Task #49: Internship at The Hour (Kim)

49.  Internship at The Hour

I have been interested in writing since elementary school.  I wrote for the school newspaper in middle school, but I never pursued writing in the Paw Print at Norwalk High School.  When the opportunity to be part of an internship program rather than attend school for the last quarter of senior year arose, I was more than happy to contact the local Norwalk newspaper and ask to be a high school intern.

I began this internship on Monday, May 18.  I started with tasks like condensing press releases for the Community, Briefs, and To Do section of the paper.  I also began my first story - on a Celtic ceremony at a Norwalk Church.  When I woke up Tuesday morning and saw that what I had worked on was in the newspaper, I was ecstatic. Tuesday I was given my first big opportunity - to write a story on the lack of affordable housing in Connecticut and specifically the Stamford-Norwalk area. I had to call a representative for Governor Malloy, several president's of local business organizations, and dig through a report full of statistics about affordable housing.  It was my first day staying relatively late at the internship, but I was more than happy to do it because I knew there was a good chance the story would run the following day.

On Wednesday, both of my stories were on page 3 of the Hour and featured on the paper's website!

http://www.thehour.com/news/norwalk/norwalk-church-to-kick-off-celtic-celebration-thursday/article_2bb0a549-7a97-5f41-a118-673fc89b7941.html

http://www.thehour.com/news/norwalk/connecticut-ranks-eighth-in-nation-for-most-expensive-housing-stamford/article_2076eed8-70da-58b7-b5ae-13627d4986a5.html

On Wednesday, I headed out to an elevator opening at Lockwood-Mathews Mansion in Norwalk.  The elevator was a 15 years in the making project, so the mayor was leading a ribbon cutting ceremony.  I also drove my fellow intern to an event on the Norwalk Green with the Norwalk Gardening Club.  Then, I spent my day finishing this story, which was published on the website today.

http://www.thehour.com/news/norwalk/lockwood-mathews-mansion-museum-reaching-new-heights-with-elevator-installation/article_00223fb8-ffcd-11e4-9156-afa445dabea8.html?mode=image&photo=0

I did not expect to see my stories featured so soon in The Hour.  I expected to be mostly working on the Community section and Briefs section.  Even though it was slightly nerve wracking at first to call so many people, it is an absolutely incredible learning experience so far.  I'm so happy I decided to be part of the internship program, and Project Explore was one of many motivating forces in being part of it.

Task #42: Accumulate Over 1000 Page Views!

42.  Accumulate 1000 Page Views

When we first started the blog, we had no understanding of Blogger.  We slowly began to use "labels", which are tags that allow your blog to come up in a search engine, and we advertised our blog to friends and family.  Because of this, we started getting a few page views.  It was nice to have even one a day.  Of course, we always get the highest number of views on days that we post and use labels.  We were shocked when we got even 100 views, but over time, we realized more people would look at our blog than we originally thought.  Hitting 1000 views is a big milestone for us; we can see that even if people have stumbled on our website by accident, we may have impacted them or sparked their curiosity in some way.  This means that we are doing what we intended to do with this project: impact other people and inspire them to try new things rather than become warped in a mundane routine.

So, thank you to all our friends and family who regularly read this blog and to anyone else who may be reading.

Task #38: Throw A Surprise Party (Kim)

38.  Throw A Surprise Party

My mom's birthday is tomorrow, and she warned us not to throw her a surprise party.  So, she headed to Bistro Mediterranean thinking that I was going out to babysit and that my dad was taking her out for a nice dinner.  When she arrived, she found not only her five kids but two of her sisters and their husbands there to surprise her.  My mom is usually the person who knows everything that's going on in the house and the family, so it was entertaining to fill her in on the nearly eighty e-mails and jokes sent in preparation for this party.

Here are some photos from dinner and a video of the surprise and present opening:

My mom's brother and my brother worked together to bring three cakes to the ouse after dinner.

My mom was the most surprised to see her family at the table.

My mom opening her presents after dinner.

Task #25: Go A Day Without A Cell Phone (Kim)

25.  Go A Day Without A Cell Phone

Foregoing my cell phone for a day seemed like an almost impractical idea, so I decided to try it for Project Explore.  I've had a cell phone since middle school and have rarely gone an entire day without it.  At first, going without it was very easy.  I was busy; it was a snow day, and we had to shovel.  But after shoveling, I found myself missing not only talking to my friends but checking social media sites like Instagram.  I felt a little closed off from the world, so I distracted myself with hot chocolate and A.P. Euro notes.

Prior to this task, my phone was stolen and I had to go nearly a week without a cell phone.  However, I did not receive any reactions from friends about this because everyone knew why I wasn't answering.  I also used other forms of communication including emails and iMessage to talk to them.  So although I had experienced something similar because I didn't have a choice, I decided to go ahead with this task anyway.

Most of the reactions I received were not surprising.  When I opened my phone about 11:00 that evening, I had many texts repeating my name over again, and a few friends wondering if I was angry at them.  I shared some of screenshots of the messages and crossed out the names for privacy reasons. After explaining to my friends it was merely an experiment, most of them were surprised I had gone an entire day without a phone and said they would be unable to do that themselves.  Those who had actually gone an entire day without their cell phones did it for necessity or because they went somewhere for the day and forgot their phones.

My age group is incredibly attached to these devices, and no wonder: they can do amazing things in the palm of our hand.  However, the attachment is often considered unhealthy.  I researched the following article about teens' growing dependency on their phones: http://cell-phone-parental-control-software-review.toptenreviews.com/are-teenagers-becoming-too-attached-to-their-cell-phones.html.  Almost half of all teens can text with their eyes closed, and one-fourth of all texts teens send are sent during class.  Cell phones are not used as purely educational resources at school; students are distracted from class by their cell phones.

My own reaction surprised me.  After the initial discomfort of not having a phone in my hand or in my pocket at all times, I was just fine without it.  Granted, it is much more convenient to have a phone because it provides such fast access to the time, weather forecast, and Internet.  However, I was so focused on myself and what I wanted to get done for the day because I was not being distracted by anything else.  With that being said, I will not consider giving up my cell phone all together.  I would like to increase the productivity on my phone and decrease the number of  conversations I have with friends that do not necessarily have any benefits.

Task #24: Animated Picture and Snow Photographs (Kim)

24.  Combine photographs to create an animated picture.

Our recent snow days have certainly hindered our upcoming Project Explore plans.  However, I have been using this time to experiment with my camera in the winter weather.  I was able to combine several shots of snow using a Google application to create an animated snow picture.

These are other pictures I took in recent snowstorms and wanted to share.

I must have fifteen photos of nearly this same picture.  I was working on my up-close photo capabilities and trying to really focus on part of the branch.

Another photo working on close-up focusing capabilities.

I experimented with different features on my camera to capture the snow.  High-speed worked well to capture it but often made my photos less focused.

Task #22: Snow Graffiti (Kim)

22.  Snow Graffiti

With the impending snowstorm Juno, I decided to look up non-traditional snow day activities.  Project Explore motivated me.  I tore myself from the Netflix and hot chocolate (after some shoveling this morning, of course) and went out there in the cold.  My neighbor Olivia DiMarco and I put food coloring and water in several spray bottles to make "snow graffiti".  A very unappreciated art form, in my opinion.

In the spirit of Project 52, we used the remainder of our food coloring to splatter colors around 52.  

Before we splattered the remainders of the solutions around it!

We also used sprinkles in the snow to fill in drawings.

Task #13 Completed: Make an Underwater Video (Rachael)

13. "Make an Underwater Video"

My dad recently purchased a gopro which first became popular for their ability to film underwater and Kim and I thought it would be a hoot to try it out. Since I don't like to get pruney and Kim is on the swim team we thought it best if she dealt with this task hands on. I got to watch from the nice, dry bleachers as Kim swam and dove.

It took a few days (weeks) for me to figure out the program and pick an appropriate song but I hope everyone enjoys the final product!