This piece was written in May of 2019 for the UW media writing class.

An estimated 1 in 5 adults live with mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. These conditions can seriously affect individual’s daily lives, relationships and careers. At the University of Wyoming, however, there are many resources available to those with disabilities to combat the struggles that may come with these conditions. 

Disability Support Services at UW are responsible for meeting the regulations set in place by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The services provided help even out the struggles people with disabilities may face in the college setting. 

“We are here to make sure qualified students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in UW’s programs and services,” Director of the Disability Support Services, Amanda O’Brien said. “It’s not that we’re giving an advantage. We are evening the playing field to the best of our ability.”

The main service DSS provides involves test taking. Many people with disabilities, especially mental disabilities, require a quiet space or extra time for taking tests. Stepping into the office of DSS, one is often surrounded by half a dozen students waiting for their appointment to take their exams.

In order to qualify for DSS, one must provide documentation of a disability as well as information on how its effects on daily life and academia. Documentation of mental illness is available through the UW Psychology Clinic. This program on campus gives psychology students an opportunity to gain real experience in their field. It also provides students in need of counselling a free source for psychological help.  

“We are able to provide the required documentation in cases that qualify for DSS,” Grad Student Director of the UW Psychology Clinic, Ryan Kozina said. “However, our wait list is really long right now because we have had a lot of people wanting to use our services, but we don’t have the resources needed to get to all of them in a timely manner.”

Both Kozina and O’Brien mentioned a need for more resources. Kozina hoped that in the future his program could grow to accommodate the needs of those on campus. More staff and students involved in running the clinic would benefit campus as a whole in his eyes. His program will switch to online medical records and scheduling soon, which he expects to help lighten the load of those working in the clinic. 

“Right now each of us is technically limited to a five client caseload,” Kozina said. “We often break that limit because some severe cases come through that need help and attention right away.” 

Kozina saw his department lacking in simply the number of people that could help. 

O’Brien saw the main focus point for growing in DSS was the ability to connect with students.

“I had no idea [I could qualify], just because I never thought about it that way,” former UW freshman Mattie Carlson. “I think it was more on my part, just being unaware that mental health could really affect you so deeply and severely.” 

Carlson was diagnosed with schizophrenia and ADHD this year, within months of her dropping out of college. She talked about her ability to get by in high school despite having severe motivation issues derived from her mental illness. As soon as she recognized the foundational issues affecting her studies “it all just crumbled before I could pick it up and rebuild it.”

O’Brien hopes to increase outreach to students to show the resources available in the future. She recognized issues she has faced in connecting with students in recent years because “you used to be able to just send out a mass email, and everyone would know.” 

DSS provides important services to those who may face challenges in school because of their disability. Over the next few years, they hope to reach out to students more which will in turn help ‘even the playing field’ for people with disabilities in getting an education.

This past week, my boyfriend and I have been stuck at home, anxiously awaiting my COVID test results. Luckily, my entire pantry was well stocked, allowing me to keep my mind off of the issue at hand. For my final project in Multimedia production, I decided to combine my love of creating with my love of baking, through an informative style video. I wanted to help others get their minds of off the pandemic in the only way I know how, food. This banana bread has been a source of comfort for many months, as I have developed it to fit my taste.

This project was extremely exciting in that I was able to creative with a new medium for me. I love baking and baking videos, which made the topic clear from the start. I had so much fun filming this, as I spent the entire time doing what I love. However, this project became more difficult in the editing phases. I was extremely surprised by the amount of work and skill that goes into creating a flawless, well edited video. I spent more hours than I could count, looking for editing platforms, editing my video, editing my audio, fitting them together, and putting finishing touches on this content. I was caught off guard by the amount skills one must acquire to create videos like these, especially given the number of people my age using this medium.

For this project, I wish I had more tools at my disposal. From the start I had planned on using a small tripod for my phone, but unfortunately it was stuck with my parents, whom I could not see due to quarantine. Luckily, my boyfriend was kind enough to act as my stand in tripod. Challenges arouse having a person behind the camera, due to unexpected movements. My tiny house also proved to not be the best place to shoot videos, due to lack of range when filming.

In the future, I hope to create more videos like these. I want to share baking videos and my recipes on online platforms. Videos made my magazine pages, such as Bon Appetite inspire me to work on my skills to create videos as satisfying as theirs for my career. I also hope to use this medium in my political career to help build outreach. As different platforms become more important each day, we know that videos are a wonderful way to bring in new people.

Entering multimedia production, I couldn’t have expected to reach such a diverse set of skills. At most, I had hoped to learn about photography and social media. Ultimately, I was lucky enough to learn the skills necessary to create a diverse portfolio online, one which includes an array of different platforms of delivering news and media. I had never expected to learn how to cut sound before, and this class pushed me into it. I was able to make my first little podcast clip, which reminded me about my passion for radio. I also learned many tools for photography. I will forever use the simple methods of creating more appealing photographs. In the future, I plan to incorporate photojournalism much more in my projects.

On top of the technical skills I’ve learned, I have built on many life skills through this semester. Multimedia production taught me how to juggle multiple projects at once with ease. This became even more important as COVID-19 pushed our class online, making me entirely responsible for keeping track of my deadlines and lessons. I have also learned how to become a better writer through gaining perspective on the stories I create. I have worked hard to incorporate many point of views in the articles I write for this class, which has helped me create a more thorough and clear story. Most importantly, this class has rekindled my love for journalism and production. It is so satisfying to work on something and send it out into the world, no matter how many people may see it.

This class has prepared me for my future career by giving me experience in such a diverse set of skills. I will be more equipped to gain skills in radio and podcast production, if I am lucky enough to someday work for Public Radio. I have also more fully grasped what is necessary for telling a good story, and the many aspects that can hold a reader.

The most meaningful assignment for me was most certainly my article on the new president selection. The entire time I was working on it, I felt a drive. I knew that it was the sort of thing I wanted to do with my life. Every hurdle I faced, such as certain trustees declining interviews, pushed me to work even harder. This hard work paid off when I was lucky enough to interview one of the trustees and get great information from her. This article pushed me into directions I wouldn’t have expected, and it taught me how to think on my feet when reporting. On top of this assignment being the most meaningful, it was certainly the most challenging for me. I started the project looking at a different story but it began to seem like that idea wouldn’t work. Right as I was realizing a new story was necessary, an interview enlightened me to the bigger picture of the university at the time. I hit so many hurdles in creating the article, but it turned out completely worth it, giving me something I was extremely proud of.

If I could have given myself advice walking into this class, I would have told myself to remember to keep moving forward and give each assignment my all. This class gave me the opportunity to learn and develop so much, and I’m sure I could have learned even more if I had pushed myself even a little harder. At the beginning, I don’t think I realized just how fun this class would be, and how valuable it would be. I wish I could have realized that just a little sooner.

This week I tried my hand at cross-platform promotions. I posted graphics about each of my blog posts on my Instagram. I created these graphics using Canva. I’ve only used Canva once before, in my visual communication class, as an activity to create an info-graphic. I use Instagram everyday and have gained over 1,000 followers on my main account (not much, but for someone from Laramie, I’d say it’s okay to be a little proud).

For my promotions, I aimed to use a somewhat casual style while still maintaining an aesthetically pleasing profile. I wanted to keep them simple while using an array of different outlines for each graphic. For my blog posts which heavily leaned on the images within, I worked to highlight as many images as I could in their corresponding graphics. For my blog posts which were leaning on my writing, my use of images was more subtle. I also tried to compliment the content of my blog post when choosing colors. For my post about beautiful outdoor areas around Laramie, I chose natural colors which were found in the images I used. For my post about the UW president selection, I used darker, more modest colors.

This assignment was challenging in trying to balance including all the information necessary and maintaining simplicity. I prefer Instagram posts that have fewer words and less busy graphics, so I worked to follow suite. It was difficult to include all of the images I wanted to without going overboard. It was also difficult to find a good balance in the captions, between advertising the post and avoiding the inclusion too much information.

It was surprising to me how easy Canva is to use. I’m excited to use this in the future for my own Instagram. I hope to promote my blog on my main page once I am completely confident in it. I also hope to incorporate Canva graphics within my Instagram stories, for when I make a new post.

https://www.instagram.com/acpelkey/

Mattie Carlson and I dated in high school, during which she opened up about her interest in the furry community. Witnessing her working through the difficulties of enjoying something while socially it was widely stigmatized was a unique experience. Carlson and I are extremely comfortable talking about hard topics, which made this interview a breeze.

As she has moved far away, editing this recording was a wonderful experience, hearing her voice for the first time since the interview. My experience recording interviews through audio has stirred my passion for radio and podcasts. I am excited to use audio in my future career, hopefully creating more content like this. I enjoy audio’s ability as a platform for story telling to express emotion. It’s important to convey tone in narratives, which is significantly more difficult through text.

The only difficulty I faced was keeping my original audio down to 5 minutes, which I ultimately could not achieve. Despite working towards it, in the end I’m happy with the information I got in my original interview. This allowed me to get more creative with my editing and narrative.

I really enjoyed the editing process of this interview due to the amount of content I could work with. It was a unique experience due to the amount of time spent listening to this interview. I enjoyed going through the audio countless times as well as working with audacity for the first time. The platform was easy to use and better than other audio platforms I’ve used in the past.

The portrait taking process was exciting because I was able to go to the mountains with Carlson near her new home. I was also able to go the animal shelter with her, something I thought fit well with the story. I wanted to capture images of her in places one might find her. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to visit long enough to photograph a furry gathering. In the end however, I’m happy that I was able to portray in the portraits that there is a lot more to her than just one of her interests. I enjoyed getting to show a bit more of her personality through images, which fit well with her narrative.

Checking In – I took this image while spending the day at the Wyoming State Capitol. I stumbled upon this scene while watching how representatives dealt with the dull task of following legislative procedure, in which role call is required of all members every morning. This shot was more difficult to capture due to limited number of places I was allowed in the capitol. I was bound to wait in the viewing deck while the house was in session, which proved to make more detailed shots more difficult to capture as I was so far away. I worked to use a focal point against a textured background which made Lindholm stick out. I also used contrast, as the background was more colorful and Lindholm was dressed in all black.

Lobbying on the Go – This image was from the end of the day at the Wyoming Legislature. I thought this piece reflected the true life of lobbyists. I had seen this woman walking around holding her computer all day and was determined to snag a shot of her. I considered her striking because she was clearly working hard all day while running around the capitol. This was difficult to capture because it was difficult to find her as she had been running all over. I used leading lines and the rule of thirds to capture this image. The architecture and design around her worked to draw attention to her. I also worked to find a position to capture this image in which she would be standing in the far left third of the scene. I thought this device made the image far more interesting due to the fairly blank space in the right two thirds.

Class Rush – I took this image as classes were dismissed in the classroom building, which always proves to be a busy atmosphere. This image was difficult to capture as I was standing in a stairwell which was filled with people pushing past me. I used depth and leading lines in this image which created a complex yet simple photo. The lines of the stairwell framed the rushing students as well as show the movement of those running up the stairs. The depth was created by taking the image straight on from high up. This showed the complexity of the scene presented.

Snow Day – This image shows a high school student walking his dog on the green belt. I found this scene compelling because it represents a lot of my perception of Laramie, as a native. This beloved area is used my many locals for outdoor recreation right in their backyard. The biggest challenge of this image was capturing a picture of a stranger from such close proximity without feeling weird. It was also difficult to capture a running animal in a way that didn’t simply portray a black blur. This image used rule of thirds by placing those captures in the far right third of my camera and the very small detail of the cement plant and its smoke in the far left third. I also see color as an important device in this image. The contrast between sky, grass, and snow created a pleasing image. It also helped those pictured really pop.

Flash Dance – This image was very difficult to capture in that everyone was running which made it difficult to follow with the lens. My camera is extremely slow which created a blur due to the intense movement, but I am happy that it was able to show the extreme nature of this scene. This image used color to make the highlight the focus of the image through the bright yellow. It also used movement to convey what was going on and the flow of the game. Photographing the even proved to be quite stressful, as I had to get quite close to the game in order to capture what was happening on the field. There were multiple times where balls were kicked at me, which was one more reason this assignment put me out of my comfort zone.

This assignment very much surprised me in the difficulty I had taking pictures of strangers. I didn’t realize how anxious something like that would make me. Throughout the week, it luckily became easier, but still proved to get me out of my comfort zone each time. I was lucky to take pictures of individuals who were used to photojournalists the first day of this project, at the Wyoming Legislature, which made them far easier to approach. My biggest wish for this assignment would have been to have a better camera. Taking pictures from far away did not turn out the most beautiful images possible, but I feel proud of what I could capture and a somewhat poor phone camera.

Welcome to my first ever blog post. As an individual who hopes to pursue a career in journalism, I thought it would be best to continue to develop my skills on an open platform. I’m excited to receive feedback on my content throughout this journey, as well as provide interesting stories, recipes, and general posts about myself. I plan to maintain a focus on civic engagement and politics throughout my blog, as I see a need for greater involvement in our government as a society.

One of the media’s most important roles, in my eyes, is acting as a watchdog for those in power. I will focus on campus politics, issues affecting students and local politics. I also plan to highlight ways to get involved in our community.

Outside of my career plans, there are some causes I have grown extremely passionate about. This platform will give me the ability to draw attention to candidates I believe in as well as organizations I see making the world a better place. The thing about these folks trying to build a better world is- they can’t do it alone.

I plan to encourage you, my readers, to get out and help these amazing people. As I write this, I am currently working on a local senate campaign, which will help fuel many of my posts. You can check out her site here: https://electjackiegrimes.org/

This blog is overall a place where you will be able to see me grow. Throughout the process of building this blog, I hope to develop my skills in photography and web writing. This blog will help me build skills around using multiple media forms in my reporting. I anticipate learning a lot more about visual and audio tools, which you will be able to watch me develop.