Holy cow, I thought sophomore year would be much easier than freshman year as far as time management went. How wrong was I. I became so much more involved my sophomore year of college, I became a resident adviser, the president of my fraternity, and even started work study on campus. All of this taught me one thing, learn how to prioritize.

When I got back into practicum I knew I needed to do much better than I did freshmen year. Unfortunately I didn’t kick myself in the butt enough, and kind of fell into the same trap halfway through the semester. I stepped it up the second half of the semester though, I started writing a lot more readers, and began going to the news show and helping out whenever I could.

Another project that reminded me why I love this major is because of the final in Intro to Broadcast. Getting to make those videos and writing readers for my script and then being able to host the show was a blast, I loved it every step of the way and it goes to show that if you aren’t having fun doing what you study, then you should probably switch it up. I’m glad I found my love for this again and that I have a new passion for the subject.

I’ve had fun writing readers for the shows, they are a lot easier now since I’ve taken broadcast writing but I know I need to get some more field experience. Next semester I need to be much more active, whether it’s the news show or going out and filming sporting events, there’s a lot more I can do to improve my skills in this major.

Another thing that I would like to do one day is be an anchor for one of the shows. I love being on camera and it just feels natural for me reading the words off the prompter and it’s a huge reason behind why I love being a broadcast journalism major.

I know if I continue to work hard that good opportunities will come my way, which is why I intend to work even harder next semester. I’m a busy man but I have to realize what is most important here at Florida Southern, and that’s education. That’s why we’re all here and that is what I need to focus on. Thank you for putting up me with in all of the classes we have together, I promise I’ll turn into a much better student. Can’t wait for next semester!

P.S. If you’re feeling nice I saw that I have a %79.98 in Intro to Broadcast…I’m taking Women’s Studies with you next semester so I feel like that should get me a %.02 extra credit? If not, it was worth a shot :)

        --Merrick Legutki

Total Hours this semester: 28

Another thing I did this semester after spring break was attend news shows. I attended three different news shows, the final one on April 14, two weeks prior on March 31, and the week before then on March 24. I got to do all kinds of different things for the show, between working the cameras, fiddling with the lights, running the teleprompter, or even being a director which I got to do during one of Tony's interview segments. I had a lot of fun going through the news show and I plan on being much more active next semesters. These things remind me why I love this major.

Hours earned from news shows: 3


Total Hours to date: 28

Thanks to the wonderful experience I got from broadcast writing last semester, I finally have the courage to volunteer for readers! Giving me the chance to earn more hours much more easily. This semester I have written readers for both the News show and the Sports show. These readers include (post spring break)

1) FSC Lacrosse 3/16
2) FSC Tennis 3/16
3) Men's Lacrosse 3/23
4) Women's Lacrosse 3/23
5) FSC Track 3/23
6)Men's Lax 3/30
7) Women's Lax 3/30
8) Men's Lax 4/6
9) Women's Lax 4/6
10) Men's Lax 4/13
11) Women's Lax 4/13
12) Easter Sunday 4/13
13) Fairwell Festival 4/13

Hours to date: 25 Hours

Rebirth of the Sports Talk Show

Kyle, Mason and I thought it would be fun if we brought back the Sports Talk Show that John Dennis and Ryan Buckley started. The three of us got together and created a script to follow for the show. This took us an hour to create.
The next step was actrually shooting the show. The three of us gathered in the studio Tuesday afternoon to set up and shoot. Because it was just the three of us it was tough to set it up. After we got the lights, camera, and the mic set up, Kyle and I realized that we didn't know how to start recording. So after several minutes toying with it, we thought it would be best to not mess anything up so we left after an hour. At least we got the experience from setting up.

Hours earned from this experience: 2

Hours earned to date: 12

Hours from Readers, Spring 2014

Thanks to the wonderful experience I got from broadcast writing last semester, I finally have the courage to volunteer for readers! Giving me the chance to earn more hours much more easily. This semester I have written readers for both the News show and the Sports show. These readers include:

1) Spring Break Closing
2) RA Selection Process
3) Downtown Food Options
4) The Wizard of Oz
5) Race for the Cure
6) Women's Golf 2/2
7) Women's Basketball 2/9
8) Women's Tennis 2/16
9) Women's Golf 2/16
10) Men's Lacrosse 2/23

So far this semester I have earned ten hours from readers.


Hours Earned To Date: 10

First half of the semester hours

      So far I have attended only three broadcast events, a Moc Sports Talk show that we did our first week back and two news shows. The First Moc Sports Talk Show focused on ethics in sports, and centered on the Manti Te'o hoax and Lance Armstrong's confession that he was blood doping.

             Time from Moc Sports Talk: Hour and a half

       The two news shows that I attended occurred on February 4th and February 11th. On the 4th I worked the teleprompter and saw how the show worked as it was my first time going to the news show. On the 11th I assisted Rob in setting up the camera and seeing how things were set up before the show. I plan on going to every news show for the rest of the semester after break.

          Time from News Show: Two Hours(Two Shows Attended)

Year In Review

What a year for sure. Freshman year flew by, I can’t believe that I’m already done with my first semester next week. Being in the comm department was definitely a blast, and made my year very enjoyable.

I had the privilege of working in all kinds of different events. I got to film soccer games, volleyball games, do a golf package, and work on a radio show. In high school, I filmed all of the school football games. I had enjoyed that greatly, I loved shooting sports so I was excited to come do it for my major in college. Shooting soccer for the first time was exciting because I had never done it before. After I had gotten use to the pace of the game, it wasn’t too hard thanks to my experience from high school. Volleyball was another sport that I got to film, all I had to do was get used to the pace of the game.

I was worried that filming these new sports would prove to be challenging, but once I had grown accustomed to the flow of the sports, filming was a piece of cake. I had learned when to and not to zoom in, which angles to film from, and how different every sport was.

Another thing that I got to work on was the radio show with Justin and Frank. This may have been one of the highlights of the whole semester cause I got to sit down and talk about something that I was very passionate about for an hour and a half every week, and it counted as hours for practicum! Through the radio show, I have really developed different ways to look at sports thanks to Justin. I also learned how to prove a statement that I made with support, and how to argue with a statement that someone else made without sounding like a babbling idiot. I also got to learn my way around the studio. I got to work with the soundboard, learn how to plug in the XLR cables to get the mics working, and how to record the show.

I think my biggest lesson from this semester though, and the toughest one, is time management. I learned that college is in fact a lot more difficult than high school. I had so much on my plate from this semester, and thought I could balance it all out but I was wrong. I thought that I was doing a good amount of hours for work in practicum, but I always forgot to blog them. I had never run a blog before so blogging them had always slipped my mind, which is very bad because in turn I’m sure I have forgotten some of the things I have actually done throughout the year.

All in all, I sincerely apologize for disappointing you this year. I know I did not meet the hours requirement, but I can surely say it was a good lesson. I now know I must be better at managing my time and showing up for more broadcast events. I’m looking forward to a new shot next semester, I promise I’ll make you proud!

Total Time of Hours I remember: 23 :(

Thank you for everything,

               Merrick Legutki