University of Southern California - here I come! / June 9, 2017 by Helen Arase

Wow - it's been a while since I've even looked at my website.

To be honest, I've been on a bit of a media and internet haitus since... maybe the end of April.

The avoidance of news - or lack of intensely following the 24-hour newscycle - was by choice. I am gearing up to jump into living, breathing and dreaming about journalism and decided I needed a recouperating period.

The internet haitus was forced. I moved closer to USC and didn't have internet until three days ago. I haven't had TV since 2014 so this internet/TV bundle feels like the best thing to happen to me in a long time. I got to watch James Comey give testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee and then wall-to-wall commentary ALL DAY. So nice.

I took a freelance assignment that required me to transfer many gigabytes of data over multiple days so I had to drive back and camp out at my mom's house just to use her internet. So, it's better.

Now, USC. I've committed, gotten a scholarship, all that. I am now waiting to sign up for classes. The summer immersion program begins in July and I'm super excited. We all had to submit a headshot and short bio for a new student directory. I had my friend Meghan Attaway shoot mine in the studio at the University of La Verne. It's possible she did the last one too, now that I'm thinking about it.

I submitted a tighter crop than this one. I think I look grown up? I don't feel grown up.

Not going to Berkeley / February 28, 2017 by Helen Arase

So I'm not going to Berkeley's journalism program, and it's a bummer. That was an awesome program - it is an awesome program - it would have been an awesome opportunity.

But the upshot of this is that I spoke with the director of admissions and she told me what kind of candidate they look for and what my app was missing.

I'm still waiting on the other schools. Some need more info, interviews, writing tests, etc. I have a skype interview tomorrow.

I went to an Oscars viewing party with Maggie. She's doing some kind of review for AOL and had a plus one. There I met a Mizzou alum - the nicest girl ever - who basically talked me into applying at the last minute. We even asked if she's a recruiter, but she just loved her undergraduate experience that much. The fall deadline has passed, but it's nice they start fall and spring for their two-year program. I think it's a sign, as I was looking at their program's curriculum earlier that day and wondering why the heck I didn't apply...

After telling the universe I was going to grad school in the fall (but then not getting in to Berkeley) I'm putting together the Missouri application, thinking about all the possibilities, trying not to have some kind of crisis because I don't have a plan B. Everyone gets turned down from schools. I just have to wait for the other interviews, information and the rest of the decisions.

Fingers are crossed and eyes are looking ahead.

Women's March LA / January 22, 2017 by Helen Arase

Covering the Women's March on Saturday was an interesting experience. My friend Maggie and I went. She did a thing for work.

I think it's cool to know all of us who photographed, wrote, etc. about the marches got to be there for history as a documentarian.

I like to watch or read about journalists being interviewed because they were at an extraordinary event - 9/11, wars, civil rights movement - and how they viewed it, their thought processes and all that. Something that always stuck out to me is that they talk about their thinking during the event. Like, a building is falling but all they could think about was their work and covering the story accurately. Then they talk about getting home and processing - or not - what they just witnessed.

I like this page from the NPR ethics handbook that talks about independence and impartiality while observing rallies and demonstrations. We were there to bear witness.

That's something I had feelings but couldn't articulate about the Trump protests we photographed earlier. We were there, and some of the time walking (at times they were running) to get along the route, but sometimes it was hard to identify yourself. Of course if asked why you're there or who you are it's a no brainer, but the times you are just working or sitting down to take a break...

This time around, there were so many people that we had to fight through the crowd to get anywhere. We got stuck in the crowd during the speeches but made a run for it after (AKA jumped into a train of people) and got on top of cement barriers to watch and photograph the march go by.

These aren't spectacular photographs, but I'm glad I was there for this.