sick?

Location, Location, Location

It’s the first day of classes. Your outfit fits your style, your books and binder are all ready to go, your schedule is printed out, and then you walk into your first class and that is where the big decision comes into play.

I have witnessed and experienced this quandary every since high school and college seems to be no different. 

Believe it or not, there is a strategic thought process that goes on during that first 20 seconds of walking through the door of your class. The thought provoking dilemma you are faced with… where to sit?

Positioning is everything. You learn this in every aspect of your life. Where to position yourself in a board meeting, where to stand at a party, where to place things for various occasions, again, it all comes down to positioning is everything.  There is no exception to this rule when it comes to the classroom.

Sit too close and you appear to be one of two types of people; an overachiever or a class clown. In addition to the labels that apply to this section of the room another effect to consider is the neck ache you will have after looking up at the board for over an hour.

Sit too far back and you are saying one of three things; either “I’m cool and don’t want to be here all that much”, “I’m a class clown”, or “I’m trying desperately to not stand out or be noticed”. The majority of people you will hear from during the semester will come from this section of the room.

The dead center and middle of the room is simple, you are trying to blend in. Your reason for being there is unknown and not pointed out, you just sit down and do your thing whether that be learning, joking, sleeping, whatever. This is where the other majority of the comments you will hear during the semester will come from. This is even ground here.

Front, back and middle are not the only sections to decide where to sit however. The second row says a lot too. It’s not quite the front but not the middle by any means. The second row says, I’m not the front row but I am here to learn. From my experience, this is the best place to sit. It is a neutral blend between front and middle. Here you can show your knowledge and that you are there to learn, while you are still free to make funny remarks and comments without feeling like the class clown. You can stand out but blend in all at the same time.

Really it doesn’t matter what class it is or how many people you know or don’t know in the class. At the end of that first 20 seconds it all comes down to one thing; it’s all about positioning.