My first week as a Senior Reporter for the Pendulum went well, overall. It proved more difficult to access county records of train accidents than I anticipated, and as a result I had to drop the story and pick up another midweek. The article about Olivia Feldman and her experiences in Germany as an American Jew was a pleasure to write. Olivia herself is a fascinating individual, as is Nancy Luberoff, the campus director of Elon Hillel. I enjoyed both interviews immensely and the writing came easily as a result.
While researching and conducting interviews for the Bloomberg Assessment Test piece, there was some minor confusion. Two of my interviewees assumed I was referring to the Bloomberg Certification Test, which is entirely separate from the Assessment Test. A few follow-up calls fixed the issue, but I’m glad I caught the mistake before I sat down to write.
This week, I’ll be writing about Washington Center programs and Internet addiction. I anticipate the former to be fairly straightforward, but the latter has the potential to be very interesting. I know that Internet addiction is a significant issue in countries that produce a high volume of technological products, but is Internet addiction prevalent in the U.S., much less on Elon’s campus? The student body as a whole certainly spends a lot of time on the Internet, whether it be for purpose or for pleasure. How has the Internet changed the way we consume and process information? At the very least, it has changed our mental habits. Does these changes increase the likelihood of addiction? I’ll find out this week!