A monthly publication of the NWC Communication Department

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December 17-- 20

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Dec. 21 -- Jan. 13

Featured

Student

Chenue Her
Senior

Major: Electronic Media Comm.

What are your plans for the future? My goal is to be a reporter and work my way to the anchor desk for a local news station. Eventually I would like to be a correspondent for a national station like FOX or CNN.

What opportunities have you had at Northwestern?

NWC has provided me great opportunities. I've been a part of Eagle 7 News and now am the director/anchor for the show. In the summer of 2011 I became a news intern for a news station (KCRA) in Sacramento. The following summer, I landed my dream internship at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis and got to be in the same newsroom as some of my biggest inspirations in news such as Jason DeRusha, Mike Binkley and Bill Hudson. For the upcoming spring semester I have accepted an investigative internship at KSTP 5 Eyewitness News.

What is your favorite thing about NWC?
My favorite thing about NWC is the fact that I can meet a complete stranger on campus and have a conversation with them like we've known each other forever. It just shows that the common bond of Christ between two strangers is strong enough to make you feel like anything but strangers.

Featured

Alumnus

Stacy Woytcke

2004

Degree:

Public Relations

Where has life taken you after Northwestern?

Right out of school I worked in marketing for the Minnesota Orchestra, and I left there after two years to take a marketing/product development position at a company that makes licensed toys, cake decorations and party favors for the celebration industry. In 2008 I began working from home as a freelance writer, and I continue to do that on a part-time basis while staying home to raise our 18-month-old son.

What advice do you have for current students?

If I could do my college/early career experience over again, I would have spent more time working on my heart and less time worrying about my career path. If your heart is right with the Lord and you are seeking His face, becoming more like Christ and falling more in love with Him, that will overflow into your working relationships and guide your steps far beyond any scheming, planning or resume tweaking ever could. But since it would be a travesty not to mention networking... I think of this "it's all in who you know" phenomenon on two different levels. First, by all means meet as many people as you possibly can in your desired field, ask them for names of other professionals whom you could contact and be so likeable and gracious as to make yourself unforgettable to them. Beyond that, I'd suggest doing your best to forge some more permanent relationships with professionals in the workplace. This may involve significant investments of time; perhaps through internships, volunteer work if you're drawn to the non-profit sector, in-person informational interviews and/or job shadowing. Those professionals who had made some level of personal investment in my career path were all the more eager to help me succeed, and such relationships don't typically form over little more than a quick cold call or e-mail.

Blancke first NWC student to study in Nashville

Instead of going to classes everyday and working on homework around the clock, senior Electronic Media Communication major Keagan Blancke does not have any homework assignments or any grades this semester. Blancke chose to spend part of his last year at NWC studying at the Contemporary Music Center (CMC) in Nashville to obtain real world experience in the music industry.

"I was in radio," said Blancke, "and thought some skills would transfer over to music producing and engineering. This seemed like a great opportunity for hands-on learning in a place that I love."

Blancke is one of over 25 students from schools around the country who are currently attending the semester-long program, and he will receive credit towards his major here at NWC. Blancke is the first Northwstern student to study at the CMC, but Electronic Media students pursuing the new emphasis in Recording Arts will attend the program at some point during their college careers.

The CMC program is based on learning in the real world and gaining experience through projects.

"I am in the tech track, which focuses on behind-the-scenes, such as stage and plugging things in. I also record some songs that people in the artist track write. We have a million-dollar studio, and I am the head engineer for a couple of songs that we record throughout the semester." Blancke went on a seven-day music tour visiting Christian colleges with the CMC. He entertained the audience as emcee in addition to setting up lights, plugging in instruments and helping with set up and tear down. (Get a closer look through this YouTube video.)

Blanke explained what has made his learning experience so remarkable. "We have 24/7 access to the building we play at and record in, so it's up to us to learn. I excel in this type of learning. I look forward to seeing friends when I get back, but I will remember this for a long time."

And just as the program has impacted Blancke, Blancke has made a splash at the CMC as well. Center director Warren Pettit said, "We love Keagan. He has a great spirit and is a wonderful addition to the entire community."

NWC alumni tell stories from Africa

They weren't looking to become missionaries when they graduated, but God's calling to tell stories has since carried NWC alumni Josh and Heidi Thulin all the way to Nairobi, Kenya.

At Northwestern, Josh and Heidi each pursued a different form of storytelling art. Josh spent his time in the Electronic Media Communication program learning to produce video. After graduating in 2008, he spent four years as a video editor at KTSP-TV. His wife Heidi ('09) majored in English and gained skills in writing and editing. Together, the couple is a storytelling powerhouse.

A year or two after leaving NWC, God began calling them to get involved with Africa Inland Mission, a network of missionaries and churches that ministers through efforts from evangelism to leadership development to community health. The organization recently launched a media division to help share what is happening in Africa with those throughout the world.

"Since most missionaries are busy planting churches, developing communities, or taking care of human needs, their stories and services oftentimes go unnoticed. That's where [our] team of skilled photographers, videographers, writers and web designers come in. We are dedicated to capturing these stories and using them to enhance project awareness, prayer support, and partnership development."

Josh and Heidi have been living in Nairobi since October and are already beginning to produce media. You can follow along with their journey by reading their blog or subscribing to their newsletter.

New categories add variety to SpeakOff

The semiannual SpeakOff hosted by the Communication Department saw two big changes this fall: pre-judging that allowed for a more streamlined competition day and the addition of two new categories.

The speech tournament is offered every semester to highlight the preeminent speeches from the Public Speaking and Business Communication classes. The new categories, One-Minute Manager and Special Occasion, were added to offer more students the opportunity to participate and to provide variety in the final round of the speech competition.

Speech professor John Arehart, who organized this semester's competition, said, "Participating in the SpeakOff is beneficial for three reasons. First, participation gives students the opportunity to speak in front of a larger and more diverse audience than in their classes. Second, participation hones their speaking skills because they are competing against other excellent speakers. Third, participation is a selling point on a resume."

"The Communication Department's goal with the Speak Off is to increase NWC community participation by having more students enter the contest and by having more students attend the final round."

Congratulations to these students, who advanced to the final round of competition on November 12:

Informative
1st - Bradyn Watson
2nd - Danielle Sayles
3rd - Melody Rossiter

Persuasive
1st - Charlotte Sarappo
2nd - Alyssa Arends
3rd - Michelle Sullivan

One-Minute Manager
1st - Jacob Fletcher
2nd - Jonathan Turner

Special Occasion
1st - Adam Saxton
2nd - Colleen Naylis
3rd - Rachel Temp

Notable Notes

Dr. Kent Kaiser and senior PR major Cody Durkee presented a paper, "Athletes in the Twittersphere: An Empirical Study of Implications for Traditional Gender Differences in Communication," at the annual conference of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport held in New Orleans.

Chris Iles, Communication Manager for the Minnesota Twins, was a guest speaker in the PR Principles and Concepts class on November 9.

Note From the Chair

Charles Dickens, who was an accomplished journalist before his career in fiction took off, is perhaps best known as the author of A Christmas Carol. It's the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge, who cares more about money than people and is visited by three spirits who show him the error of his ways.

Some "Bah Humbug" can creep into our lives each year as the demands of the Christmas season threaten to obscure the quiet birth of that special baby so long ago. Perhaps what's needed is a Christmas Carol of your own---- an encounter with past, present and future that will bring you to your very own "God bless us, every one."

In the Dickens tale, the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge on a tour of the happiest and saddest moments from his past life. Maybe your ghost of Christmas past is a particularly good memory that stands as an impossible standard toward which you strive, year after year, without success. On the flip side, the memory of a sad or disappointing Christmas can push us into overdrive, making us spend too much, plan too much and take on too much trying to achieve a perfection impossible in this life.

One way to move past this kind of haunting is to take a good look at your ghosts in the light of day. Make a realistic appraisal and you may find that the perfect Christmas of your childhood wasn't flawless, and that the disappointing Christmas wasn't a psyche-scarring horror. Those may have been fairly ordinary Christmases, and what set them apart was the way you reacted to them. No amount of gingerbread and eggnog can bring happiness to a a determined humbug. And no culinary or gift-related disaster can steal contentment from a person who has decided to bask in the simple joys of the season.

Dickens has the Ghost of Christmas Present show Scrooge the meager celebrations of the Cratchit family. Despite their struggles, they're still happy---- which astonishes Scrooge. It's good to remember that we don't have to be overwhelmed by our circumstances. God is faithful, and like then Apostle Paul we can learn to be content regardless of our situation.

But it's another kind of "Christmas present" that often trips us up---- the Christmas presents we give to one another. Just remember that the very best gifts---- large and small---- all convey this important message: I know you. A great gift lets the recipient know that you care enough to know something about their interests, their hobbies, their passions, their likes and dislikes. We were created for fellowship with God, and are designed to be completely known by our Creator. The hunger to be known is planted deep inside us, and a thoughtful gift that meets that need has a value that goes far beyond its price tag.

The third spirit to visit Scrooge shows him a frightening future. Modern Christmas shoppers can face their own "Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come" if they break out their credit cards to buy gifts they can't afford. If you want to avoid being haunted by the ghost of this Christmas for months to come, put away the plastic and focus on thoughtful gifts that you can afford.

The best way to deal with these ghosts is to focus your attention on the real Christmas story---- one that has a stable instead of a counting house, and wise men instead of spirits.

For the ghost of Christmas past, remember the tiny baby in the manger. Remember that God cared enough to send His very best - and to send Him in a package we could understand and relate to.

For the ghost of Christmas present, reflect on the role Jesus plays in your life today. Remember that the babe of Bethlehem is alive today, ready to work through us. Jesus was called "Immanuel," which means "God with us," and that truth continues to this day.

And for the ghost of Christmas yet to come, realize that even as we're remembering Jesus quietly slipping into the world more than 2,000 years ago, we can also look forward to a significantly more noticeable return someday. Jesus came once, and He's coming again. That's more than enough reason to be merry this Christmas.

Doug Trouten
Communication Department Chair