Ryan's Senior Blog: Service Learning

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Literal:

Service Learning Log – Cal Poly Post (Cal Poly Newspaper)

11/1/10 – 11/4/10	12 hours (Playing, researching, and writing the “Minecraft” game review published in the Cal Poly Post)
1/22/11	2 hours
1/29/11	2 hours
2/5/11	3 hours
2/12/11	3 hours
2/26/11	2 hours
3/12/11	2 hours
3/19/11	2 hours
3/26/11	2 hours
4/16/11	2 hours
4/30/11	2 hours

For the Cal Poly Post, my service learning was geared toward the journalism aspect of my project. Here, I went every Saturday that they were available and when I was able to go. However, a specific list would contain the following: proofreading articles until they reached the final publication stage, learned how to do the normal newspaper layout, discussed major issues like the budget cuts to the CSU, UC, and JC systems, I learned how to do copy-editing, fact checking articles (which is a great skill to have), learned about the AP style they use in their publication, and going over articles with the author themselves and give them feedback on what they could change or work on.

However, on a regular basis, my Saturdays at service learning would include proofreading, fact-checking, copy-editing, and discussing in the main topics of the newspaper of that specific week. Also, at the beginning, I wrote a game review for the newspaper and it got published!

Total Hours with the Cal Poly Post: 34 hours

Contact Information: Doug Spoon, (909) 869-3540. Office hours are on Tuesday and Thursday.

Service Learning Log – Hardtoast (Hardtoast.com)

12/20/10	1 hour (Minecraft Beta Phase Article)
1/23/11 – 1/28/11	4 hours (Dead Space 2 research/notes)
1/26/11	2 hours (Nintendo 3DS Article)
2/3/11	3.5 hours (First Strike DLC Article)
3/19/11	3 hours (Arkham City Article)
3/20/11 – 3/24/11	4 hours (Crysis 2 research/notes)
4/17/11 – 4/24/11	4.5 hours (Portal 2 research/notes)
4/26/11	4 hours (Minecraft Update 1.5 research/notes)
5/8/11 – 5/12/11	2 hours (Brink research/notes)

In working with the guys at Hardtoast, my service learning was geared toward the actual video game aspect mixed with writing. However, my duties only included writing about game news and game related news. Aside from my writing of news articles, Sean Bowman (my service learning supervisor) would have me research some games before the actual release date to figure out what the crowd’s hype and opinion was on the upcoming title. Then when the game was actually released, we would have a conference over Skype where I would watch him play the game live while I took notes on the game such as how the graphics are, if the animations meshed together seamlessly, then as he wrote the reviews, we would collaborate with the ideas we had. That’s pretty much what I did when I worked with Hardtoast for service learning.

Total hours with Hardtoast: 28 hours

Contact Information: Sean Bowman, (480) 532-9822.

Interpretive:

What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

I’ll start off with my service learning with the Cal Poly Post. One of the most important things I’ve gained from working at the Cal Poly post is an improvement in skill when it comes to proofreading any pieces of work. Before service learning, I would only notice spelling errors and simple grammatical mistakes, but now, I can notice where commas are misplaced, where commas are needed, and I’ve also developed a better skill for syntax, which is just a fancy way of saying the way words are put together in sentences. This was an important thing because since my topic has a journalism sense to it, it has definitely helped me in becoming a better writer. The second most important thing I’ve gained from working with the Cal Poly Post is the valuable skill known as fact-checking. It’s basically where the writer researches all important dates, names, places, etc. to make sure they are legitimate when used in papers. The reason this is important is because when I write game news or game reviews, the names of the characters and places within the games have to be accurate and spot on to make sure that I do not throw my audience off. It also helps establish my credibility as a writer because accurate information equals top-notch articles.

In working for Hardtoast, I’ve gained an understanding on how hard it is to be a games journalist. I’ve learned that all the deadlines we get as a writer are horrible because they are so close together and the pressure is constantly on. However, the most important thing I gained from this experience was learning how to control myself under pressure as well as a respect for game journalist due to all the deadlines they go through and the difficulty and struggle they persevere through to stand out in such a dog-eat-dog competition.

In both experiences, it has given me a greater respect and admiration towards writing. Before, I hated it because I thought it was busy work. But now, I appreciate all the effort and trouble that goes into writing these game articles because not only do they give me a heads up, but it can sometimes save me time and money when it comes to buying or playing a game.

Applied:

How did what you did help you answer your EQ? Please explain.

Working with the Cal Poly post helped me answer my essential question because while I was working there, I learned valuable information when it came to the publication process and going through it. Every Saturday, there were always some students that submit their pieces for submission to the newspaper. The same day, an editor for the paper would sit down with the writer and discuss what they can improve on and if the quality of their work is good. I learned that the process is truly dog-eat-dog because since many writers are competing for spots on the newspapers, their writing skills have to be top-notch and ready to go. This was all information for my third answer: “Getting published and going through the publication process.” I also got a sense of who I should write for in relation to my audience and fan base when I wrote my “Minecraft” game review, which is some backup for my first answer: “Establishing a fan base.”

Working with the guys from Hardtoast assisted me in answering my essential question in many ways. First of all, since I did write news articles for the website, it helped me gather experience and reinforcement for my first answer which is: “Establishing a fan base.” When I wrote, I would always have to assume the position of the audience/fan base I was writing for in order to make sure the content of my article was great and easy to follow. Assuming the role of my audience also helped me determine what should be explained more or less. Writing for the website also assisted me in giving me information to my second answer: “Maintaining flexibility in writing and games.” I would always have to be on my toes because I didn’t know if I was to write an article on a game or a game related product, or even a game breakdown or game DLC breakdown. I always had to be able to write about anything I researched or was thrown my way. Another way working with Hardtoast helped me answer my EQ was by providing me with insight and information from the perspective of game journalists that are newly broken into the field. So that fresh insight provided me with fresh information I could talk about in answering and defending the answers to my EQ.

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Cal Poly Post Contact:

Contact Information: Doug Spoon, (909) 869-3540. Office hours are on Tuesday and Thursday.