amy comstock portfolio, 2010

cover letter

Amy ComstoCk

5239 Phillips oaks Laneorlando, Fl 32812

amy.c.comstock@gmail.com407-435-8295

may 28, 2010

Renee Burkeyearbook AdvisorBoone High school2000 s. mills Avenueorlando, Fl 32806

Dear mrs. Burke,

Boone publications is an award winning program that I am proud to be a part of. our yearbook is one to be proud of, and is full of staff members who are dedicated and hard working. I would like to be the Index Editor for Legend yearbook, and demonstrate how dedicated and hard working I am. Please accept my resume where I have pointed out all of the things that would make me a great editor for this book.

As a returning staffer I know how our yearbook works. I know the deadlines and I have seen how much time an editor must put in. I have also talked with our Present editor, Whitney, who believes that I would be a great Index Editor. I have seen all that she does for deadlines, and I am more than willing to put in that much effort and more.

my creativity will aid me in making attractive designs as an important part of the yearbook. my current pages have few name mistakes because of how meticulous I am when writing names. I feel that this combination will make me the best Index Editor for the 2010- 2011 school year.

thank you for taking time out of your schedule to review my request. Whenever you are available to meet I am more than happy to come in for an interview so I can personally share my skills and knowledge with you. I look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully yours,

Amy Comstock

Enclosed: resume

resume

Amy ComstoCk

5239 Phillips oaks Laneorlando, Fl 32812

amy.c.comstock@gmail.com407-435-8295

objeCtiveto be the Index Editor for Legend yearbook during the 2010-2011 school year.

eduCAtionCompleted 3 years at Boone High schoolGraduation Date: June 2011G.P.A. 4.0 weighted. top 20% of my class.

experienCeJournalism I Class August 2008- June 2009Legend yearbook staffer August 2009- June 2010Baby-sitting children of all agesVolunteer work: Green Up Boone (09, 10); Nathaniel’s Hope (07, 08, 09);

relevAnt HigH sCHool studiesJournalism I; Journalism II; English I; English II; AP Language and Composition

Honors, AwArds And membersHipsFreshman, JV and Varsity Volleyballtwo years on club volleyballmember of math Club and math Honor society08- 09 year in spanish Club08- 09 Love Lettersmember of National Honor societystaffer on award-winning Legend yearbook

personal essay

over the course of this year yearbook has improved my skills with computers as well as people. I have enjoyed working with the other staffers and getting to know everyone more than I could imagine. the memories I have made and the experiences of working with my new family will stay with me forever, and are very appreciated. At the beginning of this year, deadlines proved to be a very difficult obstacle that I could not avoid, or conquer. I was not skilled at getting all things done by the deadline, and then I would let them pile up, dragging me way behind. However, after about my third deadline, I understood that I could not pass without getting it done as soon and early as I could with as much effort that I could give. At the beginning of the summer I was faced with having to sell something for the first time ever. I had to sell my advertisements and I had no idea where to start and once I got to that starting point, I was lost on where to go from there. I was very nervous and anxious because I had orange Ave. in the downtown area, and I had to walk the roads and enter random businesses. once I got in I had to present myself representing Publications and selling our yearbook. Going through this process taught me that people only listen to you when you walk in and talk to them in person. It also taught me that I had to hold myself properly, no matter how I really felt. It was a hard experience, but I now know that I am more experienced with an advantage many other people don’t have. through our tedious interview and tight grading processes, I learned a lot about journalism ethics. Because of the emphasis that was put on how exact quotes must be, I learned how important it is to always quote exactly what people say. A journalist’s credit primarily consists of their ethics, and it is not something that can be taken lightly. teamwork is what makes the yearbook so great. Without teamwork, the book would not look as good as it does because there would be no communication, and no way of knowing how the book should be. Also, if there was no teamwork, there would be no respect, and people would just do what they wanted, counteracting how hard everyone works. With it, there is less drama, and a better yearbook. Actual production skills are needed in all steps of making a yearbook. they are needed to design a spread and create elements that connect and flow. They are also cru-cial to write a story and to put the pictures in properly. Without production skills it would not be possible to edit and complete the yearbook. Dedication was probably the very first lesson that I learned in yearbook; it takes a lot of time and effort into making a yearbook. During the time I dedicated into the book, I could not just be there, I had to actually work hard and concentrate on every little de-tail. I love yearbook, and all of the lessons that I have learned from it. this year was like a wake-up call to me about the real world and I have appreciated every minute.

reflection 1

I believe that my most significant piece of work was my hobbies page. On this page I showed a wide variety of interests, including a yo-yoer, silk aerialist, magician, and a girl who loved to play World of Warcraft. the stories written were varied, with different main subjects while still focusing on why each person loved their hobby. I believe that I also showed creativity in my pictures and the way the layout was arranged and how the colors were used. my purpose of this spread was to catch people’s attention so they would want to read and look at my page. I also wanted to represent these peoples love for their hobbies accurately. In the beginning, my original piece was very different and wasn’t even arranged in the same way. there was a lot of improvement with the stories themselves, especially the grammatical issues. The pictures for the silk aerialist were especially difficult in choosing because the ones I liked the most could not fit properly in the space available. The hardest thing about this page was probably making up the title, which was one of the last things completed with the help of other people. As I worked on this page I learned that it is okay to feel like a stalker; to go back and re-interview the same person several times so you get the story. this page also taught me that planning ahead is vital for the it to be original as well as for the spread to turn out well. It took me a long time to decide who would be on the page and where they would go. In the end I arranged everything how I wanted it, and the page turned out very successful. It took a lot of effort and rearranging, but now I believe it to be my most sig-nificant piece.

reflection 2

I believe that the varsity boys volleyball story is my piece that still needs work. this page in general was one that needed a lot of work from the beginning. I began the story part of the deadline working very hard on making the JV story work. I then found out that the Varsity story was also a disaster, and needed work too. However, by then I had to get pictures as well as captions on the page, and I could not devote enough time to the story. that situation taught me time management. I learned that I should begin interviews way in advance, and within those interviews, I should always have a wide variety of ques-tions. Although the story still needs work, it did evolve greatly from the original piece. I made sure all grammatical errors that editors pointed out were corrected, and I added more details. If I could keep editing, I would probably change the focus of the story. origi-nally, the focus was supposed to be on Ryan simpson and how he led the team as a senior. In the end I added details on how the team wanted to do well for their retiring coach, but in the interview the quotes did not completely mirror this idea. simpson would agree that he wanted to work hard for his coach, especially since she had been his coach for such a long time, but he would not say that as an original statement, in his own words. Because of that, it was very difficult to place his quotes. overall my feelings about this page are that it was a success. the layout is attrac-tive to the eye and the stories are well written. the varsity story still needs improvement, however, it does not ruin the page.

reflection 3

I chose this picture because of how the yo-yo looks as if it could fly out of the pic-ture. I also like this picture because of the concentration on his face, and how serious he looks.

I chose this picture becuase of the amuzed look on his face. Also, I like the angle that the picture is coming from, especially since the cards are out of focus, even though they are the closest to the camera.

I chose this picture becuase the two girls look exactly alike. It isn’t a very flattering picture of the two girls, but they are definitely caught in the moment. Their body positions miror each other and their facial ex-pressions are also the same. w

reflection 4

this year in yearbook, I believe that I was a valuable asset because I worked hard on every deadline, did what was asked of me, and took valuable pictures. I was a team player and I did not participate in any drama, but tried my best I could to keep the peace. I believe that I was very respectful to the other workers, and mrs. Burke. During the deadlines I tried my best to complete my pages on time. In the begin-ning I had a rough start, however, as I became used to the way a deadline works I improved the way I worked and completed my pages in a timely manner. I balanced my time wisely and stayed after school whenever I was not on schedule for a deadline. I would also bring interviews home with me when I could not stay after school so I could still work on my story. No matter what was happening I always had a good attitude toward staffers and my pages. I would not let my outside life effect how my spreads turned out, nor when they were completed. I am very committed to yearbook. During the year I tried to make sure that I was in class every day. I also made it to every workday, except one when I was taking the sAt. I love yearbook and it has taught me the true meaning of commitment, and it has prepared me for a future job, because of the amount of time and effort it takes.

reflection 5

one problem that I ran into this year was communication during a page. I was on a deadline with Alex Porte who I had never really talked to before, and it didn’t change once we were assigned the page. since there was no communication, we did not know who was doing what on the page, or how to help out with what the other was behind on. From that situation I learned that communication is key. I must communicate and try harder to work with the person I am assigned to be with in order to make the page great. In the end we were forced to talk, and went on interviews together so we could catch up and review what was to be done on the page. together we communicated and planned out who would work on what and when we would have it finished. This helped immensely and is the reason we did not fail the deadline. overall, I feel like in the beginning I did not handle the situation well. Being paired with someone I did not know threw me off, and I did not react correctly to it. In the end, however, turned the situation around completing the page.

reflection 6

During the midterm, I listed a few of my greatest weaknesses. I included not asking questions, and having faith in my work. I feel that I have improved both of these weaknesses greatly. I now have no hesitation to ask questions and will do so frequently. I also feel that I have more faith in my work, but I am never overexcited about any of my pieces. Doing this portfolio has forced me to go back and evaluate my work and see how well it looks published. This helped me gain more confidence in it because of how well they look.

reflection 7

Y6. Personality Profile. “Element of surprise” Pages 106- 607this spread is appealing to the eye and gives a new view to hobbies. most people do not know about the hobbies that I chose to write about, so it was an interesting angle that I used.

y20. Academic Photo Color.“Councils take Charge” Pages 238- 239I think that this photo is my best academic color photo because it shows people while they are at work. this photo shows emotion in it, even though it is simple, because they are in the middle of a conversation. the picture also has a cool element with the envelopes stacked up.

y31. Informational Graphics Color“Element of surprise” Page 107I chose the ‘how-to’ demonstration that shows how a magician does a card trick. I believe the colors used, along with the pictures chosen tie together well with the steps taking place.

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